Climate Week 2018 came to a close on Friday 5 October after an inspiring five days packed with events from organisations and groups across Scotland.
Climate Week is a Scottish Government initiative aimed at sharing Scotland’s leadership in climate change and the transition towards a low carbon society. This year Climate Week was an opportunity for organisations to showcase what they are doing about climate change and share their work with staff and the wider public.
The SSN registered more than 80 organisations who ran 118 different events and activities. We shared the listings online and via social media using #ScotClimateWeek. Numerous other organisations, businesses, schools, charities and community groups also participated through social media and with their own events.
Launch day in Perth
The week was officially opened on Monday by Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham. At the launch event from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Perth, Ms Cunningham encouraged everyone to play a part in helping Scotland meet its ambitious climate change targets. Ms Cunningham also announced a new climate literacy course being developed jointly by the RSGS, the University of Stirling and a range of other partners – and supported by £20,000 of Scottish Government funding.
SSN support for Climate Week activities
In addition to supporting SSN members and organisations with a single point of contact for registering events and a suite of downloadable graphics, our social platform the Knowledge Hub provided a forum for members to share ideas and tips.
"Thank you for the Climate Week resources this year. We used them for banners on our display screens in libraries, community centres, offices and on staff emails. We held awareness raising workshops all week and ran a Twitter campaign. We've already started planning for next year!" - Jennifer Wraith, North Ayrshire Council
This year we partnered with Scottish Government in order to help share the Greener Scotland Climate Change campaign – ‘Saving the World isn’t just for the movies’. The campaign toolkit offered organisers a number of easy to share tools for awareness raising activities.
Other top event ideas included Climate Conversations, food waste workshops, beach cleans, film screenings and staff lunch seminars. Many organisations ran e-campaigns for staff as well as social media campaigns for the wider public.
Public sector participation in all shapes and sizes
Fife College hosted three different climate conversations with staff and students across different campuses. Adaptation Scotland hosted a live stream webinar focused on climate justice and adaptation. The University of Aberdeen ran workshops for staff and students focused on energy saving actions. Glasgow City Council partnered with different organisations including the Women’s Library and the City of Glasgow College to deliver a range of events, walks and installations.
NHS trusts from different areas ran staff and public awareness campaigns linking sustainability to improved health outcomes. Angus Council delivered a lunchtime talk on ‘invasive species and climate change’ while Edinburgh Napier University focused on reducing single use plastics across its campuses. The Scottish Parliament hosted a 'climate week festival' for staff and visitors - closing the car park for the day to help remind people to 'leave the car if it's not too far'!
Some of Scotland's largest public organisations, including Scottish Government, SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Water, Zero Waste Scotland and many others participated with conferences, field trips, lectures and awareness raising activities and campaigns.
Did you organise or run a Climate Week event this year? Take our five-minute survey and let us know how it went!