This year the festival theme is ‘Ancestor. Me. I am a good ancestor. Believing in our future.’ 

Auckland Climate Festival 2022 will be hosted by rangatahi, community groups and climate and business leaders, with over 125+ impactful events being held throughout Tāmaki Makaurau. Most of these events are free, or low cost and open to anyone to attend.

The driver behind the festival is to celebrate and accelerate climate action in the community.  Now in its second year, the number of climate-focussed events in the festival has almost doubled. Founder Michelle Kennedy says she is looking forward to seeing more participants get together to encourage and inspire each other towards a more positive climate future.

“I’m really excited about the community-building aspect of the festival this year, given that many of the events and activations are in-person. That is where the true change will come from.”

Director of Community Engagement at Britomart, Jeremy Hansen, is excited to be hosting multiple events and activations in the city centre, as part of the festival this year.

“We’re excited to be bringing the finalists in NZ Geographic magazine’s Photographer of the Year award to large-scale displays in Britomart and with everything else that’s going on during the festival, there will be lots of opportunities for everyone to focus on solutions to the challenges we face.”

This year’s exciting line-up of events includes:

• Zero Carbon Breakfast with All Good and Friends: A free Zero Carbon Breakfast in Britomart’s Takutai Square, where you can also check out the NZ National Geographic’s Photo of the year exhibition.
• Climate Snort: A night of climate-themed improv comedy from Auckland’s coolest comedy improv group
• Live lightly: 7 day sustainable lifestyle challenge: an online challenge with daily simple actions Aucklanders can incorporate into their lifestyles to practice sustainability.
• Reusable Tuesday, Free coffee with a reusable cup: Come along with your reusable cup between 7.30am and 11am, 18th October, and get a free brew at Amano Bakery, The Store, Espresso Workshop Britomart and Daily Bread Britomart.
• Outset Ventures – Showcase: Believing in our future: A showcase of some of Outset Ventures’ emerging transformative deep technology start-ups in residency dedicated to building a hopeful future for future generations.
• Kids upcycled crafting and DIY workshops: Held at community centres and Libraries across Auckland:  Come and join The ReCreators for kids upcycled craft workshops with a focus on the environment!  Topics include: Branch Weaving, Make a Flower Press, Nature Printmaking, Spring Gardening for Whanau, Nature Journal Making and Make an Undersea Landscape.
• RECLAIM Kōanga Spring Holiday Experience: Become a time traveller and head back to the future to save the world from ecological degradation through a series of activities and mapping actions to discover that small changes today can create big change tomorrow.  Held at Motat during the October school holidays.
• Earth Pottery Workshops: Held at Studio One Toi Tū, Ponsonby, attendees will learn new techniques, use local clay to explore their unique connection with nature, develop a sense of kaitiakitanga, and discover the evergreen art of pottery.

There are opportunities for everyone in Tāmaki Makaurau to get involved in climate action this October with these free or low-cost events. Aucklanders are encouraged to sign up quickly as spots are limited!

Auckland Climate Festival was conceived by Michelle Kennedy’s Six Generations, and has been made possible with the generosity and support of a range of partners including the festival’s Host City Partner, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Host Iwi, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as well as the Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation, Foundation North, Vector, Auckland Council, Kindello, The Tindall Foundation and Britomart.