Birmingham Climate Change Festival 31st May - 8 June 2008

May 27 2008

Every age has its challenge. Ours is climate change. We need to scrap the talk of gloom and sacrifice, and find new ways to create a greener, smarter, fairer and more beautiful city. That's why we're starting with a festival.

Birmingham, pioneer of the industrial revolution, will help lead a low-carbon revolution by hosting the UK's first climate change festival.

What will this revolution lead to? Beautiful squares and attractive liveable streets. Cleaner air. Easy walking and cycling. Large trees, shading streets and buildings. New markets, investment and jobs in green technologies.

Energy efficient homes and offices that are much cheaper to run. Easy access to local networks and services.

Life sounds pretty good in a well-designed, sustainable city.

The festival is organised by Birmingham City Council and CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - the government's champion of well-designed buildings and spaces.

The festival is supported by BeBirmingham, Advantage West Midlands, Crest Nicholson and E.On, with additional support from The Green Bus Company and Amey.

The climate change festival takes place from Saturday 31 May - Sunday 8 June 2008 in Birmingham. Over nine days, the festival will help people to see the city with new eyes. It features exhibitions, events, street theatre, art and fun for everyone.

About the festival
The global environmental crisis is largely a result of the way we've designed our cities. Half of all carbon emissions come from the places we have built.

Some people suggest that turning the tide means denying ourselves most of the things people enjoy. We see it differently. Tackling climate change isn't about self-denial - it's about reinvention. Reinventing the city, redesigning the way it works, changing the way we all manage our lives.

Going green could make cities more beautiful, more sociable, and more prosperous. That's why we're starting with a festival.

So - what's going on?
We promise a dramatic and energetic weekend launch to the Festival. Watch parkour on Saturday, and try your skills as both an architect and a builder with the hugely popular touring Claystation. There's a special sculpture workshop for families. Rid yourself of old IT equipment with an easy conscience that weekend, and get your your bike checked out for free.

Actually almost everything happening in the Festival is free. Every day you'll have the chance to enjoy street performances, look at exhibitions and displays about the city's past and future, talk to stallholders, catch a short or feature film on a big screen in Chamberlain Square, and sit on one of our specially commissioned seats and dare to dream what a low carbon Birmingham could be like.

The week is studded with chances to get to know your city better, whether it is through the photographic exhibition in the city centre or guided tours of Warwick Bar, Eastside, Balsall Heath Ecohouse, the city centre or Fort Dunlop. You can hear about the ambitions behind the Big City Plan to make Birmingham a walking city, and take guided tours of Summerfield.

There is the chance to learn about exciting projects ahead, and to inspect the restored Rotunda. Catch the exhibition of memories about this iconic building too.

Thousands of pupils will descend on the city centre to attend the Basic 21 Awards, and there is a green technology day with seminars to supply expert advice on reducing your carbon footprint and cutting bills. Birmingham is launching the next steps for its climate change strategy on World Environment Day.

The final weekend will have a market focus, with live world music and dancing on the Saturday, and a sociable finale on the Sunday to show what life could be like in a well designed city. Tai chi, jazz music and a tea dance. You don't have to spend money to have fun. What better way to celebrate our determination to move on from carbon dependency?

As we say, dare to dream.

What else is happening?
A hundred schools across the country - 38 of them in Birmingham - will mark World Environment Day with a 'green day' focussing on climate change. Lessons and school-wide activities also aim to make schools more sustainable in the long term. More details.

And professionals gather in Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds and Sheffield for an invite-only 'hothouse' event focussing on those cities' climate change action plans

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