Exploring how our love of nature can become practical local action for healthier communities, wildlife and a more resilient Colchester.

From Caring About Nature to Taking ActionColchester Zoological Society × Climate Fresk × Community Climate Action

We love nature. So how do we turn that connection into action where we live?

Around 85% of adults in England say being in nature makes them happy.

But while our connection to nature remains strong, participation in organised community activity is much harder to sustain. Only 17% of adults now volunteer formally at least once a month, down from 27% a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the need for action is growing.

Across the UK, the abundance of species studied has fallen by an average of 19% since 1970, while nearly one in six species assessed is now threatened with extinction from Great Britain.

These are big national numbers.

But nature loss – and climate change – happen in real places.

The places where we live.

Which raises a much more interesting question:

What could we achieve if we made it easier for people who care about their local area to find each other – and start doing something together?

That's what this day is about.

Colchester Zoological Society, Climate Fresk and Community Climate Action are bringing together people from the Zoo and communities across the surrounding area for a free, highly interactive day exploring climate change, nature and what practical community action could look like here.

When and where

📅 Sunday 17 January 2027🕥 10.30am–3.30pm📍 Colchester Zoo

The workshop is completely free, with tea and coffee provided.

Places are limited to 28 participants so that everyone has the opportunity to take part properly, meet one another and contribute.

Climate and nature are connected – but they're not the whole story

Holding this event in partnership with Colchester Zoological Society gives us an obvious place to start.

Nature.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are deeply interconnected. Changing temperatures, rainfall and extreme weather affect habitats and species, while healthy ecosystems can make our communities more resilient to some of the impacts of a changing climate.

But community climate action is about more than conservation.

Community Climate Action helps people explore opportunities across five areas of everyday life:

🌱 Food – how we grow, buy, share and think about food locally

🏠 Housing – warmer, more efficient and more climate-resilient homes and neighbourhoods

🦋 Nature – protecting and restoring biodiversity and creating more space for wildlife

🚲 Travel – how we move around our communities and make sustainable travel easier

⚡ Energy – how we generate and use energy, including the potential for community energy projects

These aren't five separate problems.

They're interconnected parts of the places where we live.

First: understand what's changing

We'll begin with Climate Fresk, the internationally recognised collaborative workshop based on the science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Working together around a table, you'll explore the causes and consequences of climate change and the relationships between them.

Rather than simply listening to a presentation, you'll build the picture collaboratively – giving everyone a shared understanding of the challenge before we start thinking about solutions.

No previous climate knowledge is required.

Then: bring it home

In the second part of the day, Community Climate Action will turn the conversation firmly towards our local area.

What's already happening?

What do people care about?

What could be better?

What knowledge, spaces, skills, organisations and resources do we already have?

And where could connecting the right people unlock something new?

We might explore ideas for creating or connecting habitats.

We might talk about local food growing.

We might identify opportunities around energy or community buildings.

We might look at travel.

Or somebody in the room might raise an opportunity none of us has thought of yet.

The agenda for action isn't predetermined – because the people who live and work here understand their community better than we do.

Why bring the Zoo and community together?

Places such as Colchester Zoo have an extraordinary ability to help people encounter, understand and care about the natural world.

But awareness is only the beginning.

The harder question is how we turn interest into participation, and participation into action that lasts.

Community organisations bring local knowledge and relationships.

Residents know their streets, villages and neighbourhoods.

Businesses have skills and resources.

Schools connect families and young people.

Local groups know what's already working – and what's been tried before.

And Colchester Zoological Society brings expertise, reach and an ability to inspire people around issues that can otherwise feel remote.

Usually, all of those assets aren't sitting around the same table.

For this workshop, they will be.

Description supplied by the event organiser.