York Environment Festival

Curious & Creative Gardening Tour: Wildlife-Friendly Museum Gardens
2025-09-30 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-10-09 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-10-15 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-10-21 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | Yorkshire Museum Gardens, Museum St, York, YO1 7FR, United Kingdom
Learn about the initiatives and interventions York Museums Trust’s Gardens Team have made to make their busy public garden more wildlife friendly. Take a tour around over 10 acres of grounds, discovering inspiration for your own garden or workplace green spaces.
You’ll learn about climate change and biodiversity, discover the importance of insects for the food chain and how to manage your green space throughout the seasons to create wildlife habitat, and adopt a new perspective with some native weeds.

Suited to people aged 12+ with an interest in making green spaces more wildlife friendly. Under 16’s must be accompanied by and adult.
Meet on the hard standing in front of the entrance to the Yorkshire Museum. The tour will take an accessible route around the Museum Gardens.
York Museums Trust opens York Museum Gardens free of charge for all to enjoy. As a registered charity, York Museum Trust encourage visitors to consider donating to enable the Trust to continue maintaining and preserving their gardens and buildings for generations to come.
Booking required and can be done here.
Please note: This event is weather dependant. If adverse weather conditions cause this event to be cancelled, ticket holders will be notified.

Game night 1: Daybreak - Can you Save the Planet?
2025-10-04 15:00 - 18:00 | Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, York, YO105DD
Join us for a collaborative board game where the stakes couldn’t be higher – our planet’s future.
In Daybreak (https://www.daybreakgame.org/how-to-play), you’ll team up to tackle the global challenge of climate change by building resilient societies and introducing green technology across sectors and regions. Can your strategies avert crises and lead us toward a sustainable future? A fun, challenging, and timely experience.
This activity is suitable for anyone aged 16 years+.
Booking is required and can be done here.

St Nicks Autumn Fayre
2025-10-11 13:00 - 17:00 | St Nicks Environment Centre and Nature Reserve, Rawdon Ave, York, YO10 3FW
This year’s annual community celebration will see a jam-packed afternoon celebrating local organisations and businesses who help make a difference for the planet, whilst enjoying nature’s harvest.
There’ll be activities for all ages, everyone welcome!
The event is free to attend but donations to St Nicks are welcome.
No booking required.

Game night 2: Design Your York - Planning with Urban Labor-a-tree
2025-10-14 17:30 - 20:00 | Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, York, YO105DD
In this fast-paced, interactive game night, you’ll compete to build the ultimate green city using Urban Labor-a-tree, a strategy board game inspired by real community voices. Choose where to plant, who to help, and how to balance climate, nature, and people. No planning skills needed.
Get ready to put your game on and harness the power of creativity, teamwork, and a bit of strategy. Ideal for gamers, changemakers, and anyone who loves a good challenge.
Suitable for ages 16+.
Booking is required and can be done here.

Nature in the City - Games to Grow Greener and Wilder Urban Spaces
2025-10-22 15:00 - 18:00 | Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, Sustainability Clinic, Market Square, University of York, York, YO105DD
Discover two innovative board games exploring nature’s place in urban life. Come experiment, discuss, and reflect on how small choices shape our shared environments:
Set in the city of Bangalore, India, Birds in the City helps you connect with nature and understand the links between urbanisation and bird diversity.
Set in the city of York, UK, Urban Labor-a-tree challenges you to grow thriving treescapes that meet diverse community needs.
Can your team design the greenest, wildest neighbourhood? Outplan the rest and reshape your city together.
Suitable for anyone aged 14 years+.
Booking is required for this event and can be done here.

'How We Made It Through'
2025-10-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Friargate Quaker Meeting House, Friargate Quaker Meeting House, Friargate, York, YO1 9RL, United Kingdom
A celebration of our community thrutopia creative writing project. ‘How We Made It Through’ invited people to create stories from the future where we’ve made it through – hence ‘thrutopia’. Over thirty individual entries were received, in media ranging from prose to poetry, & from collage to needle felting.
Learn about the project design and how it can be easily replicated; listen to readings from the anthology; an option to buy your own copy; & reflect on what thrutopia can look like in your own locality.
No minimum age requirement.
Copies of the book will be available for a donation.

Cli-mic Night
2025-10-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Spark York, 17-21 Piccadilly, York, YO1 9PB
In the fight for a better future, community and storytelling are just as important as action. So we invite the people of York to come together, share stories and imagine alternatives.
Join Extinction Rebellion York for a relaxed evening of climate-themed poetry, music, comedy and more. Share your creative work with a friendly crowd or just come along to listen and connect.
If you would like to perform, please fill out this short form: bit.ly/4esBx1c. If you are just attending, then booking is not required.
Suitable for ages 12+

The Ant that Ate the Internet – and other stories from a green and hopeful future.
2025-11-02 10:30 - 12:30, 2025-11-02 13:30 - 15:30 | Marriott Room, York Explore Library, Marriott Room, York Explore Library, Library Square, Museum Street, York, YO1 7DS, United Kingdom
Come join Minnie and Alfred, environmental time-travelling optimists from 100 hundred years in the future where humans, huge insects and nature thrive.
Hear how Tansy Beetles became bigger than the Millennium Bridge, what it is the Slug of Poetic Justice whispers and why the Emotional Support Mosquito has a kind and considerate hum. Share your stories, explore sensory storytelling boxes and assert your hopes for a bright green future in words and doodles too.
Suitable for all ages.
To book tickets, please visit: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1848649
To facilitate access if required, please contact hiya@stephenleehodgkins.net
