Free community festivals
Large-scale inclusive festivals in Platt Fields Park and across Manchester, with workshops, talks, music, stalls, children’s activities, solar-powered stages and hands-on climate education.
Our story
Envirolution is a registered Community Benefit Society and co-operative. Since 2010, members and volunteers have delivered free, inclusive community festivals in Manchester and collaborated with events and partners across the UK.
This page brings together Envirolution’s public history, projects, partners, funders and community impact so the organisation’s story stays visible as the digital tools evolve.
Archive highlights
Manchester Community Assembly on Climate Change
Community assembly work that helped local people feed into Manchester’s climate conversations and net zero planning.
COP26 and national outreach
Presentations and workshops at COP26 in Glasgow, sharing community engagement methods and climate education approaches.
Aberdeen Community Assemblies
Collaboration with North East Scotland Climate Action Network, including facilitator training and support that helped inspire Envirolution Aberdeen.
Green Gathering and festival outreach
Plastic awareness campaigns, food growing workshops, children’s activities and volunteer-led climate education at festivals around the UK.
Platt Fields Market Garden
Partnership and practical growing work connected to turning an underused bowling green into a thriving permaculture and community food space.
Manchester Community Assembly on Climate Change
In 2021 Envirolution coordinated Manchester’s first community assembly on climate change, involving 106 participants from across the city.
People came together to learn about food and agriculture, transport, fashion and retail, buildings and energy, then worked together on solutions that were relevant and appropriate for Manchester.
Participants also put forward the issues they felt needed to be addressed by Manchester City Council, businesses and national government. These were presented as a mandate to City Council representatives at the final event.
The assembly work continues to shape Envirolution’s approach: climate action should be locally grounded, community-led and designed around real people’s lives.
Impact Assessment 2020
During the challenging events of 2020, Envirolution volunteers wanted to reflect on how the group was doing and how the organisation could make more of an impact going forwards.
Envirolution teamed up with PhD researchers at the University of Manchester’s Collaboration Labs programme. The research involved interviews with more than 40 people who had attended Envirolution events, delivered workshops, run stalls or volunteered with the organisation.
The project was recognised through the University of Manchester’s Project Excellence Award and remains an important part of Envirolution’s evidence base for community climate engagement.
Projects beyond Manchester
COP26, Glasgow
Envirolution delivered presentations and workshops at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in 2021. This helped share methods for engaging more people in positive action on climate change.
Aberdeen Community Assemblies
Envirolution worked with North East Scotland Climate Action Network to help train community assembly facilitators and deliver workshops on community engagement, including the value of Envirolution-style festivals.
Green Gathering Festival
Envirolution has supported festivals and events across the UK, including plastic awareness campaigns, food-growing sessions, children’s changemaker activities, and support for the kids’ area at Green Gathering.
Partners and funders
Envirolution’s public records include work with and support from organisations including Co-operatives UK, Manchester Climate Change Agency, MUD/MUD Kitchen, Manchester City Council, Big Lottery, Lush and Unicorn Grocery.
These relationships reflect Envirolution’s role as a connector: bringing together co-operatives, local authorities, community organisations, funders, food projects, climate organisers and volunteers.
Volunteer voices
Volunteer stories from Paul Mitchell, Dawn Kendall, Matt Rowe and Dan Gibbon Walsh describe the friendships, confidence, event skills, public speaking, bid writing, community organising and sense of possibility that Envirolution has created over the years.
Those testimonials are preserved on the About page as part of Envirolution’s public record.
Photo gallery archive
The gallery page presents Envirolution’s photo collection from festivals, assemblies and community projects in a searchable archive layout.
Open the gallery