The CA-WN Exchange

Notes from 16 April CA-WN Public Meeting and a 'field trip'.

Notes from 16 April CA-WN Public Meeting and a 'field trip'.

Our April guest speaker was Dr Colleen Golja, Imperial College Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment, Imperial College London. Dr Golja gave an overview of the climate as a dynamical system and how this impacts the UK under past and present climate change. You don&

Crisis, what crisis ... [2]

Crisis, what crisis ... [2]

The annual report of the World Meteorological Organization gives details of these key climate indicators for 2025: Climate change. It’s real. It’s us. It’s bad. We're sure. And we can fix it. But we need to act now. Reference World Meteorological Organization: State of the

Great UK WaterBlitz

Great UK WaterBlitz

Over a late April weekend citizen scientists around the country set about collecting freshwater samples from their local water courses. CA-WN took part to find out what was involved in contributing to FreshWater Watch’s Great UK WaterBlitz1. Twice a year WaterBlitz volunteers sign up to receive a water quality

Green skills training programme

individual impact

Green skills training programme

India Palmer at Warwick University is currently recruiting applicants for a green skills training programme, aimed at 18-30 year olds. The programme is designed for anyone passionate about climate action and wanting to build future-ready green skills while connecting with peers across the UK and India. Climate change is one

Crisis, what crisis ...

Crisis, what crisis ...

… the crisis that our politicians and the populist media prefers not to mention. CA-WN doesn’t do capital P Politics but it would be socially irresponsible if we didn’t couple the climate crisis to the elephant in the room. And call for action. First, the expert briefings on climate

Report of CA-WN Public Meeting 19 March 2026

meeting reports

Report of CA-WN Public Meeting 19 March 2026

Our March guest speaker was Caroline Kuzemko, Professor of Political Economy and Climate Change at Warwick University. Professor Kuzemko's areas of focus include the politics of climate policy, energy transition and the geopolitics of phasing out fossil fuels and bringing in clean energy. Her latest book is "

Farming in crisis: Farming Policy 2026

Farming in crisis: Farming Policy 2026

2025 was a dismal year for many farmers: the summer drought reduced yields for cereals and many other crops, the government cut off the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) without warning, and budget changes to Inheritance Tax threatened many farm businesses. However the weather improved in the autumn. Doing my rounds

Student housing and climate responsibility in West Northamptonshire

Student housing and climate responsibility in West Northamptonshire

Aashvi Shah - Undergraduate Stage S (Placement Year at WNC). Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology: University of Kent Students in West Northamptonshire, and across England, are living at the intersection of the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis. Cold bedrooms, rising rents and volatile energy costs are symptoms of

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

CA-WN submitted a response to the WNC consultation on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy that invited us to get involved, share our ideas, and be part of something amazing for our natural environment. We hope many other local individuals and groups did too. Now we await the outcome of the

Seedy Saturday 2026

Seedy Saturday 2026

Sienna Mahoney, journalism student at the University of Northampton, attended the annual Seedy Saturday event and sent us this report. Seedy Saturday hosted their twelfth annual seed swap at the Doddridge Centre on 21st February 2026. The event aims to promote community between local gardeners based in Northamptonshire. Shena Cooper,

50 Families project

50 Families project

CA-WN is proud to be a member of the West Northamptonshire Sustainable Food Network. We recently received this update from the Network about the 50 Families project, a great example of agencies working together. Building a sustainable future for our communities is about connecting and building better public health, as

CA-WN Public Meeting 19 February 2026

CA-WN Public Meeting 19 February 2026

‘Northampton in 100 Years’ by Mike Longman, Vice Chair of Northamptonshire Natural History Society Present: Allan Bell, Caroline Gooch, Clare Slater, David Garlick, Emily Evans, Faye Spencer, Harry Mellor, Jane Wood, Jean Troy, Leonie Beale, Martin Coombes, Peter Nalder, Rupert Knowles, Sandra Lee Apologies: Clare Robertson-Marriott, Helen Dyson, Sue Carverhill,

Report: Braunston Retrofit

Report: Braunston Retrofit

At an 21 March event organised by Braunston Climate Action Network, talks were given by householders who have made, or are making, the move to lower carbon homes. The highly informative presentations covered heat pumps, planning, funding, the Passivhaus Standard and EnerPHit, the Passivhaus refurbishment standard (for details see the

Green Spaces Semilong

Green Spaces Semilong

By Sienna Mahoney, Journalism student, University of Northampton. “It’s worth it in the end because it makes people happy,” said Lou Troy. Lou, one of the volunteers at Green Spaces Semilong, helped to rebuild the children’s park and some of the patches around Semilong. One place in particular

Valentine's Day Give & Get event

Valentine's Day Give & Get event

NEED A TREE? HAVE UNWANTED SAPLINGS IN YOUR GARDEN? In answer to those questions over 60 saplings were donated for our inaugural Valentine’s Day 'Give and Get' tree event - with many finding new homes across West Northamptonshire. DONATIONS WELCOME - VALENTINE’S DAY 2027 Take good

How a Plant-Based Diet can help the climate

How a Plant-Based Diet can help the climate

In the first of two articles Martin Coombs, a member of the CA-WN Steering Group sets out his case for following a plant-based diet. There are many reasons to adopt a plant-based diet (PBD): the avoidance of animal exploitation, a reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG), improvement in the environment and

Report of CA-WN Public Meeting 20 November

meeting reports

Report of CA-WN Public Meeting 20 November

November's guest speaker was Adrian Jarvis, Chair of Leicestershire CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England)1. Prior to semi-retirement, Adrian had a long career in the energy industry and his talk to us on energy and land use encompassed both his enjoyment of the countryside and

Growing CA-WN

It’s time to take practical climate action. A new year welcomes us to a world driven at the highest levels by greed and self-interest. As a matter of self-defence it’s time to act collectively in our own interests. The many groups across the county working on the preservation

You can watch the Briefings too

individual impact

You can watch the Briefings too

On 27 November 2025 hundreds of MPs, Peers, and leaders from business, faith, sport, and culture gathered in Westminster for a National Emergency Briefing - briefings that described the rapidly escalating climate and nature crises that are set to make the UK increasingly unrecognisable and dangerous, with extreme weather events,

Christmas Mincemeat

Christmas Mincemeat

Home-made mincemeat is, I think, much nicer than shop-bought. Even the “luxury" mincemeat found on the supermarket shelves is not as good as one you can produce with a bit of spare time (it really is relatively quick to make) and with good quality dried fruit. You can also

National Emergency Briefing letter

National Emergency Briefing letter

On 27 November 2025 hundreds of MPs, Peers, and leaders from business, faith, sport, and culture gathered in Westminster for a National Emergency Briefing. They were presented with the latest evidence showing that the United Kingdom must urgently prepare for a cascade of serious societal impacts. The rapidly escalating climate

It's Your Neighbourhood

It's Your Neighbourhood

Although I'm writing in November, no one will have forgotten the colourful displays of summer flowers we all enjoy so much each year around Northampton town. The flowers are for Northampton Town Council’s entry to the annual, national Britain in Bloom competition, supported by the Royal Horticultural

individual impact

Preloved

Mick Lorkins asks "SO what is preloved and why should you consider buying preloved items?" If you have ever been to your waste recycling centre and looked at what people throw away you will see lots and lots of items that could have been donated to a charity

BIOSPHERE: a drama

BIOSPHERE: a drama

Theatre Director Olivia Munk1 invited CA-WN to the Royal & Derngate Theatre for the 21 November 2025 première of Olivia Foan’s2 drama BIOSPHERE. Many of us accepted and these are my personal observations. The inspiration for the drama was a 1991 experiment in self-sufficient living called Biosphere 23. Playwright

The Long Long Grass of Home

The Long Long Grass of Home

“Alas, this will kill that” A melancholy phrase uttered by Claude Frollo in Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris, referring to the fatal impact the printing press would have on gothic architecture. I sense we feel this pain today, inflicted through the consequences of fast-paced technological change, exemplified by the