This pop-up riverside venue at 222 Broomielaw is hosting a number of talks, workshops, performances screenings and other events over the duration of COP26 aiming to bring together arts and climate activism.

The Joyous Choir performing a Turkish version of Bella Ciao at the Launch Event

By Sam Doak and Rhiannon Davies

For many, the key action in Glasgow is not happening behind closed doors but all around the city as part of the climate fringe.

Pop-up venue, The Landing Hub situated within the Sustainable Glasgow Landing site launched on the 29 October with a packed programme of events running until 14 November. According to its organisers, the Landing Hub exists to act both as a space in which ‘the arts will meet the climate and social justice movements’ and as a social hub for locals, activists and climate experts.

A wide range of talks, performances, screenings and discussions have been planned to take place in the venue, including a musical programme coordinated by Govanhill-based community station, Radio Buena Vida. The space is being operated by Inhouse, the events company also responsible for the Queen’s Park Arena, in collaboration with the architectural practice New Practice.

It is a temporary structure, which aims to avoid the ‘build and burn’ approach (when materials are skipped after a project is decommissioned). The site has used local suppliers and fabricators to reduce the embedded carbon from cross-country transportation and support Glasgow’s local economy during a period of recovery. The plastic cups used in the hub will all be ground down by the RE-FUSE initiative to be turned into art or homeware by community organisations.

Kirsty Hood and Bex Anson of Glasgow based events company Inhouse said: “After an incredible summer of community events at Queens Park Arena in Glasgow’s Southside, Inhouse were delighted to be invited by New Practice architects to collaborate on bringing to life ‘The Landing Hub’.

“With all eyes on Glasgow for the vital COP26 conference we are focussed on widening the reach of climate justice movement through the arts, and have welcomed aboard theatre maker provocateur Bex Anson (Megahertz) who has background in site specific interventions and multi-artform projects to co-programme the space with us.

“With our collective passion for creating thought provoking events with accessibility at their core, we are eager to facilitate front line activists and artists, and give space to indigenous voices that must be heard.”

The Landing Hub’s opening on the 29 October saw a ceremony by the Pilgrims of Nature, a group of people who had walked 500 miles to Glasgow from London, searching for ways to listen to the land. It also saw musical performances from the likes of Joyous choir, an international women’s community choir from Maryhill who sang protest songs in different languages.

The launch also saw the unveiling of ‘Grace of the Sun’ a large scale art installation by Scottish conceptual visual artist, Robert Montgomery made using the solar lamps and realised in Glasgow through collaboration with the local art community.

On Sunday 31 October, it hosted the COP26 Coalition launch event, The Era of Injustice is Over. It was attended by a number of activists from across the climate movement. A major theme of the event was the inaccessibility of the official summit taking place a short walk away. Multiple speakers were keen to criticise organisers for failing to ensure that activists, experts and delegates from the Global South were able to attend and contribute to discussions pertaining to the climate crisis.

Many of those present at last week’s event spoke on the need for social and economic justice to be at the core of proposed solutions to the climate crisis. Asad Rehman from War on Want drew a connection between capitalism, racism and the patriarchy and the destructive practices that have brought about this crisis, saying:

“Those approaches have been hardwired into our social and economic system, so much so that even today in those corridors of power in these negotiations our governments are making decisions that basically say that the lives of black, brown and indigenous people, of the poor and women are not worth saving… that the priority is the extraction of profit and value.”

Kevin Mtai from Fridays for Future speaking at the Landing Hub

Other speakers included Camille Barbagallo from the COP26 Coalition, Kevin Mtai from Fridays for Future, Tom Ballantine from Stop Climate Chaos and Lidy Nacpil from Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development. Each was keen to emphasise the need for bold action from world leaders to address global warming and celebrate the work of individuals and communities in campaigning for solutions to the crisis.

Southside local Lauren MacDonald from the Stop Cambo campaign was also present. Speaking on the role of activists in the fight against climate change, she told those present that:

“The climate crisis is real, it is here and it is terrifying… I want you to believe in people power in the face of all this violence… I cannot help but feel in my soul that we can win in the fight against new fossil fuel projects in the UK.”

“I’m 21 years old and scared for my future” - read more from Lauren Macdonald in this interview.

The Landing Hub’s opening concluded with a musical performance by Canadian indigenous campaigners. These guests, along with others who had travelled to Glasgow in order to attend the summit, were then welcomed to Glasgow in a ceremony inspired by the Gaelic culture.

At the wider Sustainable Glasgow Landing site, Glaswegians, visitors to the city and delegates are invited to explore vertical farming to Passivhaus technologies, via sustainable power generation and active travel solutions as well as an avenue of local and international exhibitors alongside an ‘Exhibition Arbour’ leading to The Landing Hub.