Plymouth
| Map | |
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| Location | Plymouth, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 50° 22' 16.56" N, 4° 8' 33.24" W |
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Plymouth.
News
Plymouth’s iconic Millennium Building set for community ownership, thenews.coop (Sep 09, 2025) - Digitally mapping fertile spaces, teaching deep permaculture, all becoming co-stewards: Plymouth’s special social power at work, Daily Alternative (Mar 13, 2024)
- “I am a window of opportunity”: Plymouth’s innovative social enterprise sector comes up with Vacancy Atlas, redefining the high street, Daily Alternative (Feb 08, 2024)
- How community projects are building a brighter future for British farms, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Nov 11, 2025)
- As pine martens are reintroduced to south-west England, a new study shows why local people need to be involved, theconversation.com (Sep 09, 2025) — "...more collaborative relationships can be developed when people are involved in making plans for reintroduction."
- ‘They’re beautiful’: 13-year-olds lead audacious project to save harvest mice in Devon, theguardian.com (Aug 28, 2025)
- How heat from old coal mines became a source of local pride in this northern English town – new study, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- Beth Mead: ‘If we don’t adapt to climate change, football becomes a privilege, not a right‘, theguardian.com (Nov 19, 2025)
- Sharing soil, sweat and tears, ffcc.co.uk (Oct 30, 2025) — Are farm partnerships the future? We talk to the team behind Abunda to find out
- Renewable energy investment should come from defence budgets, say retired military leaders, theguardian.com (Oct 23, 2025) — Former European officers say spending on low-carbon power would make nations more resilient to threats from potential aggressors
- Green to Grey, How Europe is squandering the little nature it has left, greentogrey.eu (Oct 01, 2025)
- The Cambodian women rising up to protect their communal land, positive.news (Nov 20, 2025)
- Bees, Community, and Shared Futures, grassecon.substack.com (Nov 20, 2025)
- ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
- The Village Hub, "providing opportunities that enable anyone in our community (the Electoral Wards of Stoke and Devonport) to connect through learning, signposting, cultural activities and having fun in a safe and caring environment." added 10:25, 15 November 2022 (UTC)
- Plymouth Octopus Project, cosmolocal CAN in action, combining local practicality and global perspective
- Hoe Neighbourhood Forum, added 15:17, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
- Environment Plymouth
- Sustainability with Plymouth University
- Transition Plymouth
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Northern Ireland community action, Haringey community action, West Midlands community action / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
Plymouth video
UK and international events
UK events
Nov 10 - 16, 2025 (Mon - Sun) — Living Wage Week, livingwage.org.uk- Nov 13, 2025 (Thu) — Kindness Day UK, Nov 13 annually, aiming to increase the value of kindness in society as well as increase the amount of kind acts that take place, making kindness a greater part in our daily life, kindnessuk.com
- Nov 16 - 22, 2025 (Sun - Sat) — Road Safety Week, brake.org.uk
- Nov 22 - 30, 2025 (Sat - Sun) — National Tree Week, The Tree Council's annual tree celebration. People across the country planting thousands of trees to mark the start of the winter tree planting season. "Trees and hedgerows are some of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against climate change.", treecouncil.org.uk
Global or international events
- Nov 05, 2025 (Wed) — Media Liberation Day, Change the Media, Change the Future, mediarevolution.org
- Nov 06, 2025 (Thu) — Outdoor Classroom Day, celebrating and inspiring outdoor learning and play, outdoorclassroomday.com
- Nov 13, 2025 (Thu) — World Kindness Day, Nov 13, annually, highlighting good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness for good which binds us, randomactsofkindness.org
- Nov 16, 2025 (Sun) — International Day for Tolerance, Nov 16 each year, fostering respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human, unesco.org
- Nov 19, 2025 (Wed) — International Men's Day, Nov 19, annually
- Nov 28 & 29, 2025 — Buy Nothing Day, en.wikipedia.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Community and voluntary action
- Whitleigh Big Local, added 15:12, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
Food activism
- All Ways Apples, community apple festival held in Devonport, Plymouth, in the Autumn of each year
- Diggin it! organic gardening project in Plymouth
- Food Plymouth, city-wide food partnership which works to support the aims of the Plymouth Food Charter and Sustainable Food City Plymouth Action Plan, promoting a vibrant and resilient local food economy for a more healthy and sustainable city...foodplymouth.org
Maps: Plymouth Good Food Map, foodplymouth.org, link not found
Past event
- June 10 -14, 2014, Plymouth Big Food Event, foodplymouth.org, link not found
Community energy
Plymouth Energy Community, charity and a social enterprise, with a cooperative ethos. "We empower our community to create a fair, affordable, zero carbon energy system with local people at its heart." added 10:49, 12 November 2021 (UTC)
Towards sustainable economies
- Plymouth Social Enterprise Network, added 19:20, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
Community resources
- Plymouth FabLab
- Borrow Don't Buy, 'library of things' in Plymouth
Citizens data initiative
Arts, sport and culture
- Fotonow CIC, Visual culture for social change
- Take a Part, arts project for Plymouth communities
Climate action
- The Climate Hub, "flagship Climate Hub in the old Waterstones building (New George St) will be one of the first city centre Climate Hubs in the world." added 16:30, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
Cycling activism
Plymouth is at the southern end of the 99-mile (159 km) long Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route (National Cycle Route 27). The route runs mostly traffic free on off-road sections between Ilfracombe and Plymouth. The route uses former railway lines, though there are some stretches on public roads.
Urban sustainability
- Nudge Community Builders, set up in 2017 by local people living in Stonehouse, Plymouth.
Open spaces
Parks, nature and green spaces, information from Plymouth City Council
Plymouth is home to 28 parks with an average size of 45,638 square metres (491,240 sq ft).[66] Its largest park is Central Park, with other sizeable green spaces including Victoria Park, Freedom Fields Park, Alexandra Park, Devonport Park and the Hoe.
Community river action
- River Keepers, information from bioregion.org.uk (South Devon / Plymouth)
News archive
- The climate crisis leaves students feeling helpless – what universities can do to empower them, theconversation.com (Jul 24, 2023)
- A CAN at work... Look at the convening of energy and initiative going on in the Plymouth Octopus Newsletter, The Daily Alternative (Jun 06, 2023)
- The Guardian view on Plymouth’s lost trees: an act of vandalism, Editorial, The Guardian (Mar 27, 2023) — The protesters are right. Felling more than 100 trees at night was disrespectful to both local people and nature
- ‘A disgrace’: more than 100 trees cut down in Plymouth despite local opposition, The Guardian (Mar 15, 2023)
- Plymouth residents fight to save trees, Wicked Leeks (Feb 08, 2023)
- Plymouth Octopus is a cosmolocal CAN in action, combining local practicality and global perspective, The Dailty Alternative (Dec 01, 2021)
- "The State of Us" event revealed the mulitple forms of agency within municipalism, Daily Alternative (Nov 12, 2021)
- The Political Opportunity, Alternative Editorial (Jul 25, 2021)
- Ocean rewilding: England's largest seagrass restoration project begins, Apr 21, 2021...positive.news
- Building on "a foundation of self-managing enterprise", Plymouth's empowered communities ask: What is "The State of Us"? Apr 6, 2021...thealternative.org.uk
- A "fab city" aims to produce everything - energy, commodities, food - that it consumes. And Plymouth is one of them. Nov 25, 2019...thealternative.org.uk
- Plymouth becomes the UK's first Fab City, Jul 1, 2019...University of Plymouth
- What kind of space can welcome a diverse community? Apr 28, 2018...The Alternative UK
News sources
- Posts in PLYMOUTH LAB, from The Daily Alternative, thealternative.org.uk/dailyalternative
About Plymouth
Plymouth is a city situated on the south coast of Devon, England, approximately 37 miles (60 km) south-west of Exeter and 190 miles (310 km) west-south-west of London. Enclosing the city are the mouths of the river Plym and river Tamar, which are naturally incorporated into Plymouth Sound to form a boundary with Cornwall.
The city is home to 262,100 (mid-2019 est.) people, making it the 30th-most populous built-up area in the United Kingdom and the second-largest city in the South West, after Bristol. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and home to the University of Plymouth. It has ferry links to Brittany (Roscoff and St Malo) and to Spain (Santander).
Near you
| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Phil Green (2018–2025). "Community action/Plymouth". Appropedia. Retrieved November 28, 2025. |