What if the most important climate conversation this September didn't happen at a conference but in your neighbourhood café, an art gallery or a local park?
That is the idea behind Montréal Climate Week, a new city-wide festival co-founded by Concordia alumni Juliette Champoux-Pellegrin, BComm 25 and Gabriela Lopes, BA 18.. Running from September 8 to 13, the festival will transform the city into a network of independently organized events that invite people to turn conversations into climate action
The idea grew out of the founders' experiences at Concordia, where they met through the university's sustainability community.
"Concordia is a place where people challenge assumptions, think systemically and bring communities together to create change," says Lopes, general coordinator of the Concordia Food Coalition.
Turning a city into a climate festival
Champoux-Pellegrin, who minored in sustainability studies before joining Concordia's Carbon Governance Living Lab, says the goal is to make climate action accessible to everyone, not just policymakers or researchers.
"We're trying to gather all these different pieces together so we can work better together toward a common goal," she says. "Since events will take place across the city, people can discover what's happening where they live, work and play."
Unlike a traditional conference, Montréal Climate Week invites community groups, researchers, artists, businesses and cultural organizations to host their own events under a shared banner. The result is a decentralized festival that encourages conversations and collaborations across disciplines and sectors to drive city-wide climate action.
"It's really about drawing lines between all of these initiatives that already exist," says Lopes. "We're trying to get arts and culture talking to health and wellness, urban planning talking to food systems, researchers talking to citizens."
Rather than starting from scratch , the festival leverages Montréal's already-vibrant climate community. By anchoring the climate movement in a yearly festival, it aims to help residents discover the work taking place across the city and get involved..
Building connections that last
For the founders, success isn't measured simply by attendance. They say they hope the conversations sparked during the week will lead to new collaborations and initiatives that live onafter the festival ends.
" We don't just want to know how many people showed up," says Champoux-Pellegrin. "We want to know what actually came from those conversations and track the impact Montréal Climate Week has over time."
Lopes likens the organizers' role to that of hosts introducing guests at a party.
"We want people who should know each other to meet," she says. "If those relationships continue after Climate Week, that's where the real impact happens."
Concordia's influence extends beyond its alumni founders. Several events are expected to take place on campus, while Volt-Age, Concordia's electrification research program, is partnering on a flagship event at 4TH SPACE focused on climate leadership and storytelling.
For Lopes and Champoux-Pellegrin, the festival is about bringing optimism back to climate action by celebrating the people already making a difference and inspiring others to join in.
"We want to bring back excitement around climate," says Champoux-Pellegrin. "Once a year, the city can come together and celebrate the incredible work that's already happening and inspire even more."
Montreal Climate Week runs from September 8 to 13, 2026. Explore the full program and learn how to participate.
