Bristol’s year as European Green Capital

This month marks the start of Bristol’s year as Europe’s symbol of all things green. Despite controversies over the last few months, it’s now time to get down to the real business. We asked the team at Bristol 2015 to give us some of their tips for the year ahead.

1. Treepips
In 2015 Bristol will become the first city in the world to plant one tree per child, a campaign led by the Australian environmentalist John Dee with support from Olivia Newton John.

2. Nature maps
Interactive nature maps developed by Avon Wildlife Trust will inspire Bristol residents to connect with green spaces across the city and create new ones of their own.

3. Community arts
Throughout 2015, neighbourhood arts projects driven by communities and supported by professional artists will spring up all over Bristol, from the tip of Avonmouth to the toe of Dundry View.

4. GreenTech Festival
A year-long international festival will take place exploring the role that technology can play in making our cities more liveable, and showcasing how Bristol is leading in the creation, commercialisation and use of green technologies.

5. The Bristol blue whale
Community groups and artists will build a life-size model of a blue whale in Millennium Square in April. Made from recycled plastics, the 30m-long sculpture will illustrate the fragility of ocean life.

6. Warm Up Bristol
Bristol City Council is retro-fitting an entire street in Easton in February as part of Warm Up Bristol, an initiative designed to help residents save money on their energy bills.

7. Solar balloon
A solar hot air balloon – which uses special fabrics to absorb the sun’s rays and retain the heat that is generated – will be launched at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in August.

8. Grants
A grants programme worth £2 million – by far the largest ever offered by a European Green Capital – will support more than 200 new and existing projects across the city during 2015.

9. Youth summit
On April 20, 1,500 young people will descend on the Colston Hall for a day of talks and debate, followed by a workshop to generate ideas for COP21 and a rally on Earth Day.

10. Bristol Pound
A special Green Capital Bristol Pound note will be produced during 2015 to illustrate the city’s aim of being a world leader in a new, more sustainable economy.

11. The solar tree
A solar tree made from recycled solar panels by volunteers from the Bristol Drugs Project will be planted in Millennium Square in March to engage people in energy issues.

12. Digital challenge
Teams of developers will take part in a hack at the Watershed in February for the chance to win £50,000 to create a a game or app that addresses an environmental challenge.

13. The Bristol Table
A free, digital, community-sourced cookbook will connect Bristol’s diverse cultures through the universal language of food, while promoting sustainable, locally-sourced ingredients and independent shops.

14. Shaun at School
A national schools’ programme featuring Aardman’s famous sheep will run from 2015 to 2018 and inspire more than four million Key Stage 2 pupils with activities focused on nature, food, resources, energy and transport.

15. Festival of the Future City
During the weekend of November 18-20, academics, artists, writers, philosophers, government officials, architects, campaigners and the Bristol public will come together to discuss what the future city should be like.

16. Coleridge Lectures
Lectures on the theme of Radical Green will be hosted in Bristol from February to April as part of a new series inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s radical lectures in the city in 1795.

17. Recycle a tweet
To promote recycling, Bristol 2015 is planning to commission a digital app that playfully recycles offensive, hateful or irritating tweets and turns them into romantic poetry.

18. Fog Bridge
Conjurer of unusual weather, Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya will create a fog installation on Pero’s Bridge during the In Between Time festival in February to illustrate ways that a changing climate disrupts our lives.

Photo of Clifton Suspension Bridge illuminated green at midnight on New Year’s Day by Jim Cossey