Community action/Canterbury
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| Location | Canterbury, Kent, England |
| Coordinates | 51° 16' 48.10" N, 1° 4' 48.91" E |
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Canterbury.
News
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Record-breaking heat and dry spring leave parts of England without water, reuters.com (May 29, 2026) - Whitstable campaigners fight to stop 1,350 home development, BBC News (Sep 29, 2025) — local residents stepping up their campaign to fight what they have said would be the "largest ever development" in their part of Kent
- How does it feel? The impact of mass development on local people, David Mairs, cprekent.org.uk (Aug 04, 2025) — They felt the potential loss of this land acutely – one person described it as “like having a limb cut off”, Executive summary, Rachael Reilly
- Hedgerows the 'unsung heroes of the countryside', BBC News (Feb 16, 2026) — A group of Kent volunteers is aiming to provide vital habitat for wildlife by planting about 3,800 yards (3,500m) of hedgerows in the countryside this year.
- ‘To live a normal life again, it’s a dream come true’: UK’s first climate evacuees can cast off their homes and trauma, theguardian.com (Feb 09, 2026)
- Behind the scenes as GPs face 'tidal wave of demand', BBC News (Jan 22, 2026)
- Met Office issues rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday, theguardian.com (Jun 22, 2026)
- This city had a flooding problem. So it turned to an animal that had been extinct there for 400 years, edition.cnn.com (Jun 18, 2026)
- Rights of Nature movement grows, with the Wye and Ouse subject to new protection charters, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Jun 18, 2026) — Nature sits at the heart of several new sets of rights and charters; it’s even headlining a festival this summer. Is the way that we view and value Nature within our political and cultural frameworks at a turning point? asks Hannah Marsh
- Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
- How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe, theconversation.com (May 15, 2026)
- Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary, theguardian.com (May 07, 2026)
- Collaborative Finance (CoFi): rethinking finance for the commons, growingcommons.substack.com (Jun 07, 2026) — What finance looks like when communities build and govern it themselves, Michel Rauchs
- Radical change can lead to a fairer and greener world, says new report, positive.news (Jun 04, 2026) — A major new study argues that rising living standards, shorter working hours and a liveable climate are not competing dreams, but parts of the same future – if the world is willing to tackle extreme inequality
- Dutch kids declared the world’s happiest (again). Here’s why, positive.news (Jun 02, 2026) — Dutch children are consistently ranked the happiest kids in the developed world. What is the Netherlands getting right? And does the humble bike have something to do with it?
Networks and sustainability initiatives
[edit | edit source]Events
[edit | edit source]UK events
Jul 1 - 14, 2026 (Wed - Tue) — Community Energy Fortnight, communityenergyengland.org- Jul 02, 2026 (Thu) — Cycle to Work Day, cyclescheme.co.uk
- Jul 17 - Aug 9, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Big Butterfly Count, bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
- Jul 19 - 25, 2026 (Sun - Sat), The theme for 2026 is JOY — Community Centre Week, octopuscommunities.org.uk
- Jul 24 - Aug 2, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Love Parks Week, Keep Britain Tidy
Global or international events
- July 2026 — Plastic Free July, plasticfreejuly.org
- Jul 04, 2026 (Sat) — International Day of Cooperatives (CoopsDay), 1st Saturday of July. The celebration aims to showcase co-operatives’ role in building ‘inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities’, coopsday.coop
- Jul 18, 2026 (Sat) — Mandela Day, global celebration 18 July annually, to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. A call to action for individuals, communities, and organisations to take time to reflect on Mandela's values and principles and to make a positive impact in their own communities, mandeladay.com
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
CDC video
[edit | edit source]Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Rural sustainability UK, Community energy UK, Community action/Argyll and Bute / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
Canterbury video
[edit | edit source]
Social inclusion
[edit | edit source]Catching Lives
Catching Lives is a charity based in Canterbury, England, that assists rough sleepers, the homeless and those in insecure housing. It relies on donations, volunteers and fundraising within its local community. As of 2011, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was patron.
Catching Lives' Open Centre provides services such as meals, showers, laundry, clothing and a postal address to its clients. The staff and volunteers work with them to address issues they may have; get access to suitable accommodation, and find the motivation to take steps towards independent living.
The charity operates a winter night shelter in conjunction with local churches. 2016–2017 was its seventh season. The project opens church halls for Canterbury rough sleepers. Volunteers transport bedding, cook meals and welcome those who stay.
- Catching Lives, tackling homelessness in East Kent
Other initiatives
- Stream Walk Community Garden, Whitstable on Facebook
Climate action
[edit | edit source]- Canterbury Climate Action Partnership, independent not-for-profit Community Interest Company aiming to bring together all like-minded interest groups within the district to mobilise action towards a more sustainable future; especially to achieve a zero carbon district by 2030. added 21:27, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
- eco Cops on facebook.com
- Canterbury and District Greenpeace
Cycling
[edit | edit source]National Cycle Route 1 runs through Canterbury from Dover and Sandwich to Whitstable. National Cycle Route 18 runs from Canterbury to Ashford.
Rewilding
[edit | edit source]- Wilder Blean, wildwoodtrust.org, flagship wilding project launched by Wildwood Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust, in part of the West Blean woods nature reserve, near Canterbury, which is in one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in the UK. added 17:42, 6 December 2021 (UTC)
Environment quality
[edit | edit source]- Canterbury Clean Air, community action on air quality in Canterbury
Maps
- Canterbury pollution levels, map, added 16:01, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
News archive
[edit | edit source]- Whitstable campaigners fight to stop 1,350 home development, BBC News (Sep 29, 2025) — local residents stepping up their campaign to fight what they have said would be the "largest ever development" in their part of Kent
- How does it feel? The impact of mass development on local people, David Mairs, cprekent.org.uk (Aug 04, 2025) — They felt the potential loss of this land acutely – one person described it as “like having a limb cut off”, Executive summary, Rachael Reilly
- Butterfly project aims to halt population decline, BBC News (Apr 05, 2025)
- Work on £1.5m city centre revamp to start in April, BBC News (Mar 11, 2025) — Work to transform an area of Canterbury to reduce the use of cars locally will start next month
- Wild bison return to UK for first time in thousands of years, The Guardian (Jul 18, 2022)
- Laying the myths to rest: Canterbury crisis shows how desperate government policy and housebuilder attitudes are making homes unaffordable… and destroying our countryside, CPRE Kent (Feb 15, 2022)
- Whitstable named first plastic free town in Kent by conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage, Jan 11, 2019...kentonline.co.uk
- Canterbury: Locations sought for electric charge points, Nov 24, 2017...news.canterbury.gov.uk
About Canterbury
[edit | edit source]Campaigns
- Save Wincheap water meadows change.org
Past events
- August 25, 2014, Kent Festival of Bees, near Bridge, Canterbury
Canterbury ( KAN-tər-bər-ee or -berr-ee) is a city and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Canterbury district, county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. Lying on the River Stour not far from its mouth on the Strait of Dover, the city has a mild oceanic climate.
Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, with the city's economy heavily reliant upon tourism, alongside higher education and retail. As of 2011, the city's population was over 55,000, including a substantial number of students and one of the highest student-to-permanent-resident ratios in Britain.
Near you
[edit | edit source]Ashford - Dover - Folkestone and Hythe - Swale - Thanet
See also
[edit | edit source]- Towards a more democratic and climate friendly way of meeting housing need across England
- London and South East England
- Saving water in South East England
| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2022–2026). "Community action/Canterbury". Appropedia. Retrieved June 24, 2026. |