The story of creative collaboration
Creative Climate Futures is a project led by sustainability charity Verture, supporting local climate action in Glasgow through work with embedded artists in two pioneer neighbourhoods – Easterhouse and Gorbals – and a city-wide learning, training and capacity-sharing programme.
For ‘The story of creative collaboration’, we spoke to the Gorbals embedded artist Elena Mary Harris and Kenny McCubbin, former Project Officer at Crossroads Youth & Community Association, about the value of creative approaches and collaboration in community climate action.
Why did you want to be involved in the Creative Climate Futures project?
Elena Mary Harris: Working in creative consultation roles over the past few years, there is a feeling that communities are being over-consulted for planning and development projects, but that their ideas and opinions are often not taken into account. Co-creation is not just about having a consultation phase, but genuinely involving people in the conversations about what those changes to their neighbourhood could be. What I found interesting about Creative Climate Futures is that it involves people right from the beginning in creative visioning processes and encourages a sense of ownership for the legacy of the project.
Kenny McCubbin: I have been involved in climate and outdoor projects on and off for over 40 years and wanted to be involved in this project to see what difference having a community artist would have in getting local people interested in climate change. I saw it as an opportunity to bring some creative ideas to the area and get people of all ages and backgrounds involved in the project, but also to see how working with an artist would, hopefully, inspire local people to make the changes needed to help reduce the impacts of climate change. Change needs to happen and it needs to start from a grassroots level and in a language that everyone understands – this seemed like the project that was going to achieve this.
What have you learned so far from working in the communities as an embedded artist?
Elena Mary Harris: I have been able to develop my knowledge of the range of barriers that people have in engaging with cultural and environmental activity, and how we as facilitators and organisers can adjust our practices. You won’t always be able to understand an individual’s lived experience, but through showing a commitment to adapting to their needs, you can build trust and ensure the open communication needed to maintain genuine accessibility.
What do you see as the value of creative approaches in helping participants in Gorbals to take action and create futures their communities need?
Kenny McCubbin: Climate change projects have usually been led by someone who knows about the climate and global warming, and associated with lots of words used by academics like net zero, adaptation, mitigation etc. Not everyone understands or knows what these words mean. Most people already do their small part to help reduce the effects of climate change but could be doing more.
A creative approach is something that is new and not the ‘same old, same old’ that most people have been hearing for years. Creative approaches can encompass all ages and have never been used in the Gorbals – it is fresh and exciting if done properly, otherwise it would just be me preaching climate change again, something that unfortunately doesn’t always work. People need to want to learn about climate change and using different approaches through art and creative mediums is something that they have probably never experienced before.
What lessons have you learned about collaboration through working together on this project?
Elena Mary Harris: Grassroots organisations like Crossroads have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the people they work with. In working closely with their staff and communities, I feel that a creative project can have more meaningful engagement with groups and individuals that can continue past the span of the project itself. This helps us as artists to quickly build comfortable creative spaces for sharing ideas and opinions.
Kenny McCubbin: When you talk about global warming in Glasgow and people look outside and it has been mostly raining for the last three months, then I can see why global climate change is not at the front of their minds. It has at times been a challenge to get the older community interested, when they mostly relate climate change to the hole in the ozone layer, which started 40 years ago, and do not really see the effects it’s having in their area. The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis also mean that they have had more to think about. Younger people seem to be more interested in global warming and its effects on people’s lives.
Having a community artist that brings creative ideas and helps spark an interest in climate change and the adaptations that can make a difference to local people and the area has been exciting and I am sure will make a difference. Change takes time and hopefully the small but valuable projects we have done in the area will continue to grow and be an inspiration to other projects. It has also been inspiring to see other organisations and projects get involved in the work that is happening in the Gorbals and shows that there are a lot of people wanting to make a difference.
Culture for Climate Scotland is working on Creative Climate Futures with project lead Verture and partners Community Land Scotland, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network and Glasgow City Council.
Elena Mary Harris is a participatory artist based in Glasgow, working across arts, education, health and social care settings, with advocacy at the core of all creative projects.
Crossroads Youth & Community Association is a charity delivering youth work and community development work alongside the people of Gorbals and Govanhill areas of Glasgow.
This story is part of a series developed for Scottish Government’s Climate Week 2024, showcasing the work Culture for Climate Scotland is supporting to help achieve an environmentally sustainable Scotland. This year’s Climate Week is a chance for communities and organisations to celebrate and encourage climate action by sharing ‘Stories for Change’.