The Festival from our communities’ perspectives
As the seasons change and the warmer seasons officially disappear we’ve been reflecting on what a great time we had at the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival during September. In our last blog we spoke about the Festival’s achievements and why we value it so much - but what do our communities think?
The 116 community events ending up on the map are proof of how the Festival reached into communities all across Highland, Orkney and Shetland. We caught up with the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub’s Development Officer Team to see what the HICF meant in their communities.
Mhairi’s take on Lochaber’s celebrations
It was wonderful how many community groups in the area who responded to our call out and enthusiastically organised events in their community. From Apple Days to sustainable crafting workshops and food celebrations… there were too many events in Lochaber to choose from! So, I prioritised visiting areas like Eigg and Knoydart that I am not as familiar with. It was wonderful to meet new faces and hear about innovative projects that are at the cutting edge of tackling the climate crisis.
Staying local in Skye & Ross-shire for Katy
In Skye and Lochalsh, several community groups embraced the festival spirit with a variety of events in late September. In Portree, a clothes mending and repair workshop took place, while Broadford hosted a wonderful ‘Grow Local’ event at their Growers Hub. This event celebrated local food and gardening, allowing attendees to enjoy food tastings, tours, and learn about outdoor learning programs, horticultural therapy, and the Men’s Shed. I also discovered the new Tree Nursery project and the allotments.
Additionally, the Highland Good Food Partnership held its AGM in Breakish, featuring a potluck lunch and an engaging discussion on the topic: ‘Can our crofts feed Skye?’ Furthermore, CLIMAVORE organized the Coitchenn: Collective Commons event, which focused on local food, sustainability, and the stewardship of the islands' coastline in light of the climate emergency.
Overall, there was a strong sense of community involvement, as people engaged with sustainable solutions that resonated with them.
Highlights in Caithness & Sutherland from Luci
The festival had a really good variety of events this year and I met a few new people through events that were part of it. I personally liked the amount of nature orientated events that took place such as the guided nature walks, the beach cleans and the nature restoration. Loch view rural training center partnered with Think health Think nature to host a Sutherland Green Health networking Lunch which was the highlight of the festival for me. It was such a lovely visit and a chance to meet new people and find out about projects that are happening in the Sutherland area. Of course not forgetting the chance to meet all the animals on the croft! To round off the Festival we had the Green Fair, it was a good learning curve for me seeing how these bigger events are pulled together and having all the support that we had made all the difference. I’m glad it turned out so well even with the weather not playing ball!
Lots of local excitement in Orkney for Fran!
In Orkney the Festival started off with a bang! Stromness Museum launched Orkney's new snorkel trail in partnership with the Scottish Wildlife Trust with a day full of activities including guided snorkelling.
The Orkney Fairtrade Group organised a Fair, Local & Sustainable Fashion Show, featuring second-hand clothing from local charity shops restyled, accessorised and modelled on a catwalk to show us how it is possible to create great outfits from pre-loved clothing. Drift also encouraged us to use second-hand clothing with a clothes swap, as well as selling creative items by local makers and holding a zine-making workshop.
Westray Development Trust and the Environmental Action Group at Kirkwall Grammar School had fun outside. In Westray they had a seed swap and knowledge-sharing event at their community garden, while pupils at Kirkwall Grammar School worked on growing their own trees for a mini woodland project.
Finally, Sanday Community Craft Hub, Westray Development Trust and Greener Orkney all led a beach clean in their patch, with subsequent workshops and celebrations, including a BBQ at Scapa Beach.
Getting green across Inverness & South East Highland for Fiona
Having just started in post at the start of September, I missed experiencing the Green Town show hosted by Sustainable Strathspey by a matter of days. However, I attended their ‘wash up’ meeting and it sounds as if it was a huge success with a considerable increase in turn out and one that is definitely in my diary for next year! I did visit Green Hive's sustainability day hosted on the schools in-service day which saw multi-generational activities in the community garden, building a bug house and creative writing workshop. I was fortunate to see the display of artwork produced by Ardersier Primary School pupils as part of The Highland Weigh's climate festival zero-waste project and enjoyed the engaging presentations by Haventus and the Butterfly Conservation Project at the September Climate Cafe.
Straight into the Festival in Shetland for Andrea!
Coming into a new role is always exciting and a bit daunting. Starting as a Community Development Officer at the start of September was even more exciting because the Festival was just kicking off! Getting to see the membership host unique gave a really idea of who our Hub members were and what they are working towards.
In Shetland, we'd hosted our Climate Festival in June with a week long celebration of local climate initiatives. But September offered an opportunity to go back to groups I'd met during our Festival and share my new role and form new collaborations and gain new members!
After getting a flavour of the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival this year, I'm already looking forward to next year and bringing the spiritism of localism into Shetland and it's Climate Festival.
All across the region communities celebrated the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival unique ways that represented their community. They drew on their local produces, interests and people. And really, that’s exactly what the HICF is all about - celebrating localism. Here’s to next year!