Over 100 primary school children from Glasgow & Perthshire met and accompanied Little Amal to COP26.

On 10th November 2021, over 100 primary school children from Glasgow and Perthshire met and accompanied Little Amal on her journey through Glasgow to COP26. Drummers from the Ayawara West African Percussion and Dance Ensemble, led by Erick Valentin Mauricia accompanied Little Amal and the children as part of the event.

Little Amal, a 3.5m puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, set off from Kingston Quay and was met by the young people carrying a flag that they had made for her. They then walked with her along the Clydeside wearing individually crafted banners as capes. Adorned with their questions, their demands and their hopes for COP26 these capes transformed into a collective banner that filled the walls at Anderston Quay throughout the day, before being displayed at The Landing Hub, a special COP26 pop-up venue until 14th November.

Artists and community facilitators worked in residence with six schools across Glasgow and Perthshire, sharing their skills and knowledge about climate and migrant justice through playful drama and visual arts workshops. In the weeks leading up to COP26, the pupils had been following Little Amal’s journey and prepared for this event responding to the cause of young people across the world who will experience forced migration due to the climate emergency.​ The event was part art installation and part community action, that called upon Glasgow’s rich history of climate occupations, migrant solidarity actions and youth movements.

At the end of the event each school planted seed pods in a special area at Anderston Quay. A few weeks after the event the children will also plant bulbs or saplings in planters they have designed at each of the six schools. This youth action is inspired by the seeds Little Amal has carried with her from Syria and the seeds she has collected along her journey. This is a moment of collective and connected action, with each seed representing a young person who is affected by climate chaos. This action also acts as a commitment from the young people to grow into agents of change, connected to the land and protective of the environment.

“Meeting Amal made me feel mighty because she is a puppet helping us all to team together to stop climate change.” pupil from St Teresa’s school, Glasgow

“I think the most important thing about this project will be the legacy. For our pupils in Highland Perthshire to have had the chance to meet Little Amal and to get to combine their voices with other young people has been incredibly powerful.” Ciara Gibson Teacher at Grandtully

This climate justice arts project was produced and facilitated by three of Scotland’s major producing theatre companies. National Theatre of Scotland’s creative engagement team  worked alongside Catrin Evans, Head of Creative Learning for the Citizens Theatre, Victoria Beesley, Associate Director for Learning and Engagement for Perth Theatre and artist/facilitators Zoë Bullock, Camilla Crosta, Alice Dansey-Wright, Francisco Llinas Casas, Paria Moazemi Goodarzi and Tawona Sithole. The team worked with pupils from St Teresa’s Primary School, St Albert’s Primary School, Blackfriars Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary School in Glasgow and Grandtully Primary School and Comrie Primary School in Perthshire.

(Top image: 3.5m puppet, Little Amal walking down a street flanked by onlookers.)

The post Little Amal – We Are Mighty at COP26 appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

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