In the Eddy of the Stream draws attention to the breakdown of ecosystems through the removal of plants and the ensuing long-term harm to people, communities, and other species. The exhibition brings together the work of Cooking Sections and Sakiya who create their own eddies; sheltered areas where water flows back upstream against the current. The two collectives’ work stimulates debate and offers tools for addressing historical damage and the resulting ecological crisis.

Through the lens of plants and the politics embedded in their growth, containment and conservation, this exhibition stems from the history of land struggles in Scotland and Palestine. ‘A fish from the river, a staff from the forest, a deer from the mountain’ (from Gaelic: breac à linne, slat à coille ‘s fiadh à fìreach) has long captured the fight against the enclosure of common land, and yet the thinking behind this saying seems more critical than ever. The different projects undertaken by the artists forge new alliances between humans and other species across changing territories.

The installations, performances and materials in this exhibition challenge how botany has been used as a mechanism of control and how it might identify new horizons. From the banning of foraging practices to rewilding and waste-landing debates, this exhibition puts forward new ways of understanding and repositioning ourselves.

Cooking Sections is a practice that examines the systems that organise the world through food, and how food can be used to explore, trace and advance climate justice. Their work is dedicated to understanding the aftermath of the extraction of natural resources in contested landscapes. They use site-responsive installations and performance to explore the overlapping boundaries between art, architecture, ecology and geopolitics.

Sakiya is an academy, a residency programme, a research hub, and a farm located in Ein Qiniya, a small agricultural village seven kilometres west of Ramallah, in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. Like most of the West Bank’s open spaces and natural resources, the area in which Sakiya operates is prohibited for Palestinian use, owing to restrictions of Israeli civil and security control. By grafting local traditions of self-sufficiency onto contemporary art and ecological practices, Sakiya seeks to create new narratives around relationships to land, knowledge-production, and commoning.

In the Eddy of the Stream is an Edinburgh Art Festival 2022 partner exhibition.

The Orkney Climate Festival will celebrate and engage communities throughout the islands in Climate action. The Festival will be comprised of community groups throughout Orkney leading events centered around climate action, whether it is showcasing what climate action projects already exists, engaging in new activities, providing information or just talking about climate change, any event and group can be involved, no matter how big or small.

The Orkney Climate Festival will accomplish three aims; to celebrate the fantastic work already going on amongst our communities, to engage our communities in taking climate action and to raise awareness of climate change throughout Orkney. This will be done through a series of events, both online and in-person, from the 1st to 7th September, in conjunction and collaboration with the Orkney Science Festival.

If you are looking to find out what’s going on during the Orkney Climate Festival, apply for funding, submit an event, or find out more information, then this is the space for you.

The Orkney Climate Festival has been organized by the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub.

Join our weekly guided walk and look for the elusive hen harriers and corncrakes! Meet 10am at the Visitor Centre. Walks last approx 2 hours, please dress appropriately for the weather. Sensible footwear essential!

£3 for members, £5 for non-members and under 16s go free. No booking required – pay on the day, cash and card payments accepted.

Dates of this event:

• 1st September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 8th September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 15th September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 22nd September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 29th September: 10am – 12.30pm

Loch Druidibeg is one of the best places in the Uists to see both golden and sea eagles, alongside hen harriers, short-eared owls, merlin and rare divers as well as a wonderfully rich variety of plants.

Cost for this walk is £3 for RSPB Members, £6 for non-members. Children go free. Please pay for this event on the day, we can only accept cash payments.

Dates of this event:

• 1st September: 10am – 11.30am
• 8th September: 10am – 11.30am
• 15th September: 10am – 11.30am
• 22nd September: 10am – 11.30am
• 29th September: 10am – 11.30am

Art Walk Projects’ SALT exhibition connects global questions to specific local communities, histories and geographies through the unifying theme of salt. In Portobello, salt was manufactured from the 1600s until 1953 using coal to evaporate seawater, and the material traces of these saltpans can still be traced. Nearby, salt marshes provide dynamic and important ecosystems that dampen the impacts of coastal storms. Salt marshes are integral parts of tidal wetland systems, which sequester half of all global marine carbon – yet these are now being threatened due to rising sea levels, and the ensuing erosion of coastlines and coastal plant ecologies. Artists have been invited to develop place-specific responses to the ecologies of the coastline of Portobello, paying particular attention to coastal erosion, sea water salinity, local salt marsh habitats, the materiality of salt, and industrial histories of salt production.

The SALT exhibition will run from Thursday 1st to Sunday 11th September 2022, opening from 11am to 5pm on Thursdays and Fridays and 11am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays at the Art Walk Hub at 189 Portobello High Street. It will feature work created by residency artists Joanne Matthews, Mahala le May, Tonya McMullan and Natasha Thembiso Ruwona as part of a one-year programme of art/science residencies and outdoor public art commissions connecting Edinburgh’s coastal ecologies with the global climate crisis. It will also feature work from the PORT walking art project, in which artists Henna Asikainen, Louise Barrington, Rosy Naylor, Elspeth Penfold and Stephanie Whitelaw connect four different coastline localities across the UK (Portobello, Edinburgh; Tankerton, Kent; Holy Island, Northumberland; and Scapa Beach, Orkney) and consider the impact of climate change on each.

Art Walk Projects is an organisation based in Portobello that curates and commissions environmental public art projects focusing on Edinburgh’s northeast coastline. Founded in 2015, it delivers a range of residencies, exhibitions and activities throughout the year to encourage dialogue around our oceans/seas and their relationship to the climate emergency. The SALT exhibition is part of ART WALK PORTY Festival 2022, an annual two-week festival of contemporary art that celebrates the local artist community of Portobello each September. ART WALK PORTY Festival 2022 will feature exhibitions, installations, live performances, film screenings, workshops, open studios, art in shops, book launches, and artist-led walks and talks. The full programme of events can be found here: www.artwalkporty.co.uk/salt2022.html.

Join us for our “Conference for the Community” an event open to all. Held in the beautiful grounds of Cambo Estate we will hear talks on subjects such as climate change, biodiversity loss and wildlife crime along with meeting the gardeners at Cambo who will teach us about environmentally friendly gardening. Our keynote speaker is Professor Sir Ian Boyd and further information on the programme can be found on our website. Please note that some of the talks will involve a small amount of walking and being outside so please dress appropriately.

Programme

9:30 – 10:00 – Arriving

1000: Welcome: Footprint East Neuk

10.10 – 10.40: Three discourses on sustainability Ian Boyd, University of St Andrews

10.40 – 10.50: Questions

10.50 – 11.10: Biodiversity loss: Alison Johnston, University of St Andrews

11.10 – 11.20: Questions

11.20 – 11.40: Break

11.40 – 12.15: Farming footprint. Panel discussion on regenerative farming. Facilitated by Ian Boyd.

12.15 – 12.30: Questions

12.30 – 13.30: Lunch. Participants can explore the gardens and stands.

13.30. – 14.00: Animal Tracks and Signs, Donald Malone, Wildside Nature

14.00 – 14.30: Climate/Wildlife friendly gardening. In the garden with a gardener at Cambo

14.30 – 14.50: Break

14.50 – 15.10: Footprints in crime. “Wildlife forensics” Rob Ogden, University of Edinburgh

15.10 – 15.20: Questions

15.20 – 15.40: Blue Carbon. William Austin, University of St Andrews

15.40 – 15.50: Questions

16.00: Close

« Climate Fresk » is a workshop conceived in France, that aims at raising awareness and understanding among people about climate change.

Based on the IPCC report, it explains the causes and consequences of climate change. It gives the opportunity to learn a lot in a very short period of time and is meant for both novices and experts.

That’s how the game works:

The workshop is based on a 42-card game. Each card represents a cause or a consequence of climate change.

As a team, guided by your facilitator, you are to find the cause-effect relationship between the different components of climate change. Collective intelligence will get you from one deck of card to the next!

This step-by-step reconstruction provides keys to understand the complexity of climate change.

The workshop’s programme:

– A Brief History Of “Climate Fresk”

– Icebreaker

– Reconstruction of the Climate Fresk guided by your facilitator

– A little pause in between if needed

– Creative phase

– Debrief time to share, express thoughts and feelings

REMEMBER: The workshop takes place online, a good internet connection is necessary.

Practical information:

Beforehand, please make sure you have correctly checked the day and time of attendance indicated for the workshop. The word “BST” means “British Standard Time”. If you come across this term, we recommend that you check the exact time of the workshop in your city by visiting this time zone conversion website here.

Make sure to have installed the zoom.us software, which will be the workshop’s communication platform.

You will receive an email with all the technical information you need, including the link to join the meeting two days and one minute before the workshop starts.

Please take your ticket only if you are sure that you can make it!

Dates and Times:

• 3rd September: Sat, 17:00 – 20:00 BST
• 8th September: Thu, 10:30 – 13:30 BST
• 10th September: Sat, 09:00 – 12:00 BST
• 14th September: Wed, 18:00 – 21:00 BST
• 17th September: Sat, 04:30 – 07:30 BST
• 22nd September: Thu, 10:30 – 13:30 BST
• 24th September: Sat, 09:00 – 12:00 BST
• 28th September: Wed, 18:00 – 21:00 BST
• 1st October: Sat, 17:00 – 20:00 BST

Do you want to…

• Get expert advice on how to make your home more energy efficient, and what financial help is available?
• Learn how your small business can improve its green credentials?
• Explore the practicalities of buying and running an EV?
• Find out how to make your garden wildlife-friendly?
• See what local businesses are doing to combat climate change?
• Discover how to reduce your carbon footprint?
• Share your best green ideas?
• Or locate where to recycle more, and more efficiently?

Then come along to the Greentown Show!

From 11am to 3pm on Saturday 3rd September head to the Grantown square for an informative and fun event for all the family. Visit the Sustainable Strathspey tent to find out more about us and the event, and to learn all about home composting.

There will also be stalls from Home Energy Scotland, Green Flame, Waste Management, GrowBiz, Cairngorms National ParkAuthority, The Grantown Initiative, Grantown Society, AES solar, and AW Laing to name a few.

Hear from residents in the town that have made changes to their homes to make them more energy efficient and low-carbon. Or take a tour of the green Cairngorms National Park Authority building.

Children can take part in a fun activity collecting green things local businesses are doing.

The Edinburgh Climate Festival 2022 is a free, family friendly and community-led event at Leith Links on Saturday 3rd September from 12-5pm. We aim to bring people from all over together to celebrate and inspire climate action in our communities. 

Featuring performances, stalls, kids’ and adults’ activities and more, this is not to be missed! You can find out more our Facebook Page and you can express your interest in attending here.

Opportunities for you and/or your group to get involved

Get involved in planning, organising and running the Festival! From organising speakers and workshops, to community outreach and social media, to attending on the day and making sure everything runs smoothly – there’s something for any enthusiastic volunteer so sign up here!

If you would like to host a stall or activity on the day as part of your organisation, register your interest here!

Join botanist Greg Kenicer for a walking tour to discover what grows along the shoreline between Anstruther and Pittenweem. This walk is organised by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Restoration Forth project, restoring seagrass and native oyster habitats in the region.

Throughout the walk we’ll look at some of the coastal vegetation and seaweeds, uncovering their ecology, botany and folklore to build a picture of the diversity and importance of the Forth’s amazing habitats.

Greg Kenicer is a botanist with particular interests in the uses and lore of plants as well as the evolution and diversity of the pea family, but to be honest – anything botanical fascinates him.

This walk will follow the Fife Coastal Path which includes some rocky ground, uneven surfaces, and steps. Please get in touch if you are unsure if this walk will be accessible to you. The total distance of this walk is 2 miles, but please bear in mind any additional walking distance between public transport or back to your vehicle. This walk is not circular and will end in Pittenweem, buses are available back to Anstruther or onwards to St Andrews or Leven – please plan you route ahead.

If you require a BSL interpreter, please get in touch and we will arrange this dependant on interpreter availability. For any questions or requests about the accessibility of this event please contact [email protected]

Tickets are free but must be booked in advance here

Restoration Forth is an ambitious project to start restoring health and biodiversity to the Firth of Forth, it will forge new connections between local communities and the sea. Restoration Forth is managed by WWF, in partnership with scientists, charities, government agencies, and most importantly local community groups.  

Join writer, artist, researcher and Scottish Communities Climate Action Network story weaver Joana Avi-Lorie for a hands-on fun storytelling workshop focused on climate resilience and justice!

For children 8 and adults alike, this workshop will involve several quick and intuitive writing exercises exploring themes such as biodiversity, clean energy, food security, and social justice, leading up to the creation of an original fairy tale or science fiction story. Each story can be written, drawn, performed, or filmed with your phone – there’s no limit to creativity. The stories will be shared with the group at the end of the workshop, but no need to feel pressured – someone will be able to help you out. Join us for an afternoon of imagining, dreaming and mobilising for climate justice, together!

This event takes place on the weekend of the Huntly Hairst, a time where local food, producers, skills and knowledge is celebrated. Check out our other events we have going on, including a Reading Room of texts and books collected throughout Hussein’s project, and a Huntly Climate Ceilidh taking place in the evening. 

Accessibility

This free event will be taking place in Square Deal, a fully accessible venue. The Square Deal garden will be open as a quiet space. If you have any dietary requirements or other accessibility requirements, please let us know at [email protected] / 01466 794494.

About the project

This event is a part of The World is Ours, In Spite of All, a project with artist and educator Hussein Mitha. The project, made in collaboration with young people, explores how climate justice can repair our world, considering education and its challenges in a time of climate emergency with an aim to cultivate an ethos of inspiration, cooperation, connection and solidarity to rise to those challenges.

Image credit: Joana Avi-Lorie

Deveron Projects and the Huntly Youth Climate Warriors invite you to the Huntly Climate Ceilidh! In the Gaelic spirit of the word ‘Ceilidh’ as a social gathering, join us for an evening of sharing climate actions, worries and solutions and celebrating the commitment of Aberdeenshire’s young people to climate justice.

The ceilidh will take place in Huntly Square and will kick off at 7.30pm with the introduction of the Huntly Youth Climate Warriors and unveiling of a manifesto they have been working on with Deveron Projects artist in residence, Hussein Mitha. We will then carry on to dance the night away to the sounds of live music in the Square, accompanied by climate themed snacks, drinks, decorations and games the Huntly Youth Climate Warriors have made!

This event takes place on the weekend of the Huntly Hairst, a time where local food, producers, skills and knowledge is celebrated. Check out our other events we have going on, including a story-writing workshop with writer and artist Joana Avi-Lorie, and a Reading Room of texts collected throughout Hussein’s project.

Event info

Ticketing

The climate crisis is playing its part in financial stability, through such crises as the energy and cost of living. We are therefore committed to making this Ceilidh to be as financially accessible as possible and are using a sliding scale ticketing system to aid in this, with tickets priced as free / £2 / £5. To prioritise the accessibility of young people, please book a free ticket if you are under 25. For anyone over 25, please choose the ticket you feel you can afford (refer to the Eventbrite ticket descriptions if you need help). All ticket sales from this Ceilidh will go back into the Huntly Youth Climate Warriors’ future activities.

Accessibility

The Square is a an accessible area, usually used as a car park. Our wheelchair accessible toilet will be open in Square Deal, as will the public toilets on Castle St (which have a step up). The Square Deal garden will be open as a quiet space. If you have any dietary requirements or other accessibility requirements, please let us know.

Weather

With weather becoming increasingly unpredictable, it is hard to know whether we really will be able to host this Ceilidh outside! In the event of poor weather, we will continue our dancing and celebration in Square Deal.

Travel

If you are travelling to Huntly for this event and would like more information about transport or accommodation please contact the team: [email protected] / 01466 794 494

About the project

This event is a part of The World is Ours, In Spite of All, a project with artist and educator Hussein Mitha. The project, made in collaboration with young people, explores how climate justice can repair our world, considering education and its challenges in a time of climate emergency with an aim to cultivate an ethos of inspiration, cooperation, connection and solidarity to rise to those challenges.

Experience Insh Marshes from a new perspective!

Under the guidance of an instructor from Loch Insh Outdoor Centre, our team member will lead this special guided tour through the reserve, where you can experience the unique habitats and species at Insh Marshes from the water.

Feel free to bring your own paddleboard if you have one, but don’t worry if not – Cairngorms Connect has kindly sponsored this event so equipment hire is included with your ticket, if needed.

Participants will also be welcome to claim 10% off a meal or snacks in the Boathouse Restaurant to refuel after the event.

Children over 12 welcome, under 18s with an accompanying adult. We will meet at the Loch Insh Outdoor Centre car park.

Join RSPB staff on a walk around Balranald Nature Reserve to learn more about the working landscape, and how the work of the crofters helps preserve the diverse machair and support huge numbers of breeding waders.

 This walk costs £3 for RSPB members, £6 for non-members. Children go free. Please pay for this event on the day, we can only accept cash payments.

Dates of this event:

• 6th September: 10am – 11.30am
• 13th September: 10am – 11.30am
• 20th September: 10am – 11.30am
• 27nd September: 10am – 11.30am

Join us looking for golden eagles and choughs and enjoy spectacular views from the American Monument. Meet 10am at Upper Killeyan car park (Car park is situated on unnamed road, on the way to the American Monument). Walks last approx 2 hours, please dress appropriately for the weather. Sensible footwear essential!

£3 for members, £5 for non-members and under-16s go free. No booking required – pay on the day, cash and card payments accepted.

Dates of this event:

• 6th September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 13th September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 20th September: 10am – 12.30pm
• 27th September: 10am – 12.30pm

Join us, in real life or online via Zoom, as we host a Climate
Café with 3 expert speakers and dive into the topic of Green Lairds.

Carbon Storage or Carbon Sequestration are terms that are being used very often by environmentalists and big tech as a way to mitigate climate change.

Upland farmland is presently being bought at soaring prices by investors intent on planting trees and restoring peatlands for carbon offsetting. With a rich natural capital, Scotland is at the heart of the debate. How do we maximise carbon storage in a way that is socially just and environmentally robust? 

In our upcoming climate cafe, Green Lairds – Land Acquisition for Carbon, our team of speakers will discuss the aims of government and environmental bodies and whether these investments will deliver environmental regeneration and improved amenity for the local community. Come and join us on Zoom or at Mental Health Aberdeen on Dee Street on Tuesday 6th September at 7 pm. Book your ticket here!

Various recommendations will be proposed that may lead to community involvement and a greater strategic approach.

rJoin botanist Greg Kenicer for a walking tour to discover the fascinating natural history of East Wemyss including fossil plants and Pictish carvings. This walk is organised by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Restoration Forth project, restoring seagrass and native oyster habitats in the region.

We’ll look at the landscape and culture of the Forth in three different eras – firstly, the truly ancient habitats of the Carboniferous as told through the coal and fossils. We’ll visit the local caves with their early Pictish carvings and consider the modern plants and habitats of the area.

Greg Kenicer is a botanist with particular interests in the uses and lore of plants as well as the evolution and diversity of the pea family, but to be honest – anything botanical fascinates him.

This walk will follow the Fife Coastal Path which includes some rocky ground and uneven surfaces. Please get in touch if you are unsure if this walk will be accessible to you. The total distance of this walk is 2 miles, but please bear in mind any additional walking distance between public transport or back to your vehicle. This walk is circular and will start and end at East Wemyss Beach Front. Parts of the walk are extremely rocky and require sure-footed access.

If you require a BSL interpreter, please get in touch and we will arrange this dependant on interpreter availability. For any questions or requests about the accessibility of this event please contact [email protected]

Restoration Forth is an ambitious project to start restoring health and biodiversity to the Firth of Forth, it will forge new connections between local communities and the sea. Restoration Forth is managed by WWF, in partnership with scientists, charities, government agencies, and most importantly local community groups.

Join RSPB staff on a guided walk around Loch Langass in search of wildlife, including the resident seal and otter populations. Learn more about the life of these fascinating mammals, while discovering all that the east coast of Uist has to offer.

The cost for this event is £5 for RSPB members, £10 for non-members. Children go free. Please pay for this event on the day, we can only accept cash.

Dates of this event:

• 7th September: 10am – 1pm
• 14th September: 10am – 1pm
• 21th September: 10am – 1pm
• 28th September: 10am – 1pm

A Climate Café is an opportunity to give ourselves time to sit, perhaps with a hot drink and a slice of cake, and describe our thoughts and feelings about the crises of our ecology.

Climate Cafés are bounded by confidentiality although they are not therapy sessions. We invite you to take part in a warm, hospitable, facilitated conversation where you can reflect on your and others’ feelings without being bounced into action. This is one way of coping with the challenges facing us all.

More details and further opportunities, online as well as in-person, can be found on the links here https://www.eventbrite.com/o/40125112323

Documentary made in Aberdeen in late 2021, with local performers asked ‘how do we let go of the world of oil and all it represents?’.  

Through an infusion of live performance, interviews and cityscape, this film attempts to tell some of those stories showing how oil seeps deep into the lives, aspirations and personal relationships of people living and working in Aberdeen and beyond. 

Followed by a facilitated discussion on the themes raised in the film.

‘When you row a boat you are looking backwards, but moving forwards.’

Join us for an evening of discussion as we bring together creative practitioners and environmental experts from around Scotland to explore the importance of due diligence to the past and present when planning for a sustainable future. Speakers will share their experience of working with communities and local archives to create a sense of shared ownership of the past and recording the story of now as an important first step in uniting communities to envisage a new future.

Speakers will discuss concepts including Roman Krznaric’s The Good Ancestor (long-term thinking in a short-term world) and Tradition Bearing on the Isle of Skye, as ways to connect past and present with the future and tell the story of people and place across all three as a continuous narrative.

This session will bring together community representatives, creative practitioners and those passionate about the environment to share their questions and discuss their ideas for a better future.

Arrival from 6pm. Panel discussion from 6.30-8pm. Networking from 8pm.

This event is produced by Open Road Ltd, a local creative organisation based in the harbour area of Aberdeen. Open Road is dedicated to using culture and creativity inspired by people and place to transform lives and work towards a more sustainable future for all.

This event is taking place as part of the Green Tease events series and network, a project organised by Creative Carbon Scotland, bringing together people from arts and environmental backgrounds to discuss, share expertise, and collaborate. Green Tease forms part of the culture/SHIFT programme.

Lil’s Swish and Sashiko is two events in one!

A Sashiko repair workshop (6pm-8pm) and a Clothes Swap Swish (8pm-10pm) on Friday September 9 at the Maitlandfield House Hotel, Haddington.  Your Sashiko repairs begin at 6pm, and doors open to the Swish at 7.30pm.  

All materials will be provided for the Sashiko workshop, but please do bring along something you want mended if you want to work on real life materials.

For the Swish, please donate ahead of time. All sizes, all ages, all shapes, all genders, all of *you* are welcome! Please see more info at the Lil website www.dolilthings.org/miscellaneous/swish

We’re excited to invite you to our first Share and Repair community repair shop and skills share on Saturday 10 September!

Our Share and Repair event will see local craftspeople and businesses in Aberdeen offering their help to repair items that have seen better days, as well as sharing these skills with our group gathering local autistic teens and their parents, carers and friends.

The idea is to to create a free meeting place and be all about repairing things (together). Visitors will find tools and materials to help them make any repairs needed. On clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, etcetera.

Believing in the ‘right to repair’, we strive to mobilise local communities into a civic movement of ‘sharing and repairing’ and start our own Repair Cafe as a follow up plan.

Location TBC

Our Campaigner Conference is back! After a couple of years of restrictions, we-re inviting Scotland’s Fair Trade campaigners to come together face-to-face to celebrate what’s been achieved and to look forward at the future of Fair Trade campaigning in Scotland.

Morning tea & coffee, and lunch will be provided.

Registration is free but donations are welcome, and can be made when you register for a ticket.

We look forward to welcoming Neil Gray MSP, Minister for International Development; Sarah Brazier of the Fairtrade Foundation’s Community Award scheme; a Fair Trade producer online; and yourselves, Scotland’s amazing Fair Trade campaigners.

A big thank you to Koolskools for sponsoring the event.

A full programme will follow soon. 

Books have a unique ability to inspire and inform, and in the midst of a climate emergency have become a more crucial tool than ever for communicating climate issues on both global and local levels, taking us to places we’ve never been and sharing stories by people we would otherwise never meet. 

Join The Nature Library at Arran Botanical Drinks’ Beach House in Cladach for a weekend of stories on food, and drink, sustainability and land use, foraging, botanical art and more. As the former site of the Arran Nature Centre, The Nature Library will be celebrating its history while also looking at the future of Scotland’s coastal communities though books, talks and botanical activities inspired by the Beach House’s coastal and woodland surroundings.

Full schedule of guests TBA.

Follow The Nature Library on Twitter and Instagram or check back here for updates when they’re announced!

Join us in celebrating Harvest at Krishna Eco Farm! Bringing our communities together and learning about eco-living

This festival will showcase:

• A delicious feast prepared from freshly harvested vegetables and herbs on our eco-farm
• Special guest speakers including; how you can cut your energy bills via sustainable technologies
• Tips and tricks to live a more sustainable life
• A cultural programme with related musical performances & Indian classical dance
• Wellbeing workshops with Meditation and Yoga
• Children’s activities and a chance to meet our Alpacas!

Join us at sunset for an outdoor screening of a series of twelve short films created by Earthing Project. The films explore relationships between humans and the natural world through imagery, movement, music and storytelling. Earthing is a year-long art project, a collaboration among multidisciplinary artists and filmmakers.

The event will kick off with an introduction from the makers as well as local environmental groups Shrup Coop and Earth in Common, who will talk about their work and positive action around climate change. We will then screen the set of 12 films, pausing halfway through for contributions from poets Esa Aldegheri, Scott Cassidy, Ali Millar and Jennifer Williams. The event will conclude with music from DJ TaKt ArT and time for mingling and discussion.

The Pavilion Cafe will be selling delicious food and drink during the evening. Entry is free, however if you are able, we will be taking a suggested donation of £10 (inc. a free drink). Proceeds will be divided between the roof fund for The Pavilion Cafe and local environmental campaigns.

Please note: the films contain some instances of nudity as well as imagery that some may find disturbing. If you have any concerns about the content or want to know more about what to expect, please get in touch with [email protected].

Technical Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible.

The nearest bus stops are located 5 minutes away from the venue on Melville Drive where the 24 and 41 buses stop. The venue is 20-30 minutes walk or wheel from the nearest train station, Edinburgh Waverley.

The event will be held outdoors, so please be prepared for Scottish September by bringing an extra layer and/or waterproof.

We want to remove barriers to participation in these events and are happy to make adjustments to prevent people being excluded. If you have any accessibility requirements, please state these when signing up or get in touch by email if you would like to provide more information or ask any questions. Please see our Safe Working Spaces Statement for more information.

This event is supported by Creative Carbon Scotland’s Green Tease event series, part of the culture/SHIFT programme.

Earthing Project logo image: Rose Clarkson @roseinbold

We’re very excited to be joined by musicians, storytellers and researchers and to display a range of creative work that responds to seaweed, environment and community, all in a Victorian walled garden connected to the Oban Food Bank.

Our event is funded by the British Science Association and Dandelion.
Garden grown food as well as seaweed dishes will be available (free).

LSC BIO (Be Involved Outdoors) Group are a group of volunteers who have been working to improve the biodiversity and beauty of Albert Park on the southside of Glasgow since an ecological survey was carried out in 2020.  The park is a 10 acre multi-sport club, but is also a designated Site of Importance to Nature Conservation.  It is boundaried on two sides by the White Cart river and extensively tree-lined – a hidden green oasis.  We have planted lots of pollinator friendly plants, created a habitat hedge (dead hedge), introduced native hedging, have introduced composting, greened up the hard spaces at the club and we are transforming a 130 metre grassy bank into a wildflower bank, and  more besides – come and see what we have achieved.  On the day there will be a map to guide you around the park, volunteers on hand to answer questions.  In the Clubhouse there will be a slideshow of photos from the past two years of hard work, a wildflower seed giveaway, and some free refreshments.  There will also be a  display of COP 26 placards – a nostalgic reminder…

For any queries feel free to contact [email protected]

Moving Images solar powered caravan cinema will be touring 6 community gardens and hubs in the Scottish Borders screening Film Seeds, a 40 mins programme of short films with themes around climate and social justice, recycling, the beauty of weeds and grassroots activism in September and early October. Each tour stop will be accompanied by a range of activities organised by our hosts as well as flip book animation workshops and climate conversations. Film Seeds Tour has beed funded by Film Hub Scotland & Climate Fringe Festival and supported by Alchemy Film & Arts and Connecting Threads.

THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY means we need to find new ways of doing things, to reduce our impact on the planet. Join us to hear from Ben Carter of Vattenfall to hear about the work they are doing to decarbonise energy systems, and especially the work they are involved in developing a city scale heat network for Edinburgh. There will be time for discussion about Net Zero and for questions too.

Ben will talk about city-scale district heating. This is interesting as it is based on securing lots of abundant local zero carbon energy sources, it replaces gas and can help reduce the cost of living. He will focus on the vision they have developed for a city scale heat network in Edinburgh and talk about where district heating works best and where it doesn’t.

Biography: Ben Carter enjoys delivering on Vattenfall’s vision of a city scale heat network for Edinburgh. He works with a broad range of public, corporate and community stakeholders to understand their journey to zero carbon and how Vattenfall can be their number one decarbonisation partner. He has been in the renewable heating sector since 2010, moving into energy from waste in 2015 and focussing on building decarbonisation and district heating since 2016.  Before moving into renewables Ben spent the better part of a decade in beautiful Mexico, in brand licensing and marketing.

Please register to join this discussion at this link:

https://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/event/decarbonising-energy 

All our events during September are part of the Climate Fringe Festival. You can find climate, community and justice events all across Scotland on the events map.

With over 15,000 different fungi in the UK no wonder there are so many different shapes, sizes and wonderful colours. Join RSPB staff and our resident fungi enthusiast on a guided walk to discover the array of different wild and wonderful mushrooms that can be found on the reserve. Learn some different ID features and fascinating facts as we look a little closer at RSPB Loch of Kinnordy.

We will meet in the main car park at Loch of Kinnordy and be using the core path therefore walking shoes would be acceptable. Please dress appropriately according to weather forecasts.

Quick Overview:

Join us from noon – lunch until 1pm – walk for 1 & 1/2 hours – networking teas and coffees.

This event is FREE to join for stakeholders of the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network

About the Nature Walk

We want to take you on an exciting walk through one of the historical and green treasures of Scotland – Pollok Country Park. We will discuss the history of common land in Scotland, plant-hunting expeditions that changed our flora and fauna, and much more to deepen our understanding of Scotland’s relationship with its nature.

Good to Know

This is an outdoor, all-weather walk. Please bring sturdy walking shoes and waterproof clothes in the event of rain. We will be filming the event to allow anyone unable to attend in person to access the content.

What could a future Uist be like? What language and technologies might people be using? What kind of environment or homes might people be living in? In a changing climate how might future islanders live? Creating and sharing stories is an important way of exploring sometimes challenging ideas about what our future might be like.

Join writer Katharine Macfarlane and Cothrom Community Development Tutor, Alison Stockwell, for a creative writing workshop at  Lionacleit Library on Friday 16th September, 2-5pm. All welcome, young and old, families and friends.

Please note, this is a drop-in event so you are free to come and go as you please. There will be copies of the activities made available online at https://www.cothrom.net/events–classes.html for you to access and printed copies on site at  Lionacleit Library that you can take away with you and share.

Examining ‘land’ as material, as power, and as terrain for violence and resistance, our programme this year looks to the earth beneath our feet – while dreaming of new ways to inhabit it. Through screenings of our four features, plus a Radical Mycology workshop with Rhyze Mushrooms in addition to online resources and one-off events, the Edinburgh edition of the festival charts connections between Palestinian foraging practices and Filipino land defence, migrant justice in the UK and radical mycology. We invite you to join us in unearthing networks of solidarity across all kinds of borders – and envisioning our embeddedness within them.

All tickets are either available on a pay what you can basis or free for all.

Take One Action Film Festival 2021 (Trailer) from Take One Action Film Festivals on Vimeo.

Join us for an evening of urban mushroom farming and radical politics, featuring an in depth talk on ‘MycoRenewal in Theory and Practice’ from special guest Maya Elson, co-founder of the Radical Mycology Movement (Full description below).

There will also be:

Farm Tours

Fun Mushroom Cultivation Activities

Mushroom Art

Music

And More!

The event is BYOB , and please be come prepared to show ID if you’re gonna drink alcohol. There will maybe be folk selling food at the event, but feel free to bring snacks!

6pm – Doors Open: farm tours, activities, mingling

7pm – ‘MycoRenewal in Theory and Practice’ with Maya Elson

8:30pm – More farm tours/activities/chats

9pm – Band (TBA)

10:30pm – Start clearing ooot

11pm ~Fin~

About ‘MycoRenewal in Theory and Practice’

Fungi, and the humans that choose to practice Mycopermaculture, Mycomimicry, and MycoPsychology are challenging the belief that humanity is separate from, and superior to all other beings. How do we find our place in harmony with our ecosystem and the world of fungi? What can the Fungal Realm teach us about interconnection, decomposing capitalism and remediating our inner and outer landscapes? This workshop will give a theoretical and practical framework for working with our fungal allies, at home and in our communities. It will include using real-world examples, namely, CoRenewal’s efforts in Ecuador to clean up oil spills with bacteria and fungi, post-fire biofiltration with fungi, and heavy metal remediation on farms using Mycorrhizal Fungi. We will explore basic fungal biology and various techniques of mushroom cultivation, as well as biofiltration and bioremediation with fungi and bacteria.

Maya Elson weaves together the wildness of our ecosystems with the wildness of our human selves, cultivating belonging and resilience. Raised in the forest, Maya brings their skills as a Mycologist, organizer, naturalist and teacher as an offering for addressing the root causes of our social, psychological and ecological crises. Maya coined the term “Mycopsychology”, and has developed this as a modality for facilitating deeper connection with Fungi personal and planetary transformation. Since 2009, Maya has been teaching Mycopermaculture, Fungal Biology, Mycorenewal and Mushroom Identification to all ages and currently offers classes in the Santa Cruz area. As the Executive Director of CoRenewal from 2016-2021, they worked to mitigate toxins from wildfires, petroleum contamination and other environmental disasters by working in collaboration with Fungi. Maya is the co-founder and Program Coordinator of the CoRenewal’s Post Fire Biofiltration Initiative, an effort and experiment using Fungi to prevent toxins from burned homes from entering sensitive waterways. Maya is one of the founding members of the Radical Mycology network, and has started applied Mycology groups in Olympia, WA and the San Francisco Bay area. Maya has worked as a campaign organizer with a number of climate justice and wilderness defense struggles over many years. Since 2006, Maya has been spent supporting youth in finding their place in their ecological and human communities by working with Wild Child Santa Cruz, Gaia Passages, and other programs. Maya holds a Graduate Certificate in Ecopsychology, and a BA in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College.

****Accessibility Information****Please let us know if you have any accessibility requirements and if we can – we will accommodate them.

Our team includes a number of neurodivergents with very different accessibility needs – so we are open to suggestions about how we can make our gatherings more inclusive and engaging.

Our team also includes one parent of 2 young kids – so if you are a parent and would like to bring your kids – let us know and we are more than happy to arrange for there to be supervised kids activities

We have a compostable toilet onsite – but you need use stairs to access it. The nearest accessible toilet is at the Edinburgh Printmakers – about 50 yards away or at the Fountainbridge.

The farm has simi paved path from Gilmore Park, EH3 9FN. The ground around the farm is unpaved but navigable – and there will be covered accessible spaces for meeting and chatting.

How To Get Here

Walking – Enter at The Forge, Viewforth Rd, Edinburgh EH11 1AL

Bike – Enter at The Forge, Viewforth Rd, Edinburgh EH11 1AL

Train – Arriving into Haymarket Train Station, you can walk 12 minutes via this route: https://goo.gl/maps/ZkfdK3zBHXPMU7XA6 Arriving into Waverley Train Station, the 1 and the 34 bus will take you to Fountain Park bus stop.

Bus – Nearest bus stops are: Grove St, Leamington Terrace, Fountain Park.Most Edinburgh buses stop at Bread Street, you can then walk along Fountainbridge to the Forge in around 12 minutes.

Car – Limited free parking available – Entrance at ​​Gilmore Park, Edinburgh EH3 9FN

Foragers’ (Jumana Manna, Palestine, 2022, 65min), screening as part of #TOAFF22.

Palestinian foragers attempt to evade capture by the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, in a mesmerising interrogation of settler colonial power, knowledge, and narratives of conservation.

Plus short: Coming Home (Naim Naif/ Margot Bowman, USA, 2022, 10min)

Join us after the film for a special spoken word performance exploring belonging, land and solidarity by Scottish-Palestinian writer, singer and actor Amira Al-Shanti.

For more information & tickets:
https://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/foragers-short

Full TOAFF22 Programme:
https://www.takeoneaction.org.uk/