As a UNESCO Creative City all the work we do supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, of which Climate Action, Sustainable Cities, Life on Land, Clean Energy and Responsible Consumption are just a few. Here’s ways you can get involved in Festival of Libraries events that focus on the natural world around us.

Libraries are a great starting point for conversations about the environment, climate, ecology, and our experiences on this planet we call earth. The Festival of Libraries 2025 has an abundance of events and discussion groups exploring these themes.

A whole day of performances and conversations about eco-futures! Join us at Embassy of Utopia on 4th June, a collaboration between artists from Manchester and Tartu UNESCO Cities of Literature at Manchester Central Library, for a two-day open forum of storytelling, academic discussion, spoken word, music and more. Manchester has got a lot to say about this subject, and we can’t wait to hear it.

Does your writing thrive in green spaces? Pop in to Pop Poetry’s pop-up greenhouse! Have a brew, write a poem, and publish it in a printed and digital zine in 10 minutes! Pop Poetry is Ella, Hal and Chris, local artists who love poetry, the environment and popping up in local sites. Join Pop Poetry at various libraries throughout the festival: Oldham Library on 5th June, Edgeley Library on 7th June, Urmston Library on 6th June and Irlam Library on 4th June.

Are you interested in the relationship between urban and green spaces? Join graphic facilitator Adelina Court for a ‘Visualising Urban Greening’ creative workshop where through guided storytelling participants will explore strategies for integrating green spaces into urban landscapes using pencils and the imagination! Through this workshop, participants will learn how to address challenges like limited space, climate adaptation, and community needs. The session aims to foster actionable solutions that enhance urban biodiversity and improve community health. This event will take place in Bredbury Library on 6th June. 

Would you like to explore your relationship to water through drawing words and movements? In Oldham Library on 4th June you will have the opportunity to try out creative exercises, generate ideas about water and explore your own emotions through techniques developed in the Water is Attracted to Water project.

Are you after a workshop with a focus on a specific environment? Join writer Vashti Gbolugan Suwa in the Portico Library on 7th June for a workshop centred on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, where through autobiographical writing, videos, poetry, and photography you will learn about the impacts of tin mining, and develop techniques for writing passionately about issues that connect the personal, the ecological and the economic.