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Featured Projects & Blog Posts

Science in the City Returns – Tracking the Impact of Air Quality Measures

What impact have air pollution reduction measures introduced by The City of London Corporation over the past six years had? That’s exactly what we’re aiming to find out through Science in the City 2! With levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide remaining a concern in urban areas—especially those associated with fuel combustion from transport and heating—this project is more relevant than ever.

Assessing Impact and Strengthening Communities

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Youth Workshop: Empowering the Next Generation

Later that evening, the focus shifted to Belfast’s youth at a workshop held at the Accidental Theatre in the city centre. Tailored to resonate with younger residents, the session invited participants to envision their communities in the next 25 years and address local challenges. Using the "Map My World" method from the toolkit, the group sketched out their ideas, adding suggestions to a large-scale map, providing a valuable spatial dimension to their creative thinking.

The youth participants brought a refreshing perspective, offering bold, unconstrained ideas for the future of their city. Their illustrations and contributions will feed into the overall vision for the pilot neighbourhood, injecting new energy into the net-zero discussions.

Day 2: Deep Dives into Greening and Sustainable Travel

The second day of workshops focused on specific elements of Belfast’s climate strategy: greening the pilot neighbourhood and sustainable travel. These sessions brought together statutory services, NGOs, and community representatives to provide deeper insights into key project areas.

Once again, methods from the 

Toolkit for Stakeholder Engagement

were deployed to guide the conversations. The workshops generated a wealth of valuable feedback, identifying practical steps to enhance green spaces and improve active travel options in Belfast. These ideas will help shape the city’s path toward climate neutrality and resilience.

Visual Storytelling: Capturing the Vision

To ensure that the ideas from these workshops were accessible and engaging, a professional illustrator was brought in to create visual minutes of the sessions. These drawings transformed the discussions into vivid illustrations, making the concepts of net zero and urban transformation more tangible. The plan is to display these visuals in a public space to spark broader community engagement with the city’s net-zero ambitions.

Outcomes and Next Steps

The workshops were a critical step in advancing the UP2030 project in Belfast. By fostering collaboration between city departments, stakeholders, and the public, the sessions helped shape Belfast’s vision for a climate-neutral future. The relationships built during these workshops will be key as Belfast moves into the Action Phase of UP2030 this summer, ensuring that a diverse range of stakeholders continues to contribute to the city’s climate transition.

Key Takeaways

  • Participatory Co-Design: Engaging stakeholders through co-designed workshops ensured that local voices shaped Belfast’s climate strategy, supporting UP2030’s goal of inclusivity.

  • Toolkit Deployment: Methods from the Toolkit for Stakeholder Engagement towards Carbon Neutrality were used to foster creativity and collaboration, helping to break down silos and align cross-departmental efforts.

  • Youth Involvement: Young residents contributed fresh, bold ideas for the future of Belfast, highlighting the importance of intergenerational engagement in climate action.

  • Visual Storytelling: Visual illustrations of the workshops will be displayed publicly to further encourage community involvement in Belfast’s net-zero journey.

For more information on how Mapping for Change is supporting Belfast in its transition to climate neutrality, visit the UP2030 website.