The Highlands and Islands Climate Fetival 2023
The Highlands and Islands Climate Hub and a dedicated working group of community groups and organisations from across the region are pleased to launch the digital platforms of the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival.
The Highlands and Islands Climate Festival is a celebration of localism and community engagement with a focus on climate action to be held from 1st – 30th September 2023.
The celebration comes after the success two independent festivals in Summer 2022 which saw over 150 events take place either in person or online. Events ranged from active travel, film screenings, academic talks, swap events, growing sessions and so much more. The organizing group are excited to see the range of activities communities come forward with in 2023.
The theme of the festival is ‘Think Local, Be Local’. Groups are encouraged to host events which highlight the community climate action work they’re carrying out and engage with their wider community to promote that climate action can take many forms.
To support the festival and community participation, the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub have worked to produce an independent digital presence for the festival. This includes a dedicated website and social media platforms.
Hub Manager, Joan Lawrie said:
“The formation of the working group has been brilliant to make sure there’s been community representation from the offset. We’re thrilled to be launching the website and social media channels and can’t wait to see events and funding applications flood in! The beauty of the festival is that the decision making powers lie with the communities who take part. Our working group has representatives from Shetland to Skye who have worked together to produce an inclusive and exciting festival offering.”
The Hub team have worked with Highland based experts, website designer, Kirsty M Design and artist, Aimee Lockwood to produce the digital presence and festival brand. Careful consideration went into each planning element to ensure inclusivity and equal representation for all communities.
Hub & Membership Co-Ordinator, Marion Reid said:
“Working with Kirsty & Aimee to create the website and bring the brand to life has been incredible. Kirsty quickly understood what we were hoping to achieve as did Aimee who created the most incredible illustrations which represent the festival and our vibrant Highland communities perfectly. It’s important to us that our digital presence is mindful of carbon impacts which was taken into consideration at every step of the planning and design process.”
In addition to producing the digital presence, the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub offer financial support to communities to host festival events. There are two small grant funds available and open for applications via the new webiste now. The Event Fund and the Big Local Picnic Fund. The Event Fund offers up to £250 for communities to host their events, this could cover professional fees, film screening costs, travel expenses, venue hire and much more. The Big Local Picnic Fund offers up to £200 so that communities can host an indoor or outdoor picnic which brings the community together to celebrate local food and drink.
Within the website, users will also find helpful resources to make sure their events run as straightforward as possible. These resources include a branding pack complete with poster templates and social media cards, template Health and Safety documents as well as guides on hosting a sustainable event and so much more.
Once communities have decided on the event they’d like to host, they’re encouraged to register it via the website so we can promote it via the digital platforms and via the festivals interactive map which will showcase the vibrancy of the communities taking part and really reflect the huge number of projects taking place from Shetland to Skye.