Sustainable Tadcaster Climathon

Overview

The Sustainable Tadcaster Climathon was delivered in partnership by NICRE, Tadcrafters CIC and The Barn in Spring 2025. It was part of a series of Climathon events facilitated by NICRE nationally, featuring an adapted version of Climate KIC’s methodology for use in rural settings.

The Climathon brought together local and regional stakeholders to discuss the challenge:

How might local businesses, community groups and organisations work together to make Tadcaster more economically, ecologically and socially resilient to the impacts of climate change?

Representatives from local businesses, community groups, research organisations and charities attended a webinar, followed by an in-person event, to develop place-based, innovative solutions for Tadcaster. The event emphasised the value of collaboration between stakeholders, communities and businesses to develop feasible projects that meet local needs.

The solutions developed through this climathon were captured in a visual summary (right).

Su Morgan, Tadcrafters CIC, said:

"We were really privileged to have the opportunity of a Climathon in Tadcaster, and incredibly lucky to have so many amazing people able to attend. It was fabulous to see everyone linking up and making new conections, energised by discussion and the exciting possibilities for the future of our town. I'm looking forward to seeing how each of the superb plans might progress and the impact that they will have."

Find out more

Scroll down to read more about what happened at this climathon event, the solutions developed and next steps. You can also click the buttons below to watch a video of the day, and to find out more about NICRE's series of rural climathon events.

Further information about rural climathons Watch Video Read the report

Part 1 - the webinar

The webinar took place in the morning of 28 March. A range of speakers from across the North East shared their experiences of climate action and multi-stakeholder collaboration:

Melanie Thompson-Glen, Head of Business and Innovation at NICRE, introduced the Climathon methodology and the aims for the session.
Su Morgan & David Gluck introduced Tadcrafters CIC, The Barn, and their ongoing work in Tadcaster. The local climate context was introduced, including Tadcaster’s history of flooding.
Catherine Heinemeyer, York St John University, presented the Institute for Social Justice’s work on ecological justice through a living lab network, which trains students and works with communities on circular economy projects to build capacity, hope, and agency in the face of climate change.
Sue Manson, North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, discussed the benefits of community energy for resilience, decarbonisation, and circular economy. The support available to communities to decarbonise was outlined, including advice and 1-to-1 sessions.
Nick Hayward, Humshaugh Net Zero, introduced the range of activities towards decarbonisation that are taking place in Humshaugh, Northumberland, including a solar farm.
Tristan Terry, North Yorkshire Council, explained the area’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), comprising a range of measures and actions. The LNRS will open for public consultation later in 2025.

The webinar also included a discussion session, with ideas captured in real-time by NICRE colleagues using the MIRO online tool. The discussions strongly focussed on local solutions at this early stage, as well as some of the climate-related and socio-economic challenges and barriers in Tadcaster.

The ideas were grouped into themes after the session, to include:

Community engagement and buy-in
Collaboration
Energy and heat
Businesses and the economy
Ecological opportunities
The structure and organisation of any climate action.

Part 2 - In-person workshop

The in-person workshop was held on 1 April at The Barn in Tadcaster. It brought together 35 participants to discuss Tadcaster’s climate resilience. The day began with a tour of the town in small groups, guided by a team of local experts. The walk highlighted the town’s key features, opportunities and challenges, including the river and its flood defences. Participants then returned to The Barn, to begin a series of structured sessions aiming to develop innovative, achievable, but ambitious climate resilience solutions for Tadcaster.

Participants, in small groups of around eight people, were asked to generate ideas for how local businesses, community groups and organisations might work together to make Tadcaster more economically, ecologically and socially resilient to the impacts of climate change. These initial ideas were written on post-it notes and prioritised by participants, with the top two ideas shared with the group and clustered into themes by the NICRE team.

Participants then voted for the most important themes under which solutions would be developed. The themes chosen were:

High street regeneration
A demonstrator project or community hub
Community energy and heat
Nature-based solutions around rewilding, waste and composting
Hydro
Transport.

Short presentations were also given at various points during the day. Jos Holmes, North Yorkshire Council, introduced the local council’s climate change agenda and policy landscape, including ongoing work around water quality, natural capital, and ambitions to support nature. Strategic plans in development included a York and North Yorkshire route map to carbon negative, which is currently being refreshed through community engagement. Jos also explained how community climate action and decarbonisation activities are supported locally through the shared prosperity fund.

Before lunch, Vicki Pugh, York St John University (YSJU), presented an ongoing mapping project in Tadcaster with Tadcrafters CIC, and a repair fair on the university campus. The partnership between YSJU and Tadcrafters was intended to capture and share the range of inspiring climate-related activity in Tadcaster. A map of climate action in Tadcaster was produced to highlight and make visible all the small things that individuals and organisations are doing in the town. The map covers actions, ideas and suggestions, requests for support and advice, and events. It is updated on an ongoing basis.

Find out more about the YSJU living lab

Solutions

In the second part of the workshop, participants formed six teams to develop achievable, innovative solutions for Tadcaster's climate resilience under each of the themes identified. These solutions were presented to a panel at the end of the event. The panel provided feedback on potential synergies with other existing work and suggested next steps for development. Below are summaries of the solutions presented.

A high street 'dis-loyalty' scheme

A ‘disloyalty’ card to incentivise shoppers to visit several local businesses and earn stamps towards a free activity or event ticket, boosting Tadcaster’s high street through local business collaboration.

Arts and social club sustainability demonstrator project

An arts and social hub in a prominent, disused building in Tadcaster to promote sustainability and retrofitting, and serve as a community space climate-related engagement.

Community solar energy scheme

The “Sunshine on Tad” community solar energy scheme would reduce emissions and support local energy resilience. The scheme would focus on energy and cost savings within Tadcaster, alongside community benefits, and a potential community energy cooperative.

Waste/surplus mapping and exchanges

A “Waste Not Want Not” project which maps waste and surplus across Tadcaster, and provides an avenue for businesses and creatives to find or exchange waste. The longer-term vision would develop recycling and reuse opportunities, such as creating green compost locally.

An Archimedean screw hydro scheme on the weir

A hydro scheme using an Archimedean screw to generate community energy, building on Tadcaster’s history and existing river infrastructure. The scheme could produce power continuously and sell electricity at a consistent rate to Tadcaster residents and businesses.

A programme of sustainable transport initiatives

This project would develop a suite of sustainable transport options, including a cycleway (The Tad Way) and an electric shuttle bus (Tad Buster Bus) to reduce car use, boost connectivity, and support Tadcaster’s high street.

Plans for the future

The Sustainable Tadcaster Climathon was an energising, enthusiastic event with clear and achievable climate solutions developed early in the process, during the webinar breakout discussions. It is hoped that the Climathon workshop will provide a catalyst to bring them to fruition. Several potential projects were also suggested during the initial ideas generation session which were not selected for further development, but may merit further discussion, including:

A community heat network generating power from waste heat from the town’s three breweries
A corporate sustainability strategy for Tadcaster
A volunteer-run local bus service for short distances
Nature-based flood defences along the riverside, including rewilding
A community garden that grows produce and provides social integration
A community pantry
A beer whose profits are reinvested into supporting flood defences in the town.

Overall, participants worked closely together, building new relationships and sharing ideas.The next steps will be for the participants and organisers to explore and progress the solutions developed. Since the in-person event, a new collaboration with the library has launched, the Tad Hydro team continue to work on their plans for a feasibility study, and the possibility of acquiring a building for an arts centre demonstrator project is being explored. It is hoped that the disloyalty card scheme will also progress over the coming year.