Youth Climate Summit 6th October 2025, a key part of the Newcastle City Go Zero initiative, was a fantastic success, bringing together young people from across the city, filling the Banqueting Hall with vitality, to learn, share, and get involved in local climate action. The event showcased the incredible partnerships driving change in our community.
The summit was a clear demonstration of how different organisations can unite to empower young people to become part of the solution. Our own stall from Climate Action Newcastle was joined by a diverse range of groups, all committed to a more sustainable future.
Highlights from the Stalls
The summit stalls provided a wealth of information and interactive opportunities. Here are some of the key highlights:
National Education Nature Park: This programme, launched by the Department for Education and partners, aims to empower young people to take hands-on action to improve biodiversity and tackle climate change. They demonstrated how schools can become a vast network of green spaces, contributing data to a national map for scientific research.
Blue/Green Newcastle: This project focuses on using nature-based solutions to protect the city from flooding while also improving wildlife habitats and green spaces. They explained how a network of ‘blue’ (creeks, rain gardens) and ‘green’ (parks, bushland) links can make Newcastle more resilient to the effects of climate change.
North East Community Forest: This partnership, which includes the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, has a 30-year vision to increase tree coverage across the region. They highlighted how tree planting not only helps tackle climate change but also creates healthier and happier communities.
Newcastle Waste and Recycling Engagement Team: The team offered practical advice on how to reduce waste and improve recycling habits at home and in the community. Their stall emphasised that individual actions, like proper sorting and waste reduction, play a vital role in the city’s overall sustainability efforts.
Northumbria University Geography & Environmental Sciences: Academics from the university showcased their world-leading research on topics ranging from climate change and sustainable development to cold environments and disaster resilience. Their presence underscored the importance of science and research in informing effective climate solutions.
Engaging the Youth with the “Tipping Point Challenge Game”
A key highlight of the Climate Action Newcastle stall was the interactive and highly engaging “Tipping Point Challenge Game,” a cooperative game designed to reflect the global environmental and nature challenges we face. Developed by Terry Smith in partnership with Alnwick Area Friends of the Earth and the Duchess’s Community High School, the game explores the positive actions we can all make.
The game consists of two sets of forty-eight wooden bricks, along with Challenge and Change, Dilemma and Threat cards. The Jenga tower represents our current society and environment. Players must carefully remove blocks, which symbolise climate tipping points like melting ice caps and collapsing ecosystems, and use climate solutions to build a new, more sustainable tower. The challenge is to construct this new tower before the original one collapses, signifying the point of no return.
While it is fun to play, the main benefit of the game is that it encourages discussion about these very important issues. It has now been used by schools, community groups, and families from the very far north of Scotland down to the south coast of England, demonstrating its success in captivating and educating young people. It brilliantly showed that the decisions we make now are crucial to building a sustainable future before it’s too late.
A Collaborative Effort
The event truly highlighted the collaborative spirit of Newcastle’s climate action movement. From local government projects like Newcastle City Go Zero and Blue/Green Newcastle to the grassroots work of organisations like Climate Action Newcastle and the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, it’s clear that the city is working together. The summit showed that empowering young people with knowledge and opportunities is a powerful way to build a resilient and climate-conscious community for the future.