Arts into climate
We help sustainability specialists, organisations and others embed creative practices into their climate work. This has grown out of a belief that the arts and culture can help transform society in response to climate change.
What is culture/SHIFT?
We call this strand of our work ‘culture/SHIFT’ because it expresses how solving the climate crisis requires more than political and technical solutions: it also requires a shift in our current culture, for example, away from consumerism and short-termism. The programme name also reflects that the engine of transformation we’re focused on is the arts and culture sector.
Artists and cultural organisations are ideally equipped to help with the societal transformation needed to fight climate change. They offer new ways of perceiving and thinking. Communication, shared experience and inspiration are key attributes of art of all forms. The arts and culture encourage public engagement and participation. And cultural organisations such as theatres, museums and libraries have built-in public venues and the audiences or communities that gather at them.
History shows and the research paper Creative practice and transformations to sustainability confirms the power of the arts and culture to motivate and inspire people to engage with and take action on social challenges. In particular, evidence from Science Direct shows that people connect both with the science of climate change and with its emotional and personal aspects through art. Not every environmental project needs to include art and culture to be effective, but many will be less effective if they don’t.
‘Culture and heritage are integral to people’s ways of life. By connecting us to our environments and contributing to our senses of belonging, they offer real potential to help deliver the culture and societal change that will be required to support our transition to net zero and adapt to our changing climate.’
Scottish Government, Net Zero Nation: Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change
What do we do?
Building on many years of pilot projects and action research, culture/SHIFT currently focuses on four strands of work.
We:
- Lead and contribute to projects that embed arts and culture into climate action.
- Provide a hub for artists and cultural organisations to connect with each other and with individuals and organisations working on climate change to foster art-sustainability collaboration.
- Serve as a resource centre and learning exchange on art-climate change collaboration.
- Engage with and advocate for policymakers, practitioners and others working directly on climate change to recognise the value added by incorporating art and culture into their efforts.
‘This project has been a catalyst for a fundamental shift in our organisation’s perspective and commitment to the environment.’
Fife Climate Beacon feedback
How do we do it?
culture/SHIFT special projects are the projects we contribute to or lead that integrate creative and climate change work.
Examples of our current or completed special projects are:
- Creative Climate Futures
- Transforming Audience Travel Through Art
- Climate Beacons
- Cultural Adaptations
Green Tease
Our Green Tease events programme builds and supports a network of people and organisations from the arts and culture and the climate change sectors. It hosts creative, informal gatherings on topics at the intersection of art and sustainability.
Visit our events page to find the next Green Tease.
Resources and learning exchange
These activities include:
- The Library of Creative Sustainability, a collection of art-climate change collaboration case studies.
- Evaluations we carry out to assess the results and efficacy of collaborations. See the Climate Beacons evaluation report as an example.
- Toolkits, methodologies and best practices we assemble on how the arts and culture can be harnessed for climate action.
- Training and workshops we offer to the cultural and climate change sectors.
To inform organisations working on climate change how incorporating the arts and culture into their work can increase its impact, we produce publications, videos and other resources; work with cultural and climate change organisations and umbrella groups as consultants, advisors or participants or advisors; and take a lead in promoting the efficacy of art-climate change collaborations.
‘Working with creative practitioners and Creative Carbon Scotland raised the benchmark around using creativity in our working process, as a team and as individuals.’
Charlie Main, MarPAMM SEASOH Project Officer
Be part of culture/SHIFT
For enquiries about the culture/SHIFT programme, please contact Lewis Coenen-Rowe, culture/SHIFT Manager – [email protected].
We are always eager to hear from individuals or organisations from the cultural and the climate change sectors who have a project or idea that could benefit from the integration of art and sustainability.
To learn more and to become part of the shift in culture that is required to address climate change right now you can:
- Sign up to the Green Tease mailing list or submit an idea to the Green Tease call for collaborators
- Visit the Library of Creative Sustainability
- Read our embedded artist toolkit and our culture/SHIFT methodology
- Watch the short video Climate Action Needs Culture