The Stirling Climate Festival will be returning this year from October 19 until 24, with free student-led events taking place across campus and Stirling.
Focused on all things sustainability, the week will kick off on October 19 with a stalls event in the Atrium on campus from 11am to 4pm.
Gabi Brame, Sustainability Development Coordinator for the Students’ Union, said about 17 different organisations will be present to discuss climate action and how to get involved.
These organisations include, but are not limited to: Greenpeace; The Conservation Volunteers; People & Planet; Stirling Council Waste Services; Recyke-A-Bike and Green Aspirations Scotland CIC.
Brame said: “It is so important that students get involved so we can understand that we all have agency to push for a more liveable planet. Within the university context, students are the main stakeholders, and we can all ask for more progress to be made in this regard.”
According to Brame, Climate Festival week is intentionally held in October as it is shortly before the Conference of the Parties (COP). The UN Climate Change Conference will be taking place in November in Antalya, Turkey.
Brame said: “With the climate crisis becoming ever more alarming and reactionary movements pushing back on key climate policies, it is of absolute importance that the university, as a place of learning, leads the way in spreading awareness of this and teaching practical and also fun ways their student population can get involved.”
Other events include an apple pressing workshop from 2-5pm on October 20 at the university’s Green & Blue Space. Students will have the opportunity to make their own juice with apples picked fresh from the campus orchard. Attendees must bring their own cups.
The Green & Blue Space is also organizing a Climate Festival Gardening Session from 1:30-2:30pm on October 21 in the Community Garden.
The Biodiversity on Campus Day will occur from 9am to 5pm on October 22, during which students can join interactive wildlife walks around campus.
The festival will conclude with a Conservation Field Trip from 9am to 5pm on October 24 with the Forth Rivers Trust (FRT). Students can join the trip to Callandrade Meadows in Callander, where they will undertake tree maintenance.
This past March, the FRT planted 2,000 trees on a 3.6 hectare site at Callandrade Meadows and protected them in biodegradable tree guards. Participating students will be in charge of inspecting the tree growth and ensuring their guards are intact.
Elijah Graham, FRT Project and Communications Officer, said this is an opportunity for students interested in ecological conservation to “get their hands dirty” and receive practical experience.
Graham said: “We are living in what is termed a ‘twin crisis’: a biodiversity crisis and a climate crisis.”
“So basically anything that we can do to try and provide climate resilience, whether that’s woodland creation, river restoration or whatever else our organisation does, is trying to protect and preserve these habitats now and for the future.”
See the calendar of events on the Stirling Climate Festival 2026 website.
Featured Image Credit: Isabella Matczac
