Local groups unite to start climate conversations
People in Wharfedale and beyond are being offered the chance to learn how best to talk about climate change starting with a free online workshop at 19:30 on Tuesday 24 February 2026.
Tickets are free and available to everyone here. Places are limited so early booking is advised.
Conversations are at the heart of big social change – for example with equal marriage in the UK, or abortion rights in Ireland. But surveys show that while 3 in 4 of us think climate is a serious threat, not just globally but here in the UK, more than half of us rarely or never talk about it.
‘Let's Talk Climate’ is all about changing that through giving people the confidence, motivation and skills to have positive, hopeful conversations about climate - in the post office queue, over the garden fence, at the school gate, by the water cooler - and in doing so, make the 'invisible consensus' on climate visible and open up space for more ambition.
The climate and nature groups around Wharfedale - including Climate Action Ilkley, Otley 2030, Climate Action Menston, Menston Area Nature Trust, Climate Action Addingham, Climate Action Silsden – have been given the opportunity to offer this programme free of charge thanks to Larger Us with funding from the European Climate Foundation.
The programme is open to all and starts with a 2-hour online workshop that will help people identify the reasons why they might find it difficult to have climate conversations and give practical tips on how to get them started and keep them going positively. Graduates of the workshop can then deepen their learning by joining ‘the Challenge’. As part of a small group they will set conversation goals each week, chat through experiences with their group and focus on key topics to supercharge their skills.
The Challenge will start in the week commencing 16 March and run until w/c Monday 27 April. Group meetings will probably be on Tuesdays or Thursdays in the evening - exact dates and times to be agreed with participants.
Notes
Over the last two years the national charity Larger Us has run Let's Talk Climate with a range of partners - from big national membership organisations like the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts and Women's Institute and UNISON to local groups in places up and down the UK - involving hundreds of people and resulting in thousands of conversations. They are currently working with the European Climate Foundation in Yorkshire specifically.
