Community action/Manchester
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 Manchester. It's an introduction to local networks, groups, and events.
- Community resources Manchester is a separate page.
News
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Addiction services are failing minority or marginalised communities in Bolton: a new charity aims to fill the gap, right-here.org (Feb 13, 2026) — Date of article not found.- Co-ops looking to change the world, town by town, thenews.coop (Nov 03, 2025)
- English housing project aims to transform later-life living, positive.news (Sep 01, 2025)
- Young Atlantic salmon seen in three English rivers for first time in a decade, theguardian.com (Dec 30, 2025)
- Drought declared in north-west England amid declining reservoir levels, theguardian.com (May 29, 2025)
- Whitehaven coal mine plan quashed by High Court, BBC News (Sep 13, 2024)
- Half a million trees to be planted in England in three years, says government, theguardian.com (Sep 30, 2026)
- The Space Time Continuum, Alternative Editorial (Sep 27, 2026) — Empty spaces will be put back into use, Andy Burnham said, turning them into "community hubs, health centres, shared workspaces, cafés and the local services that people actually want to see.”
- UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer, theguardian.com (Sep 23, 2026) — El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
- Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
- Reclaiming the streets: the architects clawing back Europe’s car-centric spaces, theguardian.com (Sep 09, 2026) — The European Prize for Urban Public Space’s shortlist highlights projects helping people cope with climate crisis
- We’re the mayors of Paris, Milan and Phoenix. The heat crisis has us all facing the same question, Emmanuel Grégoire, Giuseppe Sala and Kate Gallego, theguardian.com (Sep 07, 2026) — Our three cities are learning from each other about how to protect residents. These climate policies are also public health measures
- Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
- Fifty Billion Seedlings: Can Ethiopia Replant Its Ravaged Forests?, e360.yale.edu (Oct 01, 2026)
- Want solar but don’t own a roof? California just legalized plug-in panels, no permission required, latimes.com (Sep 30, 2026)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
[edit | edit source]- Lighthouse Project, drop-in style community hub open to all, aiming to provide a safe and welcoming environment where people can get help and support, meet together, and access a range of opportunities that are caring, social, or educational. Part of Inspire Middleton. added 10:52, 13 July 2025 (UTC)
- Springfield, Beech Hill & Gidlow Community, (Wigan) — mutual aid group formed by neighbours. "Bringing the community together to create a great place to live, work and play", added 13:14, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
- Wigan CAN on twitter, Citizens & Neighbours of Wigan, Members of Neighbourhood Democracy Movement
- Action for Sustainable Living
- Envirolution UK, community cooperative based in Greater Manchester which aims to create a catalyst for environmental & social change
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Community action/Dorset, Community action/Gloucestershire, Community action/United Kingdom/Cycling activism / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
Manchester video
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UK and international events
[edit | edit source]UK events
Sep 7 - 11, 2026 (Mon-Fri) — Zero Waste Week, zerowasteweek.co.uk- Sep 11 - 20, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Heritage Open Days, celebrating our fantastic history and culture. Your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore, heritageopendays.org.uk
- Sep 18 - 27, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Great British Beach Clean, mcsuk.org
Global or international events
- Sep 15, 2026 (Tue) — Free Money Day, Global invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationship to money was a little different. Sep 15, annually, freemoneyday.org
- Sep 18, 2026 (Fri) — Park(ing) day, global, public, participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces to advocate for safer, greener, and more equitable streets for people, myparkingday.org
- Sep 21, 2026 (Mon) — International Day of Peace, Globally shared date, Sep 21 each year for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace, internationaldayofpeace.org
- Sep 21-27, 2026 (Mon-Sun) — Global Week Of Action For Peace And Climate Justice, climatemilitarism.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Community involvement
[edit | edit source]People's Plan, an independent public engagement programme, by and for citizens and civil society of Greater Manchester
Community and voluntary action
[edit | edit source]- Manchester Community Central, added 14:22, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
Climate action
[edit | edit source]Climate emergency declared in 2019. Manchester aiming to be a zero-carbon city by 2038.
- Climate change action, information from Preston City Council, preston.gov.uk, added 11:02, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
- Zero Carbon Manchester, Manchester City Council, History of Climate Change in Manchester, Manchester City Council
- Manchester Climate Change
Climate change solutions
[edit | edit source]People Powered Retrofit, retrofit.coop, not-for-profit service for householders in Greater Manchester, offering clear, independent advice. added 12:36, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
Ethical consumerism
[edit | edit source]The Dispensary, Salford, thedispensarysalford.com, zero waste shop & community hub also selling fresh fruit and veg. added 08:44, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
Cycling activism
[edit | edit source]Love Your Bike campaign based in Greater Manchester, co-ordinated by Manchester Friends of the Earth
Blogs
Environment quality
[edit | edit source]- Mersey Rivers Trust, added 14:25, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
Open spaces
[edit | edit source]Manchester has six designated Local Nature Reserves which are Chorlton Water Park (Wikipedia), Blackley Forest, Clayton Vale and Chorlton Ees, Ivy Green, Boggart Hole Clough (Wikipedia) and Highfield Country Park (Wikipedia). W
Trees, woodland and forest
[edit | edit source]City of Trees, movement to re-invigorate Greater Manchester's landscape by transforming underused, unloved woodland and planting a tree for every man, woman and child who lives there, within a generation
Red Rose Forest, community forest in western and central Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1991 and is expected to take 40 years to develop and mature, with the aim of involving communities in safeguarding and creating a woodland flora for the future, and helping preserve the fast disappearing flora of British woodlands. The population within the Forest boundary amounts to 1.5 million, making it the largest urban community forest in the United Kingdom.
The main aim is to get greenery where people can appreciate it every day. This includes street trees, green roofs and green spaces. Red Rose Forest's Green Streets team works with local communities on unique and innovative greening projects to improve the quality of life for urban communities. The value of greening as a means of tackling a range of social, health and economic issues is huge. Red Rose Forest offers many ways for the people to get involved in their environment including the general public through their Friends of the Forest scheme, businesses through sponsorship and communities through the Green Streets project. W
About Greater Manchester
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Greater Manchester is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, West Yorkshire and Derbyshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester.
The county has an area of 1,276 km2 (493 sq mi) and is highly urbanised, with an estimated population of 3,009,664 in 2024. Manchester is in the centre of the county, with the city of Salford immediately adjacent to the west. Other large settlements include Rochdale in the north-east, Stockport in the south-east, Sale in the south-west, Wigan in the far north-west, and Bolton in the north-west. The majority of the county's settlements are part of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which extends into Cheshire and Merseyside and is the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. For local government purposes the county comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of north-east Cheshire, south-east Lancashire, and a small part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and was governed by Greater Manchester County Council until its abolition in 1986. Today, the ten borough councils collaborate through the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The centre and south-west of Greater Manchester are lowlands, similar to the West Lancashire Coastal Plain to the north-west and the Cheshire Plain to the south-west. The north and east are part of the Pennines: the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, the South Pennines in the northeast and the Peak District in the east. Most of the county's rivers rise in the Pennines and are tributaries of the Mersey and Irwell, the latter of which is itself a tributary of the Mersey. The county is connected to the Mersey Estuary by the Manchester Ship Canal, which for its entire length within Greater Manchester consists of canalised sections of the Mersey and Irwell.
| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2014–2026). "Community action/Manchester". Appropedia. Retrieved October 3, 2026. |