Climate Commissions Gathering 2025
Welcome
Welcome to the Climate Commissions Gathering 2025 – an event for those leading climate action in Yorkshire & Humber. Invited today are members of the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission’s networks, plus representatives from the Leeds Climate Commission, York Climate Commission, Kirklees Climate Commission, Barnsley Positive Climate Partnership, Just Transition Wakefield and Calderdale Climate Action Partnership.
Event Resources
Presentation slides from the workshops
What climate language do you speak?
Levelling up climate action across our towns and cities
Working with the growth narrative
Positive Tipping Points Toolkit
Understanding and working with the updates to the HMT Green Book
Useful links
Pam’s Story and the Weather Narratives
Aire Resilience Company For those of you who were inspired by the Inundated performance
Vesper Hill Contact Steve at Vesper Hill to find out more about these projects or his other work using the performing arts to communicate about climate adaptation and resilience
Positive Tipping Points Toolkit You can access the full toolkit here
Feedback form
09.00 – 9.30 | Arrival and registration (Main Lobby) Refreshments (Princes Ballroom)
09.30 – 11.00 | Opening session
(Princes Ballroom)
09.30 – 09.35 | Welcome and housekeeping and plan for the day
Rosa Foster, Director, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
09.35 – 09.45 | Welcome from the Chair of Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission
Asif Husain-Naviatti
09.45 – 10.00 | Keynote Speaker
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Bradford Council
10.00 – 10.15 | Keynote Speaker
Kersten England, Bradford 2025, Young Foundation
10.15 – 10.30 | Q&A with speakers
Chaired by Asif Husain-Naviatti
10.30 – 11.00 | Celebrating Successes
Councillor Katie Dye to host 8 people to share their successes
11.00 – 11.30 | Refreshment Break
(French landing)
11.30 – 12.45 | Workshops
1FB. How do we co-create the future (French Ballroom)
Community engagement is essential to shaping climate research, policy, and action that truly works for people and delivers a just transition. This interactive session will share real stories from our region and beyond, explore the principles that make engagement meaningful, and invite you to help shape how the JUST Centre and YHCC can support better practice across Yorkshire and the Humber.
Presenters:
Matthew Horne, Innovation Unit and Co-Chair, Communities & Engagement Group, YHCC
Amandeep Kaur Mann, Eco Sikh UK and Co-Chair, Communities & Engagement Group, YHCC Commissioner
Julie Thorpe, Todmorden Learning Centre and Community Hub
Simon Dixon, Climate Action Leeds and Imagine Leeds
Amelia Clayton, Young Foundation
Kate MacDonald, TimeBank Hull and East Riding
TJ Clark, Community member
Tania Carregha, Young Foundation
Gosia Gwiazda, Community member – peer researcher
Sally Morgan, Climate Action Leeds and Imagine Leeds
Harriet Thew, University of Leeds
1F Working with the Growth Narrative (Forster Suite)
Join a session facilitated by leading experts on the different ways to align climate action with economic growth, understanding how this policy speak drives decisions and priorities, and explore how to support its continued evolution.
Presenters:
Will Easdon, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University
Richard Crisp, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University
1W Making good decisions easier (Wyvern)
When promoting fair and inclusive climate action has never been so important, join an interactive session led by the author of the YHCC’s emerging Good Futures Framework that will support decision makers in helping them understand how they can positively reduce inequalities and create a fairer future.
Presenters:
Dr Jillian Schacher, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
Prof Lucie Middlemiss, University of Leeds
1P Positive Tipping Points Toolkit (Pullman)
Using brand new work from the University of Exeter, join an exercise exploring how we can influence and help create positive tipping points.
Presenters:
Dr Jatinder Singh Mehmi, Environment Agency and Commissioner, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
12.45 – 13.30 | Lunch (Princes Ballroom)
If you have particular dietary requirements that you have pre-arranged, please speak to a member of venue catering staff.
13.30 – 14.45 | Workshops
2FB What climate language do you speak? (French Ballroom)
The words we use to talk about climate change affect how we connect with, and are understood by, different audiences. This workshop explores the relationship between language and values and provides evidence-based guidance to help frame your climate language for more effective and empathic communication.
Presenters:
Kate Lock, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
Peter Walton, Priestley Centre for Climate Futures
Catherine Homoky, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
Matthew Gibbons, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
2F Pam’s Story: Train the Trainer (Forster Suite)
Pam’s Story is an open access toolkit designed for use in participatory workshops. The first outcome from YHCC’s flagship Weather Narratives initiative, it is designed to help spark meaningful conversations about preparing our places and communities for the future impacts of climate change. The toolkit uses creative story methods to engage participants with a possible climate scenario for 2048. In this ‘Train the Trainer’ session, we introduce the toolkit and invite you to think about potentially applying it in your own work or community contexts.
Presenters:
Stephen Scott-Bottoms, University of Manchester
Sam Herbert, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
2W Making good decisions easier (Wyvern)
When promoting fair and inclusive climate action has never been so important, join an interactive session led by the author of the YHCC’s emerging Good Futures Framework that will support decision makers in helping them understand how they can positively reduce inequalities and create a fairer future.
Presenters:
Dr Jillian Schacher, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
Prof Lucie Middlemiss, University of Leeds
2P Understanding and working with the updates to the HMT Green Book (Pullman)
This workshop will introduce the HMT Green Book Business Case and offer practical insights on developing the strategic and economic cases for projects embedding sustainability. The session will also highlight the 2025 Green Book Review developments and their practical implications
Presenters:
Professor Andrew Brown, Leeds University Business School
Alice Pugh, City-Region Economic Development Institute or City-REDI, University of Birmingham
Tom Burton, City-Region Economic Development Institute, University of Birmingham
Lisa Dowling, Bradford Institute for Health Research
14.45 – 15.05 | Refreshment Break (French landing)
15.05 – 16.20 | Workshops
3FB Levelling up climate action across our towns and cities (French Ballroom)
What does data like the climate scorecards tell us about progress in places across our region and nationally? How can we enable more places to catch up with the leaders?
Presenters:
Don von Rohland, Climate Emergency UK
Dr Alice Garvey, University of Leeds
3F Working with the Growth Narrative (Forster Suite)
Join a session facilitated by leading experts on the different ways to align climate action with economic growth, understanding how this policy speak drives decisions and priorities, and explore how to support its continued evolution.
Presenters:
Will Easdon, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University
Richard Crisp, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University
3P Positive Tipping Points Toolkit (Pullman)
Using brand new work from the University of Exeter, join an exercise exploring how we can influence and help create positive tipping points.
Presenters:
Dr Jatinder Singh Mehmi, Environment Agency and Commissioner, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
3B Tour of Bradford City Centre (meet in the Main Lobby)
A guided tour of the newly regenerated urban green spaces including the removal of a dual carriageway, opening up the city for people to enjoy.
16.20 – 16.30 | Comfort Break
16.30 – 16.50 | Closing plenary (Princes Ballroom)
Reflections and call to action
Asif Husain-Naviatti, Chair of Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission
17.00 – 18.30 | Inundated performance (Spirit of Bradford Bar at the Midland Hotel)
Inundated is a short play about climate resilience. You find yourself attending the weekly meeting of a fictional business network, in a real bar over a real drink. But today’s guest speaker has a troubling tale to tell, and an unusual proposal to pitch. So how will you, the network members, choose to respond?
This immersive event explores real-life flood stories, and offers audiences a real chance to network and make new contacts. Inundated uses warmth and humour to think creatively about the turbulent future we’re facing, and some of the ways we might adapt.
Presented by Vesper Hill, in association with the Aire Resilience Company.
Contact us
To reach one of the organisers, look out for people with orange lanyards. The registration desk will be staffed during breaks.
Please email us at yhclimate@leeds.ac.uk if you have any questions before the event.
