Written by Joanna Houseman
On Sunday 4th of February, Greener Tywyn Gwyrdd held the ‘After Tomorrow’ event to follow up the successful screening of ‘Demain’ on the 21st January.
Over 40 people attended the short event at the Magic Lantern Cinema in Tywyn to discuss their thoughts about the film and share ideas of how Greener Tywyn Gwyrdd can move forward with their ideas for positive environmental change.
The event began with a short introduction explaining the forming of the group and its motivations and aspirations. This was followed by the screening of a short ‘Newsreel’ style film made by Liz Hutchinson of Hutchfolk Media showcasing recent events and asking, ‘where do we go from here?’.
Then followed a short presentation detailing plans for the near future which included the forthcoming ‘Bring Your Own’ campaign that is planned to engage local businesses in the town.
There is a Repair and Share Festival/Cymhorthfa happening in Machynlleth on May 13th which we are keen to support and maybe take part in.
We will also be arranging a talk on the subject of zero carbon and following the success of the ‘Demain’ film, possibly showing an environmental film festival with other activities.
The group then split up into 6 smaller discussion groups and spent 45 minutes discussing the following topics:
- Reaction to the film – what parts of the film gave most inspiration? What ideas could be applied in Tywyn and the local area? Which topics covered in the film could be applied most effectively in a small community like Tywyn?
- Results from the ‘Tree of Change’ – at the screening event on 21st January a tree was displayed in the foyer of the cinema and the audience were invited to make a pledge of #OneGreenChange that they could make during the coming year. These pledges were written on paper leaves and hung on the tree so that gradually during the afternoon the tree became full of positive ideas and actions. The 4 most popular subjects of the pledges were; growing food, plastic waste, shopping locally and transportation, these were all discussed in the small groups to share viewpoints and ideas.
- What local opportunities are there for Greener Tywyn Gwyrdd to use to help to develop local projects and campaigns? Any other ideas of what we should be focusing on locally and any current projects we should getting involved with?
A summary of the results of these discussions can be found here.
The groups were then asked to fill out a skills questionnaire, with the aim of collecting data of what skills are available in the area for forthcoming projects and events, and how much time they would be willing to dedicate to Greener Tywyn Gwyrdd events and projects.
The questionnaire can be downloaded here and emailed to GTG at info (at) greenertywyn.co.uk.
The whole group came away from the event with a great sense of positivity and pride that we have such a dedicated and active community in Tywyn. We are all very much looking forward to putting some of these plans and ideas into action together. Watch this space!