We’re reaching out to warmly invite you to be part of Australia’s Citizen COP — a growing national initiative designed to bring climate and nature conversations out of formal spaces and into communities.
Citizen COP elevates the solutions already happening on the ground, creating space for practical, inclusive dialogue grounded in democratic values and collective action.
In 2025, AlterCOP 30 Australia was the Australian AlterCOP Chapter brought to Australia by People For Nature in 2025:
- 1,400+ registered participants
- 42 events
- 8 locations
- 49 participating organisations
In 2026, People For Nature decided to evolve into creating our own initiative Citizen COP, running alongside:
- COP17 Biodiversity (19–30 Oct)
- COP31 Climate (9–20 Nov)
Our guiding principles
Citizen COP events are grounded in a simple shared commitment:
- Accessible to all
- No flights policy
- No paid speakers
- Fully vegetarian
- Strong focus on minimising waste
- Fully citizen-led and independent, with no involvement from fossil fuel or extractive industries
What we are inviting the civic community to do
Citizen COP is a space for everyone in civic life — including individuals, community groups, charities, social enterprises, councils, universities, educators, artists, students, and grassroots collectives.
This year, we are inviting you to:
- Host (or co-host) a Citizen COP event or series of events
- Activate local discussions, workshops, panels, performances, or community gatherings
- Integrate Citizen COP themes into existing programs, curricula, exhibitions, or events
- Join a national cohort collectively shaping an Australian citizen convention on climate and biodiversity
Formats are flexible and community-led — from intimate roundtables and classroom sessions to public forums, creative activations, screenings, exhibitions, and dialogue spaces.
We are very happy to co-design what works best for your context, audience, and capacity.
Citizen COP themes include (but are not limited to):
- Climate change, social impact & resilience
- Climate disaster preparedness, response & adaptation
- Sustainable cities & regenerative design
- Biodiversity, bioeconomy & nature-based solutions
- Food systems, regenerative agriculture & food resilience
- Decolonised dialogues, First Nations leadership & knowledge systems
- Youth leadership & intergenerational action
- Women, equity & inclusive leadership
- Health, wellbeing & climate resilience
Ways to take part in Citizen COP
You can be part of Citizen COP in a simple but meaningful way — by hosting your own event or activity within your community.
We welcome a wide range of formats and ideas, and we can support you to bring them to life.
This could be:
- 🧩 A workshop (e.g. Climate Fresk, Biodiversity Collage, Circular Economy Collage — we can support facilitation)
- 🎤 A debate or panel discussion on climate and biodiversity issues
- ☕ A community conversation over tea, coffee, or a shared meal
- 💻 A webinar or online learning session
- 🎓 A school activity or youth-led climate and biodiversity session
- ❓ A trivia night focused on nature, climate, and sustainability (we can provide trivia questions and a facilitation guide)
- 🎬 A film screening with Q&A (we can support screening rights for selected films such as Nature, Floodland, Rising Up, The Plastic Country)
- 🌱 A local action or hands-on restoration activity (tree planting, clean-up, habitat restoration)
- 🚶♀️ A guided walk (nature walk, bushwalk, cultural walk, urban ecology walk)
- 👨👩👧👦 A gathering for parents and carers to explore climate and biodiversity futures for children
- 😂 A comedy night or storytelling event with an environmental theme
- 📸 A photography or art exhibition exploring nature, climate, place, and community
- 🎨 A creative arts event (painting, installation, spoken word, or participatory community art)
- 🍲 A cooking class or shared meal workshop focused on sustainable, local, seasonal or low-waste food
- 🎉 An art festival celebrating nature, climate action, and community creativity
We are here to support you in shaping your idea — whether that means helping with facilitation, resources, connections, or co-designing an event that fits your community.
If your organisation is interested in hosting or exploring an activation, we would love to hear from you and welcome you into this year’s cohort of participating partners.
Warmly,
The Citizen COP Team
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