by Lawrence Tingson, Sustainable District Manager – Linen Quarter BID
My story started in 1984, on one of the 7,641 islands of the Philippines, a country of breathtaking beaches, beautiful people, and at least 18 typhoons a year.
I grew up knowing that climate issues weren’t just news headlines. They were real life. They were home.
Fast forward to 2004, I was 19, my family moved to the middle east and my adult life took shape under the desert sun of Qatar. I was the textbook young professional: climbing the corporate ladder.
Then, travel happened. From 2010 onwards, I began exploring the world during my annual leave. One country at a time. 68 countries later, I’d collected not just stamps on my passport, but lessons that would completely shift how I saw the world.
Before you judge me, yes, I can hear it: “How sustainable of you.”
But honestly, travel was my greatest teacher. I started to see the world differently. 68 countries, that is 68 ways of seeing how the world works, and sometimes, how it doesn’t. Everywhere I went, the story was the same, told in different languages: We need to do something.
And that’s when it hit me, sustainability isn’t just about saving trees. It’s about saving ourselves, and the generations after us.
Then came 2020, the year that hit pause on everything. While the world was busy baking banana bread, I was lying in bed after yet another workday thinking, “What have I actually accomplished today?”
The answer was: the same thing I’d done yesterday.
And the week before.
So I asked myself: Is this it?
In 2021, armed with a growing desire to return home someday to champion sustainability in the Philippines, and inspired by the lessons my travels had taught me, I decided to take a bold, unexpected step.
At 37, I went back to school, leaving behind a 17-year career in PR, Events and Communications to pursue further studies at QUB in Leadership for Sustainable Development. In short, I left stability to study sustainability.
2023, I joined Linen Quarter BID as the Sustainable District Manager. On my first day, I showed up in full glam, suit, tie, polished shoes, ready to “save the planet.” A few hours later, I was sprinting through the city centre trying to rescue an injured bird in broad daylight. That’s when I knew, this was my kind of chaos.
Since then, I’ve worked with an incredible team to turn our district into Northern Ireland’s first sustainable district. We’ve championed active travel, monitored air quality, supported fair pay and employee well-being, and brought more green spaces into the heart of the city.
And then, there’s RE[act] Festival, Belfast’s only sustainability festival, which I’m incredibly proud to direct for the second year as it returns in 2025 with the key theme: “Capacity Building.”
This theme did not come by accident, “Capacity building empowers people, it is the engine that drives sustainability forward. It turns climate goals into climate action, transforms plans into practice, and helps people become active participants in shaping their future. With COP30 on the horizon, this year’s RE[act] is a timely reminder that sustainability starts with people. With every event, workshop, and conversation, RE[act] continues to build on its founding mission: to connect people, share knowledge, and turn ideas into tangible action for a sustainable Belfast.”
RE[act] Festival has been a platform for conversation, creativity, and collaboration. A space where ideas become action and people become changemakers. With over 1,500 participants in 2024 and more than 30 delivery partners, I can’t wait to see how RE[act] Festival will continue to grow and inspire in the years ahead.
For once, I go home each day knowing I’ve done something, no matter how small, to make this city a little better.
So now you know how and why I got here. But the question people often ask is: Why did I stay?
The answer is simple: The people.
I stayed because of the warmth of a community that welcomed me in 2021, when I knew absolutely no one. You made this place feel like home. I stayed because, for the first time in my life, I’m in a place of my own choice, doing something I truly love.
And beyond that sense of freedom, I stayed because I saw something powerful here: POTENTIAL.
Potential for creativity. Potential for unity. Potential for real, lasting change.
Because the truth is, change doesn’t start with governments or big corporations.
It starts with people. People like you and me.
And sometimes, the most impactful journeys aren’t about finding a new place. They’re about choosing to stay and helping to build that place a little greener than you found it.