Last week’s RE[act] Festival for a Sustainable Belfast showed what happens when a city comes together with purpose. Across the Linen Quarter, more than a dozen organisations identified 1,300 tonnes of waste for reuse – unlocking £324,000 in potential savings and keeping valuable materials out of landfill. Add to that the city’s latest seed-sowing activity with participants from social enterprise and partner NOW Group at Bankmore Square to improve green spaces and biodiversity in the heart of the city and it’s clear that Belfast isn’t just talking about climate action – it’s getting on with it.

There’s something quietly inspiring about seeing a city unite around a shared purpose. This year’s festival, RE[act] – Building Resilience Together, ran from 10–14 November and brought business leaders, policymakers, academics, and community voices under one roof to explore how capacity building can turn sustainability ambitions into meaningful action. As the final conversations of COP30 wrap up, our theme lands at exactly the right moment for what comes next in global climate action

At its core, capacity building is about giving people the tools, knowledge, and confidence to act – enabling everyone from business leaders and students to community organisers to take ownership of Belfast’s sustainable future. I was struck by how many of those conversations focused not just on systems and policies, but on people – their ideas, their creativity, and their determination to do things differently. Whether it’s cutting carbon, innovating greener solutions, or planting trees, the week proved that the city is full of people ready to lead by example.

Sustainability begins not with policy, but with individuals who care enough to act. That spirit was powerfully reflected at RE[sonate]: Women in (Climate) Action, which gathered some of Northern Ireland’s leading climate voices from policy, academia, renewables, and grassroots. It wasn’t a discussion about abstract goals, but about lived experience – courage, collaboration, and compassion driving lasting change. Watching those connections form between speakers and audience, I was reminded why events like this matter: they create the spark that keeps momentum alive.

Equally impactful was RE[tool]: Skills for Impact, a direct investment by the BID to our greatest asset, our people. This event demonstrated the power of capacity building, delivering UN-Certified Carbon Literacy Training through Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. The session produced 13 carbon-literate individuals from nine member organisations, each now equipped to drive informed, credible climate action within their organisations.

Another highlight was our RE[purpose]: From Waste to Worth, delivered with International Synergies, where businesses turned potential waste into opportunity. The results – 1,302 tonnes of materials identified for reuse and £324,000 in potential savings – demonstrate how circular thinking can generate tangible environmental and economic benefits.

Meanwhile, sessions like RE[imagine] and RE[tool] showed how knowledge and connection are the building blocks of real progress. Participants left ready to bring what they’d learned back into their workplaces and communities. That’s the kind of ripple effect Belfast needs: people sharing knowledge, building networks, and turning collective will into collective action.

What’s striking – and what I took away most strongly – is how personal sustainability feels in Belfast. It’s not an abstract agenda or a top-down directive; it’s a community movement rooted in pride, innovation, and action. Every workshop, panel, and initiative reinforced one truth: when people are inspired, supported, and connected, they make change happen.