GUEST runs a couple of regular activities on campus (bike hub, gardenning sessions, climate cafes, etc), as well as some occasional events. Below are a few examples of the bigger projects that GUEST ran in the past.
Walk2COP27
Walk2COP27 sets out to accelerate climate action in the run-up to COP27 (6-18th November 2022). Its purpose is to build mass participation and engagement, bringing people together from different countries, informing and educating, building solidarity, and creating connections.
Walk2COP27 is based around a virtual journey from Glasgow (host city for COP26) to Sharm El-Sheikh (host city for COP27). There are 12 participating cities between Scotland and Egypt, and each will host a hybrid or virtual Townhall meeting that showcases the way climate change is impacting them and the solutions that are being deployed. Recordings of the Townhalls can be found on Youtube.
Walk2COP27 is open to participants from around the globe. Organisations, teams, and individuals can participate by tracking their kilometres travelled on an app in their own locations. Trees will be planted by the Jane Goodall Institute for kilometres travelled (walked / run / cycled or travelled in a wheelchair).
UofG students could join the GUEST team, or create their own (for example with their sports club). In total, 9 UofG teams took part in the project, with 44 active participants. Together, they travelled an impressive distance of 2,008 kilometers! Thank you to everyone who participated!
Glasgow Goes Green festivals
Around eight years ago, universities in Glasgow started celebrating Go Green Week. Since 2015 we've held an annual combined event featuring workshops and stalls shouting about positive action being taken on climate change. We called it, Glasgow Goes Green.
Our events celebrate all that is ethical on our campuses and in our beautiful city, linking environmental issues to climate and social justice. Students and organisations across Glasgow gather to show their work, their values and actions to make Glasgow, and the World, a better, greener, cleaner place.
The theme of GGG 2022 was 'Creating Our Planet' which we chose to recognise the shortcomings of COP26, the importance of the arts in representing the climate crisis and the need for a creative, interdisciplinary and future thinking approach to sustainability. We ran a series of creative workshops, including ecopoetry workshops, outdoor crafting and film screenings, culminating in a creative exhibition at the Alchemy Experiment on the theme of the festival.
Images and summaries of the previous GGG festivals can be found on the website.
COP26 Youth Hub
Welcome to the COP26 Youth Hub! Whether you’re here in Glasgow or wanting to get involved from afar, we’d love to have you! Here at Youth Hub, we believe that COP26 has the potential to be about so much more than the official negotiations taking place at the SSE Hydro. We want COP to be an opportunity for young people to get together and learn, socialise and organise, all while using the momentum from COP to spur future action on the climate emergency.
Based at the QMU, the Youth Hub will be a space for workshops and skill sharing, but also for rest and relaxation during a time when climate burnout, fatigue and anxiety are likely to be rife. Attendees can expect workshops on campaign skills, climate change and mental health, jargon busting and more. These events will be run partly by the host organisations, Glasgow University Environmental Sustainability Team (GUEST), Young Friends of the Earth Scotland (YFOES), the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), The Resilience Project, and partly by guest speakers.
We’ll also be running a full roster of online events for activists across the world. Online events will be ticketed through Eventbrite to keep access secure, so please be aware an email will be needed to book into any of our online workshops or talks.
Location: QMU - 22 University Gardens, Hillhead, Glasgow, G12 8QN.
Dates: Weekdays from the 1st of November to the 12th of November 2021.
Time: from 10am to 5pm.
Journalism at COP26
We’re well aware that thousands of young climate activists will be unable to make it to COP26. By providing daily updates on both COP and also the grassroots projects springing up around it, we hope to keep these members of our community in the loop and involved.
Written by students, for students, our journalism is completely voluntary. Unhindered by any corporate interests or sponsorships and with a very specific audience, we understand what information is of value to you. By highlighting important online events we hope to bring you into the action here when possible, and bring you the need-to-knows from events. While world leaders make (or do not make) the big decisions at the Hydro, activists from across the world will be busily adapting to the news coming out of COP and collaborating to create the global projects and networks we need to ensure that change happens.
So keep an eye on our website to stay up-to-date with COP26!