CERG are co-curating 4 core events at UDC’s Big Green Festival (5-13th June)
FRIDAY 5 JUNE – Looking Back and Legacy: Uttlesford Zero Carbon and Community Action
18:15 – 20:40, Uttlesford District Council Chambers, Saffron Walden
This event blends storytelling with strategic reflection on local achievements through the Zero Carbon Communities Fund, while looking ahead to the next phase of climate action.
Keynote: Simon Lyster
Essex born, Dr Lyster was Head of Conservation Policy at WWF for nearly a decade and was then Director General of the Wildlife Trusts for a further eight years. He is the author of International Wildlife Law and Chair of the Essex Local Nature Partnership which oversees the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
ALSO FEATURING: Rich Yates (CEO Essex Wildlife Trust), Prof. Tom Cameron (Uni of Essex), Hadstock, Newport Rivers Group, Rodings Farm Cluster, Chris Dodge, Vicky Reed (UDC), Neil Reeve (Chair of Sustainable Uttlesford).
WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE – Uttlesford’s Rivers and Chalk Streams: Collaboration and Catchments
18:15 – 21:15, Foakes Hall, Great Dunmow
Celebrate a new documentary film featuring community-led river restoration, showing how local efforts and collective imagination connect to wider catchment restoration.
Keynote: Amy-Jane Beer
A biologist turned naturalist with over 20 years as a science writer and editor. Amy’s book The Flow is “about water, and, like water, it meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories.” It won the 2023 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing. Amy is currently a Country Diarist for The Guardian, a columnist for British Wildlife and a feature writer for BBC Wildlife magazine and campaigns for equality of access to nature.
ALSO FEATURING: Richard Pavitt (Curat), Ruth Hawksley (Wildlife Trust BCN), Tim Simpson (Essex County Council), FWAG East, Essex Wildlife Trust, Will Cockerell, Affinity Water, Keith Baker, Colin Day.
THURSDAY 11 JUNE – The People’s Emergency Briefing
19:30 – 21:30, Town Hall, Saffron Walden
This event’s centerpiece is a film screening (part of a UK-wide programme) helping communities understand the climate and nature crisis, followed by a post-screening panel of local representatives and experts and a community-led discussion on what the crisis means for Uttlesford.
Link to Trailer: https://youtu.be/5x2XhvEbz24?si=oaZ9Foe9MrW0r_OI
More info: https://www.nebriefing.org/peb
FRIDAY 12 JUNE – The Imaginarium: Cultivating Culture, Creativity, and Climate Action
19:00 – 22:00, Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden
Welcome to the Imaginarium, an evening of music, food, and film, hosted by the Cultural Engine Research Group and Uni of Essex Business School. The Imaginarium shifts the focus of the Big Green Festival from reflection to imagination – exploring how culture, creativity, and storytelling can drive local engagement in climate and nature recovery.
Keynote: Jules Pretty
Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, Jules is an award-winning author, writing about nature, climate and people, creating stories about transformations that lead to action and change.
ALSO FEATURING: Cultural Engine Research Group (CERG), Giles Tofield (CERG) and Tony Sampson (CERG, Uni of Essex), Mia Bird (Young Wilders) in conversation with Tom Cameron (Uni of Essex), Lora Aziz (Blue Steps Along the Saffron Trail), Neil Reeve (Sustainable Uttlesford), Elias Watson (Essex Wildlife Trust), and Vicky Reed (UDC).