Exploring climate and nature democracy in Wales

Hustings still work, and politicians do show up!

Getting politicians into a room can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. This project showed us it doesn't have to be, and that hustings are a great vehicle for effective conversations between the public and politicians.

Over the project we supported 14 hustings all across Wales, with hundreds of members of the public attending and candidates from 12 Welsh parties showing up. Many of these events looked beyond climate and nature on their own. They connected them to issues like disability, asylum and refugee rights, and local community concerns such as health and transport. Too often climate and nature are presented politically as isolated issues, but these hustings emphasised that communities experience these issues together.

Candidates who took part described how hustings expose candidates and party supporters to different views, bolstering their understanding of local issues and priorities. Crucially, hustings give constituents a chance to ask questions directly, hold candidates to account, and hear from the people they're being asked to vote for. That is democracy working as it should.

There is a real appetite for democratic engagement on climate and nature

Over 60 organisations took part in our trainings, used our resources or received our support, alongside hundreds of individuals. Our hustings toolkit was viewed more than 300 times in its first few weeks alone.

That tells us people want to meet with politicians, speak up for their communities and put climate and nature on the agenda. It also tells us they want skills and resources to do it well, and feedback confirmed that our support helped people feel more confident doing so.

Ultimately, a healthy democracy doesn't just look like voting. It depends on people feeling confident and equipped to talk to their local politicians, and on those politicians feeling compelled to represent what they hear. That is why advocacy skills and support remain so vital, in Wales and across the UK, to ensuring climate and nature remain on the agenda of our elected representatives.

Big political moments are an opportunity, but so is what comes after

The May election reshaped the Senedd, changing both its size and makeup, and with it what feels mainstream and achievable in Welsh politics. Moments like this are a real chance to shape the agenda at local and national level.

What worked was a relational approach: meeting candidates ahead of the election, engaging with them during the campaign, and following up once they were elected. Done this way, communities' voices are heard at every stage of the electoral process, and early conversations can be turned into active support and commitments.

Advocacy is always important, but elections are a particularly powerful moment for it: to shape the mandate that politicians feel they have, and to continue to influence elected representatives. With local elections coming in May, and further elections in the years ahead, this is a lesson worth carrying forward.

Communities hold so many of the solutions

Across every strand of this project, we were reminded that communities have creative ideas, a deep understanding of what their areas need, and a clear sense of what will and won't work.

When groups have the confidence and ability to engage effectively with MSs and other politicians, decisions on climate, nature and the issues that intersect with them are more likely to be holistic and long-lasting.

Thank you

Thank you to Climate Cymru for being such a committed and collaborative partner, and to everyone who attended a training, ran a hustings, shared the toolkit or took part in an event. We're excited to keep building on this work in phase 2, which will be launching soon.