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Creativity with Purpose: How Glasgow is Shaping Community-Led Climate Action
What happens when you bring together artists, activists, and residents in a space designed for listening, learning and co-creation? At the Glasgow Future Fair on 13 March 2025, the answer was clear: new ideas, real connections, and energy for action.
Hosted at Civic House, the event marked the beginning of a year-long expansion of the Creative Climate Futures programme. But more than a launch, it was a space for people to explore what climate action looks like when it’s community-led and creatively driven.
Creativity as a Climate Tool
From pop-up exhibitions to hands-on workshops, the event showcased how creative approaches can surface local priorities, break down complex issues, and help people imagine practical, hopeful futures. Art wasn’t an add-on – it was a method for making space, building understanding, and inspiring collaboration.
Real Voices, Real Direction
The day was shaped by the experiences and ideas of people living and working in places like Easterhouse, Ruchazie, and the Gorbals – communities already feeling the impacts of a changing climate.
Their perspectives challenged professionals to rethink assumptions and helped steer the conversation towards what works on the ground. The result? A shared sense that meaningful climate action must start with local knowledge, lived experience, and trust.
What Emerged?
- Ideas with roots: From local food growing to rethinking community space, the conversations sparked concepts grounded in the realities of each neighbourhood.
- New relationships: Connections formed between creatives, communities, and civic organisations – relationships that will continue to grow through the programme.
- Clearer next steps: People left with renewed clarity about how to move from vision to action, and how to design change collaboratively.
“I actually enjoyed the day…”
That was one attendee’s comment – a reminder that climate spaces don’t need to feel heavy or exclusive. When we make room for creativity and care, climate conversations can feel energising, inclusive, and full of possibility.
What’s Next?
The Glasgow Future Fair wasn’t a one-off – it’s part of an ongoing shift in how we create climate solutions with, not for, communities. Over the next year, Creative Climate Futures will support:
- Co-designed local projects rooted in what matters to communities
- Stronger partnerships between the creative and climate sectors
- New narratives that reflect the diversity, challenges and strengths of Glasgow’s neighbourhoods
Together, these will help shape place-based, people-powered climate action that’s as imaginative as it is impactful.
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