GREAT BIG GREEN WEEK
From Saturday 6 June to Saturday 13 June
Celebrating Community Action and Climate Education
Join Nottingham City Libraries for 2026’s Great Big Green Week – a lively programme of films, eco markets, exhibitions, poetry, wildlife and even the world’s first electronic snail racing board. From the serious reality of the climate emergency to playful ways of reconnecting with nature, this year’s events are designed to spark curiosity, conversation and small ideas that could grow into big change.
TICKETED EVENTS
BLOCK PRINTING TASTER WORKSHOP
With Sarah Konudala | Nottingham Central Library
Tickets: £6.80 to £8.80
Hand & Pattern is a hands-on block printing session led by Sarah Konudala, using natural plant-based dyes and traditional wooden printing blocks sourced from Hyderabad, India.
This workshop invites participants to explore simple, low-impact creative processes using natural materials. Sarah will guide the session, sharing how the dyes are prepared and how to build repeat patterns through block printing.
Participants will create their own printed piece on watercolour paper, experimenting with colour, layering, and pattern. The final print can be kept as an artwork or folded into a handmade card.
The session is designed to be accessible and relaxed, encouraging exploration through making. It offers a chance to slow down, connect with traditional techniques, and engage with more sustainable approaches to creativity.
Suitable for adults, families, and beginners.
About Hand & Pattern:
Hand & Pattern is a small creative practice led by Sarah, exploring natural dyes and block printing through simple, process-led making.
The project focuses on using plant-based materials and traditional techniques to create printed work while encouraging a more thoughtful and sustainable approach to creativity. By working with limited resources and repeat patterns, the practice highlights how small variations in process can produce rich and meaningful outcomes.
A key aim of Hand & Pattern is to make creative processes accessible. Through workshops and shared making experiences, the project supports hands-on learning for a wide range of participants, including families and beginners.
The work values slowing down, experimentation, and the tactile nature of making. It encourages participants to engage with materials directly, fostering confidence, curiosity, and a sense of connection to both process and outcome.
Over time, Hand & Pattern aims to grow as both a creative practice and a platform for inclusive, environmentally conscious workshops within community spaces.
About Sarah Konudala:
Sarah is an artist and maker behind Hand & Pattern, a small creative practice exploring natural dyes and block printing through simple, process-led work. She holds a BA and MA in the arts and draws on both academic and hands-on approaches to making.
Through her connection to India, where she visits regularly with her husband’s family, Sarah has developed an appreciation for traditional block printing techniques and the use of natural materials. This ongoing influence informs her work with wooden printing blocks and plant-based dyes.
Her practice focuses on repeat patterns, material exploration, and accessible ways of making, alongside developing workshops for families and beginners.
THE LIVING MAP: NOTTINGHAM
A 3D Interactive Model of Nottingham City, with City as Lab as part of the University of Nottingham | Nottingham Central Library, Room 1
Sessions run every 30 minutes | Free tickets, Booking essential
Explore the city centre like never before!
A 3D printed model of the city, which won the British Cartographic Society ‘Map of the Year’ award in 2024, is brought to life through dynamic projection, revealing green spaces, flood risks, urban development, and many geographies of the city.
Hosted by the University of Nottingham’s City as Lab initiative and the School of Geography, these sessions invite you to see how different perspectives and data can transform our understanding of the city.
FAIRY GARDEN WORKSHOP
With Windmill Community Garden | Hyson Green Library
Step into a little bit of magic at our Fairy Garden Workshop!
Children and families are invited to create charming miniature fairy furniture that will be added to a special fairy home at the base of a tree in the Hyson Green library garden. Using natural materials and plenty of imagination, participants will help bring a storybook scene to life outdoors.
About Windmill Community Gardens:
Windmill Community Gardens are home of the Climate Friendly Gardeners Project.
They are a group of local people, who are nurturing a wonderful community garden in the heart of the city. They are just South of Bobbers Mill Bridge, on the allotment site at the South end of Ascot Road. The Gardens are a great place where anyone can come to find out more about growing their own food in a changing climate. We cater for all abilities and welcome any nationality or age group.
PEOPLE’S EMERGENCY BRIEFING
A new film from the National Emergency Briefing | Nottingham Central Library
Watch a screening of the film, followed by a facilitated discussion.
In November 2025, the National Emergency Briefing brought together leading experts to present the latest evidence on the climate and nature crisis to politicians and other influential people in Westminster. That evidence is now on the public record.
Climate and nature breakdown will affect every constituency in the country, from health and food systems to infrastructure, security to economic stability. This crisis is more serious and immediate than many understand. There is strong evidence that bold, urgent action will improve lives and livelihoods, but the window of opportunity is narrowing as we delay.
About the Film:
This 50-minute film will combine authoritative scientific content from the Westminster event with reactions from members of the public and some more familiar faces – designed to help audiences process the information on a more human level. It will deliver the frank facts about the threats, but also the enormous benefits if Government leads genuine emergency action.
Many of those attending the event commented that although the facts are alarming, they felt a sense of optimism about confronting the challenge together and seeing a pathway to a better future.
The film was conceived and developed by Ben Carey and Henrik Delehag at climate comms lab Utopia Bureau.
Write Into Nature
A Heartwood Writing Workshop with poet Gail Webb | Nottingham Central Library
Tickets: £3.50 to £7
Join a relaxed creative writing session at Nottingham Central Library! Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just looking to try something new, this workshop is all about connecting with nature and letting your imagination flow. Bring your favourite notebook and get ready to explore your creativity in a friendly, informal setting!
About Gail Webb:
Gail Webb is a poet and workshop leader based in Nottingham. She is originally from a small mining community in South Wales. Gail hosts open mic night Poetry Cocktail and looks forward to reviving it.
In 2018 Gail started writing at a time when she was experiencing loss, grief, health issues and other life challenges. Leaving a 33 year career in social care was difficult, but also an opportunity. Gail performed her poem Poets Arise! at the Nottingham Poetry Festival opening night that year and hasn’t looked back.
DROP-IN EVENTS
GREAT BIG GREEN WEEK MINI MARKET
Wednesday 10 June | 12pm to 7pm
Nottingham Central Library, Atrium
Come along to our Great Big Green Week Mini Market, and support local businesses and artists who are working to make their practices more sustainable.
Stall Holders:
- Barham Design
- Bird & Blend
- Cara Thompson, Nottingham’s Nature Poet Laureate
- City as Lab, University of Nottingham
- Lavender Buds Floral
- Make Hay Green & Ethical Web Design
- Paul Binion Photography
- Sprouts Apothecary
📸 Photo credit: Tom Platinum Morley
BOOK-INSPIRED FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS
An exhibition by Lavender Buds Floral | Nottingham Central Library
Tuesday 9 June to Saturday 13 June | During library opening hours
A message from Eve, owner of Lavender Buds Floral:
“Hi, I’m Eve! A home-based florist from Nottingham, I turned my love for flowers into Lavender Buds, aiming to create designs that evoke emotion through floral design. I believe flowers are the best way to bring words to life. I am super excited to be involved in celebrating the National Year of Reading. As someone who has always loved books and storytelling, I feel honoured to have been chosen to create this piece. It will be inspired by my favourite book, that reignited my love for reading again when I was 18.”
THE WORLD’S FIRST ELECTRONIC SNAIL RACING BOARD
With Tim Maroney | Nottingham Central Library, Children’s Library
Wednesday 10 June | Races run between 11am to 12pm, and 3pm to 4pm
The Slowest Show on Earth!
Get ready to race! Tim Maroney presents the world’s first electronic snail racing board, and you can get involved! Simply find a snail, safely transport it to our library on the day of the races, and sign your snail up for the starting line. There is a maximum of 10 snails per race, and the duration of a leg will depend on if the snails are in hurry!