Here we are on the other side of Climate Action Week 2023. A huge thank you to all who organised events, led workshops, helped out and attended gatherings. A total of 30 events took place over the week, all led by community volunteers. It was a massive endeavour. This starburst of a week focused a huge amount of climate change and Earthy energy from many different people and organisations across Nelson and Tasman. It was a week filled with opportunities to learn, to connect and to start new adventures. It was about treading more lightly on our planet. Many of these events will become annual features of Climate Action Week, and we’ll continue to grow for the better.
Our first weekend was one of entertainment. We warmed up with a Roots Party at the Boathouse, where people boogied till late in their retro outfits to live blues music.
On Saturday the 27th a large crowd attended the official launch of Climate Action Week: the Ben + Beartha premiere, which was MC’d by Nelson City councillor Rachel Sanson. It was a hugely positive evening, leaving all beaming and dreaming of the things we could do with more Ben Bushells in the world. The film was followed by a Q&A with Ben, Karen Driver and Happen Films’ Antoinette Wilson and Jordan Osmond. The evening also included an introduction by NTCF co-chairs Joanna Santa Barbara and Harvey Ruru. TDC Mayor Tim King gave a thought-provoking speech about his experience as a farmer, disappointed at the extent of food that is wasted.
The weekend was also about reaching out in our communities. John-Paul Pochin’s Dream for Nelson drew in passersby in central Nelson to explore what the future might look like. Many interesting discussions were had at the NTCF stalls in farmers markets in Nelson and Motueka and 23 items were repaired at the Saturday Repair Cafe at the Victory Community Centre.Volunteers got out after the morning rain on Sunday to work with the Maire Stream Guardians. Meanwhile, Tasman Environmental Trust’s Banded Rail volunteers planted 800 seedlings near Richmond. Rally for Travel Justice attracted a crowd of supporters for better walking and biking infrastructure in Nelson.On Monday a group gathered at The Gecko Theatre in Motueka to learn about visible mending from Jacqui Chan. Many beautiful garments were made in this three hour workshop, which is bound to be repeated. On Tuesday, a group went on a bus tour of Golden Bay’s most sustainable businesses and a Stitch It Don’t Ditch It group demonstrated slow fashion in central Nelson.
The second half of Climate Action Week featured online climate education webinars, electric mobility and workshops in connecting with the land. We’ve had a lot of interest in the recording of Paul Winton’s talk on the importance of transforming our transport systems. This 90 minute webinar is an incredibly revealing and practical talk about the future of transport. It is available on our Youtube channel here and a summary, written by Joanna Santa Barbara, is available here.How we design our towns and cities featured in another webinar about Urban Regeneration, led by Magdalena Garbaczyk of Fineline Architecture. This was a platform for group exploration of urban spaces of the future. A recording of the webinar can be found here.Robin Schiff organised an inspiring Human Rights and Climate webinar in which participants watched and discussed a presentation by Josephine Grey about how United Nations Human Rights Principles and Framework could be integrated into our work, and used to advance not only food security but all basic needs and climate justice issues. You can watch the presentation here. Chris Wheatley and Scott Nicol ran a Take The Jump webinar to introduce people to the campaign, which is gaining steam. The website is now up and running here. Vendors at the E-Bike Expo and EV Expos were fortunate to have gorgeous sunny weather for locals to test their e-bikes and EVs. The final weekend was filled with opportunities to get out and learn about composting, edible weeds and seed saving.
