Free registration now open for Greater Manchester Green Summit 2023

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Free registration now open for Greater Manchester Green Summit 2023

  • Sixth annual Green Summit takes place Monday 2 October at The Lowry, Salford Quays
  • Book your free place at the event now – gmgreensummit2023.eventbrite.co.uk
  • Summit will offer a first look at the emerging Five-Year Environment Plan for Greater Manchester 2024 – 2029
  • Speakers will include Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, GMCA Lead for the Green City-Region Cllr Tom Ross and a wide range of expert voices from across the sector

Residents, businesses, policy makers and community groups are being invited to take part in the Greater Manchester Green Summit, which takes place on Monday 2 October at The Lowry, Salford Quays.

The summit will provide a first look at the ambitions and challenges included within the upcoming Five-Year Environment Plan for Greater Manchester 2024 – 2029, with an additional focus on understanding the behaviours and motivations of people living and working across the city-region to help partners support and drive positive change for the environment.

First established in 2018 by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the Green Summit offers a great opportunity to meet and network with people who are determined to drive change and help the city-region meet its ambitious goals for the environment. The Green Summit will feature, talks, exhibition stands and interactive sessions based around key themes including the nature recovery, transport, low carbon energy and buildings, and sustainable production and lifestyles, with speakers, exhibitors and delegates coming together to consider how we can all better collaborate on innovative solutions.

Visit gmgreensummit2023.eventbrite.co.uk to find out more and register for your free place at the event.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Each year the Green Summit captures the drive and passion people have in Greater Manchester to make this a greener place and I’m really looking forward to sharing and hearing progress and discussing ways forward once again this year.

“As we continue to push toward our ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2038, it’s vital that we ensure nobody is left behind – from residents living and working in the city-region to the businesses operating here, everyone has a role to play in making Greater Manchester greener. The next iteration of our five-year plan for the environment will help make that happen, focused on the tangible actions that partners can take to help us reach our goals.

“We have a real opportunity here to also capitalise on a green industrial revolution and lead the way in Greater Manchester by ensuring we have the right skills to fill new jobs in growing industries which will support our environment whilst boosting our economy.” 

The Green Summit is supported by a range of headline sponsors and official partners. This year, headline sponsors include:

The full event programme and speakers will be announced in the coming weeks at gmgreensummit2023.eventbrite.co.uk.

Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

Explore resources

Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

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