Our story
The involvement of local businesses, organisations and individuals is vital as we support and encourage transition to decarbonisation, energy efficiency and resilience in all sectors of our community.
The Harrogate District Climate Action festival has been our main focus in 2021.
The events included a community day, a business conference and a whole series of fringe events run by organisations throughout the local area. It’s the first climate action festival in the district.
We engaged hundreds of people through the events, and got a lot of positive publicity. Its really important to us to keep raising awareness in a constructive and inspiring way by showing in practical terms what residents and businesses can do to cut emissions.
We involved a wide range of organisations in the festival – large employers and other businesses, Harrogate Borough Council, local schools and Harrogate College, charities and voluntary groups, and more.
Our next steps are to build on this momentum, and reach out to even more people in future events and projects. We see this as a great place to build from.
Our advice
The Harrogate Climate Change Coalition is a relatively new group, originally convened by Harrogate Borough Council in response to their notice of motion to take action on addressing the climate emergency.
An initial board was formed by inviting leading businesses in the district and public sector representatives and voluntary sector representatives. The aim was to target high-emitting sectors, large employers, and representatives from the business sectors identified in the council's economic strategy - the intention being to get the most significant carbon emitters round the table.
The coalition has now become established as an independent Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Our focus is to build on the good work so far and to champion carbon reduction wherever we can.
Despite our limited resources we have managed to gather an enthusiastic and proactive team, and we are building on the success of our first ever Climate Action Festival in 2021. We have relied on volunteer support, and professionals giving their services free of charge, and staff time from Harrogate Borough Council. having a group of committed board members has been essential.
Our metrics
Number of projects carried out.
