Transition Bath

The Human Swan Flies into Frome: Film Screening & Q&A with Sacha Dench
2025-10-02 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Merlin Theatre, Bath Road, Frome, BA11 2HG, United Kingdom
Renowned adventurer and conservationist Sacha Dench – known worldwide as “The Human Swan” – is coming to the Merlin Theatre, Frome on 2 October for an evening of film, stories and inspiration.
The event features a screening of Flight of the Swans, her award-winning documentary following a 7,000km paramotor journey from Arctic Russia to the UK, retracing the migration of the endangered Bewick’s swan. The film captures breathtaking aerial footage and moving encounters with communities and scientists along the way.
Hot on the heels of her latest achievement – becoming the first woman to kayak solo across the Irish Sea as part of her UNSTOPPABLE – Sea to Summit expedition ≠ Sacha will join audiences live on stage for a Q&A. She’ll share new stories from her record-breaking crossing, insights from her expedition across Europe, and her personal journey of resilience since surviving a life-changing accident in 2021.
This event is in support of Conservation Without Borders and Sustainable Frome.

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Honeygar Farm / Avalon Marshes rewilding project, with Joe Hampton
2025-10-07 19:30 - 21:00 | BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
Speaker: Joe Hampton, Honeygar Wilding Officer, Somerset Wildlife Trust
Description: Joe will talk about the long-term “wilding” project to create a more connected landscape for wildlife to help improve habitats the Trust has on its existing reserves. We will learn about the Trust’s aim for the buildings on site to become an internationally recognised hub for research, innovation and collaboration in lowland peat restoration.
Doors open 7.00pm, for coffee and a chat, with proceedings beginning at 7.30pm
This is a Bath Natural History Society talk – no booking required, £3 admission on the door. Doors open at 7pm, 7.30pm start.

Sustainability Shorts #7
2025-10-15 18:30 - 20:30 | Percy Community Centre, New King Street, Bath, BA1 2BN
Looking for fresh perspectives and practical inspiration on environmental issues? Join us for our seventh Sustainability Shorts – an evening of sustainable ideas – on Wednesday 15th October at Percy Community Centre. The evening will feature six speakers, each delivering a 10-minute talk, followed by a short Q&A, on their chosen sustainability topic. Expect a lively evening, new ideas, and plenty of opportunities to connect. You will hear a mix of ideas and perspectives on environmental and sustainability issues.
Our speakers:
Jenny Lambert – Vet with over 30 years of experience and a strong passion for equality, peace and protecting our precious world, offers practical tips for caring for our pets, wildlife, and planet.
Stuart Reynolds – Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Bath, on “Insect declines and what they mean for nature.” As you’ll see, he believes that the Earth is a balanced, dynamic system that includes both living and non-living materials, and that humans are in some danger of disrupting this marvellous arrangement. He thinks that everyone needs to take more care not to make the planet uninhabitable for other species, especially ‘the little things that run the world’.
Ghika Savva – Manager at the Student Community Partnership Team, on the award-winning Pack for Good campaign with the British Heart Foundation. The project has just crossed the £1m mark in funds raised and over 570,000 tonnes saved from landfill since the initiative was launched in Bath a decade ago.
Pete Capener – Co-founder and Managing Director, Bath and West Community Energy, will explain what Community Energy is, why it matters, and how it can directly benefit local people – from lowering carbon emissions to generating funds for community projects.
Neil Howard – Researcher at the University of Bath and member of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) whose work focuses on build fairer systems for people and the planet. In his talk, Neil will explore how Unconditional Basic Income connects to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Olly Bannell – An active member of the Bath Area Growers Network, Olly will discuss growing food at home, shared gardens, and understanding food miles, as small but powerful actions to collectively make a huge difference to our environmental impact and community resilience. He will introduce ‘The Good Food Project CIC’, a new community initiative being set up which would aim to grow fresh, organic produce that will supply local food banks, homeless shelters, and community groups.
We will be serving tea and coffee during the break, offering a chance to digest (both the talks and biscuits!) and connect with others.
Tickets are free, but we’d be grateful for a donation if you can manage it, so we can continue to run events like this one.
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Faultlines 3: the path to Net Zero – are we doing enough?
2025-10-17 10:00 - 16:00 | BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
In April 2025, the Tony Blair Institute published a critique of current net zero plans to avoid damaging climate change entitled “The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change”, asserting that “present policy solutions are inadequate … unrealistic and therefore unworkable”.
The Blair document specifically recommends increased efforts to trap carbon dioxide from exhaust gases and also from the atmosphere. Others go further asserting that we also need to increase investment in small scale nuclear power plants and urgently investigate how to cool the planet through geoengineering. Needless to say, many environmentalists object strongly to such claims, and insist that instead we must urgently double down on existing plans to decarbonise the world’s economies by replacing fossil fuels with non-nuclear renewable sources like solar, wind, tidal etc. Who is right?
This is the third in a series of all-day sessions at BRLSI, in which a panel of experts will discuss and answer your questions on a significant ‘Faultline’ within current sustainability policies. Lunch will be provided.
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3SG Volunteer Fair
2025-10-17 11:00 - 15:00 | Apex Hotel Conference Centre, Charles Street,, Bath, BA1 2DA, United Kingdom
Hosted by 3SG, the Volunteer Fair is a chance for local organisations to connect with residents, students, and businesses who are interested in volunteering. With 40+ stalls, workshops, and networking, it’s a day to celebrate and strengthen local community action.
Come and visit our Transition Bath stall! Discover local volunteering opportunities, and meet local charities doing great things in communities across Bath & North East Somerset.
🗓 Friday 17th October 2025
🕚 11am – 3pm (Arrival from 9am)
📍 Apex Hotel Conference Centre, Charles Street, Bath BA1 2DA
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How Our Virtual World Impacts Our Physical World
2025-10-20 19:30 - 21:00 | BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
Oliver Cronk explores the profound and often overlooked geographical and environmental implications of our expanding digital world. Oliver discusses both the environmental costs of our digital infrastructure and technology’s powerful potential as a tool for environmental protection. Reveals the hidden connections between our virtual activities and their very real physical consequences across the planet.

Oliver Cronkleads Technology Strategy, Research and Development at Scott Logic, a UK-based B Corp software and data consultancy, where he also heads the Sustainable Technology practice. With over 25 years’ experience spanning energy, environment, finance, government, and technology sectors, Oliver brings a unique perspective on the geographical and environmental implications of our digital world.

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Green Screen: Power Station + Discussion
2025-10-30 18:30 - 20:30 | The Little Theatre, St Michael's Place, Bath, BA1 1SF, United Kingdom
Green Screen is proud to present the film Power Station, followed by a live panel discussion (speakers to be confirmed).
Two artists in Walthamstow set out to take their street off the grid, kickstarting a solar-powered energy revolution…
Inspired by lockdown mutual aid initiatives, artist-activists Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn decided to turn their street into an energy-generating powerhouse – a prototype for a new way of living, with the hope of galvanising a wider push towards sustainable alternatives.
Directed by the duo, POWER STATION charts their turbulent journey, from pitching the idea to their neighbours and sleeping on the roof of their home to raising finance and launching a bid for a Christmas number one single.
By turns funny and heartwarming, Powell and Edelstyn’s film is a vibrant portrait of their local neighbourhood, and a charming testament to the power of art in changing minds about what could be possible. Rating: 12A.
Green Screen is a community-led space to discuss environmentally-focused cinema, with expert panels and friendly post-screening discussions. Everyone is welcome to ‘continue the conversation’ after the film in your cinema’s meeting space where you can enjoy a free tea or filter coffee when you bring a keep cup!
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Faultlines 4: Lifestyle change & regulation in climate policy
2025-10-31 10:00 - 16:00 | BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
Lifestyle change has been a cornerstone of green thinking since the 1970s. We have had critiques of consumerism, ‘voluntary simplicity’, steady-state economics, and many claims that a simpler life is preferable. The key aim is to ‘do one’s bit’ to avoid a future in which damaging climate change will adversely affect everyone. Many people already gain personal satisfaction from their voluntary attempts to achieve such a lifestyle, but in fact, such people are a small minority. Actually, there is clear evidence that over society as a whole carbon emissions rise steadily with increasing household income, and that a few hundreds of billionaires are responsible for a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person.

This is why some experts say that encouraging mass adoption of lifestyle change is not a useful strategy in climate policy. Instead, what is needed is top-down regulation of emissions. After all we don’t allow people to “decide” how they will dispose of their sewage, do we? But such regulation might be politically very difficult to achieve.

This is the fourth in a series of all-day sessions at BRLSI, in which a panel of experts will discuss and answer your questions on a significant ‘Faultline’ within current sustainability policies. Lunch will be provided.

Book tickets.
