About this Event
What could happen if we brought people from across Norwich together to understand the climate challenge – and then worked out what we could do about it, together?
Across Norwich and the wider Diocese, churches, schools, charities and communities are already taking action: reducing carbon emissions, improving buildings, creating space for nature, working towards Eco Church awards and finding new ways to care for the places and people around them.
But understanding the challenge is only part of the story.
How do we turn concern into practical, collective action that lasts?
Join Climate Fresk UK and Community Climate Action for a free, highly participatory afternoon at St Luke’s Church.
Together, we’ll explore the science behind climate change, connect it to the places and communities we care about, hear what is already happening locally – and begin turning that understanding into practical ideas for action.
No previous climate knowledge or experience is needed.
FROM CREATION CARE TO COLLECTIVE ACTION
The Diocese of Norwich has made environmental action an important part of its mission, with a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and support for churches on their Eco Church and net-zero journeys.
That work goes far beyond energy and carbon.
It includes biodiversity, church land, lifestyles, worship and teaching, community engagement and the way people work together to create change.
And its own Net Zero Carbon Action Plan recognises an important truth:
The transition isn’t simply a technical challenge. It also needs participation, leadership, capacity and culture change.
That makes churches, schools and faith communities potentially powerful places for action.
They already bring people together. They have buildings and land. They have relationships across generations. They often sit at the heart of communities.
This workshop is an opportunity to connect those assets with the ideas, knowledge and energy that already exist across Norwich.
And you absolutely do not need to be part of a church to take part.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
This isn’t a lecture or conference.
It’s a collaborative workshop in which everyone participates.
🌍 FIRST, UNDERSTAND
Through Climate Fresk, you’ll work in small groups to explore the causes and consequences of climate change and discover how different parts of the climate system connect.
Complex climate science becomes something we can investigate, discuss and understand together.
💬 THEN, CONNECT
We’ll create space to reflect on what we’ve discovered.
What does climate change mean for the places, organisations and communities we care about?
What is already happening locally?
Who else is working on similar challenges?
And where might there be opportunities to work together?
💡 THEN, IMAGINE
We’ll shift from problems towards possibilities.
What could change within our churches, schools, organisations and neighbourhoods?
Where do we already have influence?
What assets, skills, relationships and spaces do we have?
And what could we achieve together that would be difficult to achieve alone?
🚀 AND FINALLY, ACT
Community Climate Action will help us start translating those ideas into practical local action across five areas of everyday community life:
🌱 Food
🏠 Housing and buildings
🦋 Nature
🚲 Travel
⚡ Energy
Because the purpose of the day isn’t simply to leave knowing more about climate change.
It’s to leave better connected and better equipped to do something about it.
WHO SHOULD COME?
Everyone is welcome.
We’re deliberately trying to bring together people who might not normally find themselves sitting around the same table.
That could include people involved with:
• churches, parishes, PCCs and Eco Church teams
• church and other local schools
• charities and voluntary organisations
• community groups and neighbourhood projects
• youth organisations
• sports clubs
• cultural organisations
• local businesses
• nature and environmental groups
• local public services
• or simply people who care about Norwich and want to get more involved.
You don’t need to describe yourself as an environmentalist.
You certainly don’t need to be a climate expert.
Perhaps you’ve been leading environmental action for years. Perhaps your organisation is only just starting to think about it. Perhaps you care deeply about the issue but have never known where to begin.
All of those perspectives belong in the room.
WHY COME?
You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of the climate challenge – but we hope you’ll take away much more than knowledge.
You’ll have:
🤝 Met people locally who want to make a difference
💡 Explored practical opportunities for action
🧩 Identified where your own skills, organisation or community might contribute
🌱 Discovered projects and activity already happening around you
🔗 Found potential collaborators who could help turn an idea into reality
The Diocese encourages churches tackling net zero to find people to work together, including other churches and volunteers from the wider community.
That is exactly the spirit we want to create here.
BEYOND DESPAIR TO ACTION
One phrase from the Diocese’s environmental work captures something particularly important about this workshop: moving “beyond despair to action.”
Climate change can feel enormous.
And when the challenge is global, it can be difficult to see where our own actions fit.
But we don’t have to solve it individually.
Our churches, schools, workplaces, clubs and community organisations already contain enormous resources: relationships, buildings, land, purchasing power, knowledge, creativity, skills and influence.
When those assets become connected, communities can become powerful places for change.
Come and explore what your part could be.
PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER
This is the fourth of six workshops in Initiating Climate Action in Colchester and Norwich, a new pilot programme from Climate Fresk UK and Community Climate Action, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Across Norwich and Colchester, the programme will bring together around 180 people, working particularly through the faith/culture, education and sport sectors.
But we’re testing something bigger than six workshops.
We want to understand whether combining:
climate understanding → stronger local connections → practical action planning
can help communities turn concern into sustained, locally led action.
Participants won’t simply be sent home at the end of the workshop.
We want to help people connect, develop ideas and find opportunities to continue taking action afterwards.
It’s about connecting people, sharing what is already working and discovering what else might become possible when we act together.
EVENT DETAILS
From Understanding to Action: Creating Change Together in Norwich
📅 Sunday 18 October 2026
⏰ 2pm–7pm
📍 Main Hall, St Luke’s Church, 61 Aylsham Road, Norwich
🎟️ Free to attend
🥗 Light buffet, snacks, tea and coffee provided
🤝 Delivered by Climate Fresk UK + Community Climate Action
🌿 Supported by the Diocese of Norwich
🎟️ Funded by The National Lottery Community Fund
Places are limited, so please book in advance.
Better still, don’t come alone.
Bring someone from your church, organisation, neighbourhood or community who you’d like to take action with afterwards.
Event venue & nearby stays
St Luke’s Church, 61 Aylsham Road, Norwich, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.