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Over 12,000 visitors got to see Gaia, the giant replica of planet Earth in Rochdale during its five week run which ended last month. The seven-metre exhibit at Number One Riverside was taken down during the festive break.

40 school groups visited the famous three-dimensional model and 14 support events went ahead during its stay including the Christmas Light’s Switch On, live theatre, science shows, astronaut boot camp, circus performances, green careers show, My Earth eco event and many more. They were all themed around considering our impact on the planet and what we can each do to make the borough a greener place. Students from Hopwood Hall College and local residents also took part in a climate change debate, discussing the big environmental issues facing the borough, which is available to watch online.

Gaia’s residency in the town centre was part of Rochdale’s commitment to raising awareness about the seriousness of climate change and its implications for the future.

Councillor Sara Rowbotham, deputy leader of Rochdale Borough Council and cabinet member for climate change and sustainability said despite the challenges of the pandemic, it had been a success: “Gaia has helped start many conversations about climate change and really boost our climate change agenda, and it’s been great to see how powerful a piece of art can be. The additional events and the way so many local groups and residents of all ages got involved brought a real community feel to the overall experience. Whilst one or two events had to be cancelled and the pandemic will inevitably have had an impact on numbers, the feedback has been fantastic, visitors were really captivated by it and Gaia has been a success we very much want to build on. Thank you to all our volunteers and everyone who came along to see it. This is just the start in terms of addressing the climate change emergency, there is a lot more work to do.”

3,895 visitors shared their views on the borough’s climate change priorities, voting for what they thought should be the top priority. In first place was ‘reducing, reusing and recycling the stuff we buy and throw away,’ with 1,197 votes, second with 860 votes was ‘investing in the natural environment including planting more trees and protecting natural habits and the local eco system’ and thirdly, ‘more green energy to heat and power our homes and buildings to stop the use of fossil fuels’ with 831 votes.

Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation said: "In light of the pandemic, I think there has already been a renewed respect for nature and our thoughts about protecting the planet have strengthened in so many ways. It was a perfect time to bring Gaia to Rochdale.”

Darren Grice, deputy chief executive of Your Trust added: “We’re so pleased have supported Gaia’s stay. It has been fabulous to see another high profile exhibit at Number One Riverside, following Dippy’s successful visit in 2020, presenting art in a really relevant and accessible way, inspiring us all. You can see from all the social media posts what an impact it has had and what a great space Number One Riverside is for large scale exhibitions.”

The exhibition and supporting events were staged in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council and Your Trust, supported financially by the Garfield Weston Foundation.

To watch the climate change debate, find out how Rochdale is planning to combat climate change and how you can make a difference visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/climatechange

Gaia was created in partnership with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Bluedot and the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres. With supporting partners Culture Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral.

A new climate emergency scrutiny study group (CESSG) has been established to ensure that the council and the borough become carbon neutral by 2038 – in line with a pledge made in 2020.

The new scrutiny group, one of only a handful of climate change scrutiny groups set up by councils, will bring focus on making sure targets and actions contained in the council's climate change strategy are delivered.

The CESSG includes chairs and vice-chairs of the council's existing overview and scrutiny committees – corporate; communities, regeneration and environment and the third group, health, schools and care.

Their responsibility focuses on reviewing and monitoring agreed climate change targets, making priority recommendations that will make great strides in the fight against climate change. The group will work with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), other Greater Manchester (GM) councils and various partner organisations to assist in realising the climate change objectives.

Councillor Tom Besford, chair of communities, regeneration and environment overview and scrutiny committee and chair of the CESSG, said: "The role of the CESSG is crucially important in reviewing our climate change strategy and proposed actions, ensuring that we provide oversight and challenge of the plans to meet the objective of the borough being a carbon neutral borough by 2038.

"We will continue to monitor progress in meeting the challenge of climate change in the borough and make recommendations where we feel that we can improve our performance and learn from best practice in tackling the climate emergency."

Councillor Sara Rowbotham, cabinet member for climate change and sustainability added: "We are committed to doing everything we can to make our borough carbon neutral by the deadlines set.

"Initiatives include planting many more trees to aid in cleaner air, trialling eco-friendly fuels in some of our public-facing vehicles, utilising solar bins and providing more charging points for electric vehicles, bringing improvements to active travel options, such as walking and cycling infrastructure. And with plenty more things in the pipeline – we are determined to make a change."

"We continue to work alongside other GM councils in collaboration on the joint clean air plan to tackle illegal levels of contaminants in our air and will be looking forward to hearing more at the forthcoming COP26 event in Glasgow."

The council hopes that making these changes now will deliver additional health benefits, provide more job opportunities, improve energy efficiency in homes and cut fuel poverty. And most importantly, secure a future for the next generation, to succeed and thrive in a low-carbon economy.

Hundreds of visitors to the 'My Earth' event got ideas and inspiration to help address the climate change emergency.

The day, staged as part of the Gaia events programme and held under the replica of planet Earth on display at Number One Riverside during December, was designed to provide lots of practical ideas and help for anyone wanting to reduce their carbon footprint and make an impact on tackling climate change.

These included how to reduce food waste at home courtesy of Andre and Lisa from 'Educate' who demonstrated how to use near end of life fruit and vegetables to make fruity ice cream and a very tasty Christmas soup. The councils recycling team engaged residents with imaginative ideas to increase recycling with tips to re-use items as well as showcasing their Food Heroes. They also gave away reusable water bottles to visitors who pledged to give up buying drinks in single-use plastic bottles and showed how they made bird feeders out of empty water bottles collected from this year's Williams BMW Rochdale Half Marathon, 10K and Fun Run Fun. Bottle top artwork created by Holy Family RC Primary School and Rochdale AFC Community Trust added to the displays.

'Inspiring us all to think about the changes we can now make'

Groundwork staff advised on ways to make your home more energy efficient. Colleagues from Petrus showed ways you can make a garden more eco-friendly and helped visitors' plant pots of bulbs provided by Bowlee Nursery for them to take away and grow at home. Representatives from Rochdale in Bloom talked about how volunteering and taking part in gardening projects in your community is good for exercise and wellbeing as well as fabulous fun.

Rochdale Youth Service and Cartwheel Arts brought their 'Wonderwall' – an interactive piece of art made in conjunction with the Travelling Light Circus that helps you choose your own eco-challenge. Perhaps the most eye catching exhibit was the Pendulum Wave Machine from the Travelling Light Circus, a fusion of science and art that captivated the audience with its mesmerising mechanical movements.

Councillor Sara Rowbotham, deputy leader of Rochdale Borough Council and cabinet member for climate change said the event was a great example of how the Gaia earth artwork is being used to stimulate discussion and action to tackle the climate change emergency:

"The scientific evidence is clear, human activity is causing our planet to warm at an alarming rate. Scientists have warned that we have just over a decade to halve our emissions to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change on our food supply, global health, extreme weather and more. The council has a responsibility to take action to reduce carbon emissions, alongside preparing the borough for the impacts of a changing climate and I hope this My Earth event and Gaia is inspiring us all to think about the changes we can now make."