Green Light in the City
The Green Light project creates pop-up spaces in Nottingham to encourage creativity, curiosity and community engagement over the coming years. Contributing organisations are all committed to addressing issues that matter to the public. The goal is to produce spaces where conversations are held, knowledge is shared and artistic activity is encouraged.
View the toolkit online (free pdf)
Project outline
In response to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) having just ended in Glasgow, partners decided to explore climate change in their first pop up.
The space featured examples of how our researchers are helping to make a difference, from developing and testing new green energy solutions at Trent Basin, to helping farmers improve the yield of their crops in Africa.
Community organisations throughout Nottinghamshire were invited to contribute, share stories of the positive action they are taking and host events in the space.
The space
On 11 November 2021 Green Light in the City opened its doors to the public. Located on Bridlesmith Gate, the space was close to a busy thoroughfare to generate passing traffic.
It was filled with books, activities and displays centred around climate change and environmental action. Many of thesee were borrowed from local organisation sand institutions, including libraries, universities and other partners.
The space was managed by the project co-ordinator along with a team of volunteers and members of the various supporting organisations who helped to ensure the space was staffed and open for people to drop in.
Throughout the project, the team hosted a number of different events and activities in this space. These were all free at the point of use, providing opportunities for already established community groups and creative practitioners to use the space for running relevant events.
The pop up closed with a wonderful contribution to Light Night on 7 February 2022.
Project outcomes
Once the pop up closed, partners looked into how to develop phase 2 and share lessons learnt with others who may wish to create similar spaces. This involved a number of talks, outreach activities and the creation of a toolkit, providing guidance on how to set up a similar space.
View the toolkit online (free pdf)
Primary partners include University of Nottingham, Nottingham City Council, Ignite!, Nottingham Trent University, ChalleNGe, Green Hustle and City Arts.