Communities, Creativity and Climate Action: Reflections from the Community Climate Conference 2026

What happens when more than 100 people from community groups, charities, local authorities and climate organisations come together for a day? You leave feeling hopeful.

That was certainly our experience at the Community Climate Conference on 11 July in York. Organised by Community First Yorkshire, Village Green, North Yorkshire Climate Coalition and partners, the conference brought together people from across the region to share practical ideas, inspiring stories and, most importantly, remind us that meaningful climate action starts in our communities.

Keynote speakers on the day included, Jan Thornton, Vice Chair of the FixOurFood Commission, Vice Chair of the Yorkshire Food, Farming and Rural Network and Chair of Grow Yorkshire, Rosa Foster, Climate Commissions Director for the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission and Leeds Climate Commission, Lucy Allis, from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, leading their Low Carbon and Environment team, covering areas including natural capital, climate adaptation, energy and retrofit, Chair of the UK Government Climate Change Committee, Nigel Topping CMG, and many more!

One of the day's most memorable talks came from an airline pilot, Dan Tipney, who spoke candidly about the difficult decision to step away from a career in aviation after confronting the environmental impact of flying. It was an honest and thought-provoking reminder that climate action often involves difficult personal choices, but that change is possible when our values and actions align.

Zero Carbon Harrogate's Climate Action Coordinator, Sunita Soundur, also heard directly from North Yorkshire Council's Jos Holmes, who explored how communities can adapt to the changing climate with an engaging workshop. During this session, Sunita also enjoyed many of the ideas that came from Muriel Bonjean Stanton, Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and whom is leading the Accelerating Adaptive Action Programme for the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission regarding how we can prepare ourselves in different areas across Yorkshire.

In a Storytelling workshop, David Tonge from the North Yorkshire Climate Coalition, challenged us to think about how we communicate climate change and asked an important question: are we succeeding or are we failing?

Together we reflected on whether we are reaching the people who need to hear the message, and whether we are inspiring action, or simply adding to the noise? It sparked plenty of discussion and provided a welcome reminder, that we as a small climate action charity must always pay attention to what we're saying and how we're saying it, always keeping in mind that difference audiences require different messages and formats.

(i.e. not everyone can connect with a graph!).

One presentation that particularly stood out was Sue Jefferson's talk about how Circular Malton and Norton came to be and her wonderfully titled slide about "The Power of the Sausage Roll." It perfectly illustrated how creativity, hospitality and community spirit can bring people together around climate action. Sometimes the most effective way to engage people isn't through statistics or policy – it's through food, conversation and shared experiences or drawing on what a place is known for – and in Harrogate and Knaresborough, we can do a lot around the towns' identities and link that in with climate action.

Creativity was a strong theme throughout the conference. Artist and conservation campaigner Matt Trevelyan shared the story of "Cathy the Curlew", demonstrating how art and storytelling can help people build stronger connections with nature and inspire positive environmental action. It was pure joy, delight and hilarity looking through his photos of humble beginnings to what has developed into an incredibly inspiring, vibrant, funny and heartfelt conservation campaign, led by quality artistry.

The conference also included poets reading their environmentally inspired works.

Beyond the presentations, one of the greatest benefits of the day was simply talking to others. The marketplace and networking sessions were full of conversations with people delivering inspiring projects across York and North Yorkshire, all proving that every community has something valuable to contribute.

Our Chair Jemima Parker looked after the Zero Carbon Harrogate stall, delivering quick fire information about our charity to new faces, and advising smaller groups and individuals about how to campaign on and advocate for climate action successfully.

Other marketplace stall-holders included Fossil Free North Yorkshire, Ryedale Environment Group, and Malhamdale Environment Group.

ZCH's Vice-Chair Tim Larner busied himself networking behind-the-scenes, engaging with politicians, councillors and other change-makers such as the community-led housing project in York, YoCo.

It was also fantastic to see Marcus Wearmouth talking about Rethink Retrofit; an initiative born from Zero Carbon Harrogate's 3-year funded retrofit project, headed by John Kerr.

For Zero Carbon Harrogate, the conference reinforced something we've always believed: climate action isn't driven by one organisation or one policy. It's powered by people; by neighbours sharing ideas, volunteers giving their time, schools trying something new, community groups collaborating, and individuals deciding to take that first step. It's all about lots of us doing what we can, when we can, because collectively this is serious adding up!

We came away with new ideas, new connections and renewed optimism. At a time when climate change can sometimes feel overwhelming, events like this remind us that progress is already happening – and that when communities work together, small actions really do add up to something much bigger – and we're all a huge part of that, even if what we're doing might seem small.

Thank you to everyone who organised such an inspiring day. We're already looking forward to next year's conference.