The IGNITION project brings together 12 partners from local government, universities, NGOs, business with City of Trees, to help make Greater Manchester more resilient to the climate crisis.
Working with YOU - Community engagement
IGNITION recognises that many of Greater Manchester’s community members are already working to make GM more climate resilient. They would like to find more of these community projects to increase their scope through funding and awareness raising.
“We’re nothing without you”
If you are involved in a project that is making Greater Manchester a greener city, IGNITION can help you to access funding and volunteers to support you. Contact Miranda@cityoftrees.org.uk for more information or head to the IGNITION webpage.
If you are interested in getting involved make Greater Manchester a healthier, wilder and greener city, IGNITION and it’s partners also offer access to a number of initiatives citizens can get involved in.
Eco Streets:
Groundwork Greater Manchester is giving communities the chance to win £6,000 in funding to design their own Eco-Street. This money allows residents to transform an unused area into a beautiful green space. If you would like to give an unloved space in your local area a new, green lease of life, apply here.
Nature based solutions
What are Nature-based solutions? These solutions use nature to help solve problems like flooding and overheating that occur in Greater Manchester. Nature-based solutions are often used alongside / or replace man-made solutions like dams and sewers. They provide solutions to the climate changes we will experience in Greater Manchester, as well as growing the local economy, making people healthier and giving wildlife somewhere to thrive.
Some examples of nature-based solutions include:
o green walls
o green roofs
o street trees
o urban greenspace
o rain gardens
These solutions can provide social and economic benefits such as: improving health and wellbeing by encouraging exercise/ contact with nature, improving land/ property value and decreasing crime levels.
City of Trees has a resource library containing factsheets about Nature-based solutions here, where anyone interested can gain a deeper understanding of nature-based solutions.
Climate Resilience
In 2019, Greater Manchester declared a climate emergency. Since the 1940s, flooding in Greater Manchester has increased sixfold, with climate change projections showing that winter rain and snowfall could increase by 30% across the region by 2050. Nature-based solutions can help us to tackle the climate emergency by:
City of Trees has a dedicated factsheet on climate change and nature-based solutions within the resource library for those interested.
For more information about other IGNITION Partner projects, head to the GMCA IGNITION webpage.
