YEW 2021 flyers

With only a couple of weeks to go until York Environment Week 2021, the publicity machine is in full swing and we are looking to get the word out to as many people as possible about our wonderful festival.

To help us make the week even more successful than last year, please download the above flyer image (see also below for more file formats) and share it to your fellow York residents on social media etc. If you would like any printed flyers to distribute to friends, family etc. or put on neighbourhood display boards, please contact us and we can send you some.

We are posting about all the different events every day on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, so please feel free to join in and share those posts. If you are running one of the events then please make sure you publicise your event, including sharing of our posts about your event. And please also give shout-outs to York Environment Week so we can spread the message far and wide, and get big audiences for all our events!

Thanks, and see you soon.

The YEW team

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YEW 2021 poster_Page_2Download
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PRESS RELEASE: York Environment Week 2021 event listings announced

York’s second Environment Week will run this year from 18th-26th September. More than double the 2020 number of events are planned with both online and in person events possible this year. They will showcase environmental groups who are focusing on acting to tackle climate change in and around York. 

With the theme #YorkActsTogether-Tackling Climate Change, events will highlight ways in which everyone can help reduce climate change by individual and group action. 

This year’s events have been timed to coincide with – and will receive support from – The Great Big Green Week. With thousands of groups involved this will be the largest programme of events for climate and nature ever seen in the UK. 

York Environment Week will be hosting events as diverse as Improving Your House and Re-Wilding the Campus East of University of York, to in-person discussions about the Sustainable Transport Report on Tadcaster Road and guided walks around Museum Gardens, and much more. 

Some of the events will remain online, which gives greater accessibility for more widespread participation, but others will this year be conducted in person, which after last year’s restrictions due to the national lockdown, is very welcome. 

One live event will be conducted walks around the Groves, one of a national programme of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). Sara Mair, spokesperson for the group ‘We Are The Groves’ said “We’re really excited to be part of York Environment Week and work together to tackle climate change and we’ll be running our popular ‘Storytelling Walk Around the Groves’, both to encourage walking as an activity and to spread awareness of LTNs.’ 

‘We are the Groves’ is a creative community storytelling project. Find out more at tellusastory@wearethegroves.org or on social media @wearethegroves 

The programme has been put together by members of York Environment Forum and aims to celebrate and promote the work of local environmental groups and amplify “the voice for the environment in York”. 

The Forum’s Chair, Penny Bainbridge, said: “We know the environment – built and natural – is a big concern for York people. Greta Thunberg’s huge following shows that young people want to know what they can do and want to learn practical, sustainable things to make the living world a better place. We hope York Environment Week will help them, as well as all other residents around York, to do that, and to connect the global problems of species extinction, climate change and environmental degradation to positive solutions that they can get involved with locally.” 

“There are already so many people in York passionate about caring for the environment. We want York Environment Week 2021 to showcase them and direct local people towards them to help them get involved.” 

Organisers also want the week of activities and events to create further momentum for implementing York’s climate emergency target of net-zero emissions by 2030, as well as promoting further support for the UN climate conference COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November. 

Many events will be recorded and uploaded to the YEW YouTube channel so that they are available to watch again, which is also designed to create a legacy of resources and information. 

All event listings are now live on the YEW website at https://yorkenvironmentfestival.org.uk/events-2021/.

Announcing York Environment Week 2021!

We are pleased to report that following its successful debut in 2020, York Environment Week will be back in 2021 from 18th to 26th September, so pencil it in your diaries now! The theme for this year will be “#YorkActsTogether – Tackling Climate Change”, and it will be taking place at the same time as the nationwide Great Big Green Week. This means that YEW will be one of many events running all over the country to raise climate awareness and demand action from our politicians as they prepare for COP 26 in Glasgow.

Last year’s event was almost entirely online due to COVID restrictions; we are hoping to have more in-person events this year, but only time will tell. At the very least, we will be aiming to have a greater variety of events beyond the standard PowerPoint presentation format (although there will be plenty of those too). More on that in the near future!

If you would like to put on an event during the Week, submissions are now OPEN! You have until Friday 16th July to fill in the form and tell us what your event is all about. You can find the form and guidelines for entries on this page. Remember, this year it’s all about York standing together to take action on climate change. Action can come in many forms: we can all make changes in our own lives to reduce our carbon impact, but we also need our political and business leaders to make changes, as they have the power to make massive emissions savings on a scale we can only dream of. And don’t forget that teaching and inspiring is also a form of action; the more people we bring along on the journey, the more emissions we save, and the louder our collective voice for holding those leaders to account.

We’re really looking forward to seeing what kind of events and projects you come up with. So be creative and get brainstorming! Also, if you would like to join the organising committee, we are currently looking for someone to help with fundraising and/or admin, so if that sounds like you then please get in touch.