Building a Sustainable Future, region by region – How YSF24 was a Celebration of the Sustainability Community in the North

Written by Kate Hutchinson, Founder of The Sustainability Community. 

When I woke up this morning, it felt as if the air had changed overnight. There was a gentle fog settling over the street and as I drove into the office, I noticed the trees beginning to turn brown. I love that September feeling, I love seeing the seasons change and Autumn is my favourite season of all. July and August feel very different to every other period fo the year – everyone on random annual leave makes it feel like the pace of change slows to a halt and it takes foreverrrrrr to get anything done. BUT on the plus side, it gives us this perfect time to reflect, plan, strategise and develop the business – and boy have we done that.

Then September rolls around, the kids return to school, and the monotonous routine of life kicks back into action. Ahhhh monotony and routine, how I love you. I don’t have kids yet, but in my head the year starts again in September – it must be because I was raised by teachers. This weekend, I even made sure my inbox was cleared down ready for the new year ahead! And what an exciting 4 months we have left.

So where did we leave off? Well, in June we hosted Yorkshire Sustainability Festival 2024 – and it was a huge celebration of the growing green economy in Yorkshire, bring together over 1500 leaders from the public, private and third sector to strengthen our region.

In our 2 day conference, we played host to over 700 leaders who got to hear from the truly incredible Mary Portas, Kevin McCloud and Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts, as well as Mayor Tracy Brabin and over 100 other brilliant regional and national leaders, who joined our panels and delivered workshops/talks on topics from the circular economy, manufacturing and supply chains, the green energy agenda and skills – and so much more.

The key theme’s that came out of the conference were:

• Sustainability is now being put at the heart of the decisions being made in all leading organisations – no longer a silo conversation, the best business and public sector leaders alike are realising the importance of embedding sustainability in each department. Mary Portas talked about this as a fundamental shift of the way we are doing business – it is a way of life.
• Young people need a third space – a place where they can gather to create community – so how do we help our young people do this?
• Pathways to green skills needs development – for example 1 in 5 school leaders need to go into construction to meet the retrofit and build demands in the next 20 years, but as Jenny Kitchen, Founder of Reconstructive Futures told us, we’re seeing the biggest decrease in new starters under 30, meaning the construction skills gap is only getting wider!
• Kevin McCloud gave a phenomenal talk on the history of housing and the way in which housing had been built around community for generations but we lost our way somewhat with this in the 20th Century. Now the key theme of community living is coming back, because it allows us to live in harmony with nature and use less resource to achieve more. Side-note for all the mega Grand Designs fans like me – Kevin McCloud is hands down one of the NICEST men I have ever met in my life. What a hero of a guy – I have high hopes you’ll see him back involved with our events again soon.
• And that was just a flavour. You can get an idea from our highlights video here or check out our July episode of The 17, where we talk about all of this in more depth…

So what can you expect from us for the next 4 months, before 2024 ends?

Sustainability Symposiums:

We’ll be hosting sustainability symposiums in York and Bradford between September to November, bringing together regional leaders from the public, private and third sector to have in-depth roundtable discussions on retrofitting the region, building community energy hubs, strengthening community food links, supporting SMEs, building the circular economy, and more. You can apply for a place on the roundtables by clicking the links above. After the events, we’ll be sharing insights from the conversations with you on here, as well as with the relevant combined authorities and councils to help to make the change that’s needed in the regions.

Green Finance UK Conference 2025:

Join us for the inaugural Green Finance UK Conference, a nationally focused one-day event dedicated to the role of finance in transitioning to a green economy, held on 5th February 2025 in Sheffield. Key themes include: Mobilising Green Investment, Financing the Green Transition Regionally and Nationally, Carbon Markets and Biodiversity Finance, and – my favourite – Doughnut Economics. 

The conference will bring together over 150+ leaders in business and finance, local and national policy makers, investors and sustainability professionals to grow your network, learn from panels of experts and discuss the role of finance in driving the green transition.

After the conference, join us for a People, Planet, Pint evening of networking.

Get your tickets here!

Green Skills UK Conference 2025:

Join us for the inaugural Green Skills UK Conference, a one day event dedicated to the green skills agenda, hosted in Leeds on 13th February 2025. This event will bring together business leaders, higher and further education leaders and local and national policymakers to explore the training and development pathways to prepare our workforce for the green transition. Key themes include: Mobilising education to drive forward Net Zero, the role of apprenticeships, the role of higher/further education and upskilling/retraining the current workforce. 

Attendees will gain valuable insights into the latest innovations in the green economy, where the greatest skills gaps are and how we can fill them, how we accelerate the green skills agenda, how business and education can work together to prepare the workforce of the future.

After the conference, join us for a People, Planet, Pint evening of networking.

Get your tickets here!

Alongside this, we’ll be hosting webinars and keeping you up to date with industry news here on our website. Make sure you’re subscribed to our emails to hear the latest!