Grassroots community action on climate change often goes unnoticed but there’s a whole army of local volunteers planting trees, protecting wildlife, repairing tools and appliances, servicing bikes and training novice cyclists, campaigning for better cycle infrastructure and air quality, redistributing surplus food, collecting wild food before it goes to waste, and teaching people how to compost and grow their own. Every little bit of community work like this helps to mitigate our environmental impact, demonstrates to others that collectively small acts can have a significant impact and that together we can build a future that is fairer, greener and more sustainable. 

Community Action Groups OxfordshirE (CAG Oxfordshire) is a network of almost 90 community action groups across the county working on issues such as waste, transport, food, energy, biodiversity and social justice. Started in 2001, the network is the largest of its kind in the UK.

This year, CAG is celebrating its 20th anniversary and as we approach the UN Conference on Climate Change being held in Glasgow in November, we have curated a collection of stories from across the CAG Network, which, with help from local artists, demonstrates just how much our network has achieved and lays out our hopes for the future.

The 20 Stories of Climate Action Exhibition is a project that will showcase the achievements of the CAG Oxfordshire network over the 20 years of its existence. The exhibition will run from late August for six weeks, and alongside it, there will be practical workshops on themes such as foraging, tree planting, repair cafes or poetry nature walks. 

This digital exhibition space provides more information on the projects and groups, offers information on how to get involved, and creates a digital archive of grassroots climate action in Oxfordshire.