Create4Glasgow is a participatory art project, open for everybody, following COP26
Building on the legacy of COP26, the City of Glasgow launches Create4Glasgow, a new participatory art project aiming to give a voice to Glasgow’s young people and raise awareness of our shared environmental priorities.
In partnership with Glasgow education, 1800 young people voted for what they consider to be Glasgow’s top three climate change priorities. The three priorities are : air pollution ; water pollution ; earth becoming inhabitable.
Create an artwork inspired by one of Glasgow’s top three environmental priorities. Your artwork should show an idea for a campaign or a practical solution for Glasgow’s climate change challenges. Your creativity can help build a better future for your friends, your families, and the people of Glasgow.
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.
Mini-residency opportunity for a visual artist or maker at the Ecology Centre.
Fife Contemporary wishes to appoint a visual artist or maker to undertake a mini-residency at the Ecology Centre by Kinghorn Loch in Fife. Following familiarisation with the Centre’s values, work and the people involved, the artist/maker will devise and deliver a collaborative creative outcome. This will have the aims of:
enhancing staff, volunteer and visitor experience of the Centre’s natural environment in a new way through art
attracting new visitors (especially families)
The artist/maker
The artist/maker’s practice will demonstrate an interest in, and knowledge of, current environmental issues. They will have experience of working within community settings.
Structure and timeline
The mini-residency will operate in two phases:
March 2022 (4 days) – Familiarisation with the Ecology Centre through touring the site, meeting key people and conducting two workshops to share some of the artist/ maker’s practice and start building relationships.
April-June 2022 (10 days) – Reflection, devising and developing outcome with further workshop/s and producing physical outcome.
Produce related content for associated online project microsite and social media content in collaboration with Fife Contemporary’s Programme Manager.
July 2022 – Deliver physical outcome for July launch in collaboration with the Ecology Centre Manager.
Materials – £1,000 (it is envisaged that circular economy principles, using local waste streams and a light touch on the environment, will minimise workshop and outcome costs but further material costs may be negotiated)
How to apply
Email mail@fcac.co.uk by 5pm on Monday 13th December 2021 with subject line “Ecology Centre†and your
CV
Statement of why you wish to undertake the project, any relevant experience and what your general approach/focus of interest would be.
Online interviews will be held in January 2021. Any questions? – please contact diana.sykes@fcac.co.uk
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.
Supporting professional writers, filmmakers and creative practitioners from other disciplines
Programme outline:
Starting on Saturday 8th January 2022, the programme will include three full-weekend online workshops in January and February 2022.
There will be additional 1-2-1 sessions over the course of the three months, with a final industry mixer in March 2022 for participants to pitch their projects to a selected panel of producers and industry executives.
Short Circuit will select up to eight applicants who will develop their screenwriting skills and industry knowledge through online development workshops, peer group discussions, masterclasses and 1-2-1 sessions.
Successful applicants will learn the fundamentals of screenwriting shorts and feature films, including how to work on character, structure and theme and the particularities of writing screen narratives.
Those selected to take part in Convergence will finish the programme with a short film screenplay and a feature film treatment ideally positioned to apply to Short Circuit’s Sharp Shorts and First Features funds.
Who will deliver Convergence?
Convergence will be delivered by Short Circuit with script consultant and screenwriter David Pope, who has worked with Academy and BAFTA nominated producers and screenwriters. His recent work includes consulting for the Rawi Screenwriting Lab for Royal Film Commission Jordan, Cannes Cinefondation, BFI, Irish Film Board and the British Council, among many others. He annually consults for the Rotterdam Lab IFFRPro and is a co-founder of Stowe Story Labs in the US.
Who can apply?
Submissions are invited from Scotland-based professional writers, filmmakers and creative practitioners from other mediums who are interested in moving into writing for screen.
Applicants must have had work professionally published, performed or produced but will not yet have a short film or feature writing credit.
To apply you must:
Be aged 18 or over
Be based in Scotland
Not be in full-time education
Be available for three full-weekend workshops in January and February 2022, and additional 1-2-1 sessions between January and March 2022
There is no cost to participate in the programme and if you have personal access needs that will incur a cost during the period you are taking part in the programme, you can include these costs as part of your application.
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.
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.â€Â 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.â€Â 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.)
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.
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.
Support CAN provide vital support for the arts by facilitating the reuse of materials and resources
We need to raise £6k to extend our CAN Co-ordinator’s, role for another year. So far, we have secured half of the money needed to keep Megan, and we have launched a crowdfunder campaign to raise the rest. We are asking all of our friends and networks to support us by donating.
CAN provides vital support for the arts by facilitating the reuse of materials and equipment and reduces the sector’s impact on the environment. It is a unique resource within the UK. Megan’s post is essential to running CAN effectively, to keep it growing and to increase its impact. Without her help CAN wouldn’t have been able to achieve:
📍 Approx 538kg of materials reused. 📍 5,800 active users on canarts.org.uk 📍 Embodied carbon equivalent saving of approx 800kg. 📍 634 registered GIVERS and GETTERS. 📍 299 different types of items and materials listed.
You can show your support for this important project by donating to our Crowdfunder now and by sharing this email with your contacts.
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.
Dandelion are looking for fantastic people to join us on our mission to get everyone growing!
They are currently recruiting for:
Emerging Creative Producers (10 posts in total)
Supported by the core Dandelion team, each Emerging Creative Producer will work with a Dandelion Partner Organisations to actively engage people in local communities with the new Unexpected Garden spaces. This will include devising and delivering a creative programme that runs from April 2022 and culminates with a Harvest Festival on 10th September 2022.
These roles are designed for people who are new to producing. All Emerging Creative Producers will be mentored and supported by their Respective Partner Organisation and our Dandelion Network Coordinator. Relevant on-the-job training will also be provided. All Emerging Creative Producers will be provided with the equipment they need (e.g. a laptop) to carry out their role, and we may be able to help with relocation costs. All Black, Asian and ethnically diverse and/or D/deaf or disabled applicants who meet the essential requirements of the person specification will be guaranteed an interview.
If you are thinking about applying for one of the Emerging Creative Producer jobs across Scotland and want to find out more, you can join Fiona Dalgetty, Futures Director and Jen White, Project Manager – Unexpected Gardens on Zoom between 1-2pm or 8-9pm on Wednesday 1st December.
Deadline: 12noon, Thursday 9th December
Head of Production
As Head of the Production team, the post-holder will work across all Dandelion projects, providing leadership and management in all areas of production and ensuring all production elements of the Dandelion programme are delivered to the highest standards. Although each project strand is supported by a Production Manager, the role involves oversight of the production aspects of all strands including but not limited to: the Inverness and Glasgow POPL Festivals, the Unexpected Gardens and Floating Gardens, the mobile bike and cube tours, and Free for Alls. The post holder will line manage Production Managers across the programme, the Logistics and Delivery Coordinator, and other temporary roles and contractors as required. The post holder will also be responsible for oversight of all technical and logistical procurement across the Dandelion projects, as well as oversight of all production administration including licensing, insurance, health and safety and risk management.
Deadline: 5pm, Wednesday 8th December
Logistics & Production Co-ordinator
Dandelion are supporting a large-scale citizen science project involving over 500 schools and producing and presenting a series of events across Scotland in 2022 ranging from community based growing events through to large scale music and food festivals. As the Logistics Co-ordinator, you will coordinate the booking and logistical delivery of technical and site equipment to a wide range of projects to support the successful delivery of the project.
Deadline: 12noon, Thursday 9th December
Production Manager (Unexpected Gardens)
Dandelion are supporting the development of a series of Unexpected Gardens across Scotland, working collaboratively with partner organisations anchored in communities to build extraordinary gardens in the most unexpected of places.
As a key member of the Production team, the post-holder will work across all Unexpected Garden sites, providing leadership and management in all areas of production. Working in collaboration with partner organisations and the Dandelion team they will support the technical and logistical delivery of the Unexpected Gardens to be presented at each site between April 2022–September 2022, culminating in large-scale harvest events to be hosted across sites in September 2022.
Deadline: 12noon, Thursday 9th December
For more information about all these posts, including job packs and application instructions, visit Dandelion’s opportunities page.
(Top photo: Cubes of Perpetual Light, Dandelion. Photography by Alan McAteer [supplied]. ID: An outdoor scene, with a loch in the background, featuring a three-tiered vertical plant farm under light.)
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.
In a powerful short film launched today, Scottish-Nigerian supermodel, actress and activist Eunice Olumide MBE calls for culture to be front and centre of climate action.
“Economists, scientists and politicians can’t fix the climate emergency on their own. They can’t change the way people think and that’s what is required. Climate change needs cultural change and cultural players are waiting to help, armed with powerful skills, resources and audiences.â€
In Climate Action Needs Culture, created by Creative Carbon Scotland (CCS) and partners from across the Scottish cultural sector for the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Olumide says: “Reaching net zero and a world adapted to the changed climate will require massive global transformation. But without culture providing a new positive vision of the future, can we actually create it?â€
The film strongly argues that culture is the secret ally of climate policy makers.
Olumide explains, “Culture is a powerful force to shift societies’ embedded thinking and transform the status quo that’s only working for a small minority. Artists, historians and librarians think differently. They bring different imaginations, skills and experiences that can help other professionals think outside the usual boxes.â€
Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, the charity working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland, says:
“Scotland’s cultural institutions and creative sector have a compelling story to tell of the dynamic ways they can and do contribute to climate action but it’s a story that has been often overlooked until now. We realised COP26 is a perfect time to share this story through the film and the compelling voice of Eunice Olumide.â€
Twist adds, “As the climate emergency grows more intense, increased public understanding and engagement are urgently required and innovative ways of thinking and working are needed, and the film addresses this head on.â€
After watching the film, CCS and the partner cultural organisations hope that players from both the climate and the culture sides will start collaborating; that policy makers will want to learn more; and that members of the public will ask their favourite arts and cultural organisations how they are responding to the climate emergency.
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.
In this guest blog from Catriona Patterson, she discusses her experiences of attending the COP26 United Nations climate conference, currently underway in Glasgow. The blog gives an honest and personal account of the ups and downs of her experience as well as some top tips on what she learned from the day.
Last week, I was lucky enough to attend a day at COP26 – witnessing negotiations, attending talks and meeting lots of new people at the world’s largest (and most critical) climate change conference.
In the build-up to the conference, there was lots of speculation as to what our Glasgow COP would be like. This only intensified when COP kicked off on the 31St October, and there was an explosion of news, images and social media all trying to capture the activities taking place within the different zones and in wider Glasgow. Every day there are more reports and opinion pieces trying to analyse the progress of discussions or understand the long term impact of the present moment. Despite all this, I still didn’t know what to expect as an individual attendee: what would I actually do? So here’s my COP26 diary – a wee insight from Friday 5th November.
9.30am – I’ve already shown my passport 3 times this morning, and I’m totally disorientated.
My train from Edinburgh is filled with delegates – I find myself sitting next to someone practicing their presentation on behalf of the Finnish agricultural ministry – and I make it to the SEC Exhibition Centre train stop without any delay. But when stepping out of the station I see that the ‘Smartie Tube Bridge’ – the normal walkway to the SEC (the Scottish Event Campus, where COP26 is taking place) is shut and I realise that my mental map of Glasgow is currently useless.
Thankfully there are lots of local COP26 volunteers providing a ‘Glasgow welcome’ (my aunt among them!) and helping with directions. Generally, the advice is: yes, follow the people – go towards the gates – be ready to show your negative lateral flow test result. By the time I wind through the various street diversions, gates and queues, I’ve lost all sense of direction, but the throng has narrowed to a concentrated channel and I’ve worked my way through the various checks.
It’s very much like going through a visa border – clutching documents in hand, generally anxious that you’ve forgotten the one piece of paper you actually need – and, in effect, it is. The SEC has become ‘UN territory’ for the duration of the conference (with the associated UN staff and security guards!). I’d been warned about the airport-style security, but my experience is great: quick and cheery, and I even make a friend in the queue.
The SEC campus set up as the COP26 Action Hub with a huge globe suspended overhead.
The SEC campus set up as the COP26 Action Hub with a huge globe suspended overhead.
10.30am – Exploring the Action Hub – from the literal globe to the global
The spherical hydro of the SEC campus is unrecognisable from the last time I was here. Hanging from the ceiling is a huge globe, reminiscent of the ‘pale blue dot’ images often cited in climate change discussions, and there’s a mix of open event spaces and casual seating. All around me people are meeting, gearing up to present, live streaming (complete with ring lights) or on video calls – and I even spot a couple of people having a quick power nap in a quiet corner.
Of course, I’ve only scratched the surface of the Blue Zone: it’s known as the place where the official negotiations between nation states is taking place, but what I didn’t realise is that it’s also hosting lots of events and activities that seek to connect with delegates from around the world.
Almost immediately I take a (socially-distanced) seat in ‘Code Red for Climate Storytelling’: a panel by Project Everyone exploring the role of media and communication in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. Over 30 minutes I hear from filmmaker Richard Curtis about how Love Island will soon be Underwater Island, from Laurent Gaveau at Google’s Cultural Institute about their labs bringing together artists and engineers for climate solutions, and from Dave Erasmus of MyChangingPlanet about their work with biologists and sonographers to plot the ocean soundscape as they sailed to COP26.
12pm – Re-visiting Al Gore and the inconvenient truth
I make my way deep into the Blue Zone to the Pen Y Fan auditorium (the spaces at the climate summit being named after famous geographic UK summits – Cairngorm is next door) where Al Gore is presenting on ‘The danger we’re in, and the case for hope’.
It’s a powerful talk, but it’s also painful to remember that we’ve all heard it before. As even Gore himself points out, he’s given this talk over 1000 times since 2006, updating it as the science and the examples emerge. He shows us video clips of countless examples of climate disasters spanning floods, heatwaves and landslips but the most shocking thing is that so many of them happened in the last 12 months. Before almost every video clip he assures the audience that ‘they survived, by the way’, signalling we should brace ourselves for yet another harrowing scene.
A busy corridor during COP26 with people in masks for COVID-19 protection and well-placed hand sanitiser stations.
1.30pm – From Australia to Japan and back again
I head to the exhibition hall to visit the pavilions: huge stalls hosted by nation states, international groups (the European Union, the OECD, the International Indigenous People’s forum on climate change) and other organisations (the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Bellone Foundation).
Many of the pavilions are two-storey– a ground floor exhibition and meeting space, and an upstairs with various talks scheduled throughout the day. It’s more casual than other parts of the Blue Zone, and there is lots of milling about. I run into a friend, and we manage to navigate through the maze to Australia’s pavilion, which has a reputation for distributing the best coffee.
On my way out I have a near-collision with a group of 10 people walking towards me at pace. I dive into a pavilion to let the group past and realise it’s a walking live interview and accompanying media entourage. From the name tag on the adult Scout uniform, I realise it’s the adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls. Today has a focus on youth and public empowerment, so perhaps it’s something to do with that…
3pm – A confusing experience of live negotiations
I’m glad I’m wearing comfortable shoes as I make the trek towards the negotiation spaces of the Blue Zone. Here the colour decoration of the pavilions is replaced by a huge expanse of grey and white: a mix of open plan hot-desks, media stages and doors to anonymous and guarded meeting rooms (24 in total).
I manage to decode the online programme and information screens to work out that I can observe some negotiations from Meeting Room 14, but they are being broadcast live from Meeting Room 8. I feel a little like the overflow class of an oversubscribed university course. I stay for around 30 minutes but struggle to understand what is happening. The session is titled ‘CMA informal consultations on new collective quantified goal on climate finance’ but the formality of the negotiation process means the discussion is quite impenetrable. The Chair closes the session and notes that no resolution has been found: I don’t know if it will be revisited or resolved.
Catriona inside the Blue Zone
4pm – The long walk to the Green Zone
Across the water from the UN ‘Blue Zone’ is the UK Government’s ‘Green Zone’: the official space for members of the public attending COP26, and host to stalls from organisations, initiatives and businesses alongside a civil society events programme. It’s being hosted in the Glasgow Science Centre, which is across the pedestrian bridge from the SEC. However, that bridge, and those surrounding it, are closed for security purposes, so instead of a 3-minute trip across the water, it’s a 20-minute journey. When discussions about COP26 often come back to challenges around inclusivity and the limited participation of civil society, I feel like the artificial separation of these venues only seeks to highlight the disconnect. However, I cross paths with an old friend from university on the way, which cheers me up!
I don’t know if it is a product of visiting relatively late in the day, or if my energy levels are fading, but the space feels a little lacklustre. The security is more thorough (and stern) and the activities seem more sparse, with corporate sponsors given the luxury of space, and small-scale innovation projects crammed into corridors.
5.30pm – Overwhelmed on the shuttle bus
It’s the end of my day, and I learn that there is a shuttle bus between the Blue Zone, Green Zone and Glasgow’s Central station. My pass gets me free travel, so I hop on to begin the journey back to Edinburgh. It’s also at this point that I realise that I haven’t had anything to eat all day – just two coffees and a lot of adrenaline. I’m overwhelmed with the idea that I’ve probably only experienced about 2% of what I could have seen in the day, and just quite how big the whole thing is. I can’t quite believe that some people will be attending two whole weeks at this pace!
A tree of paper leaves, coloured in and written on; pleas to stop deforestation, and promises to use less electricity.
Reflections and top tips
I appreciate how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to attend COP26, and how many people are excluded from these spaces – by process, by economic circumstance, by systemic marginalisation and also by the mystery of what actually happens here. But if you do have the chance to attend, here are my top tips
Have a plan…and prepare to stray from it: I had created an agenda for myself based on the programme available on the COP26 app, but once I got there I ended up following people I met or hearing new announcements of confirmed events.
Plan your food and drink: There were plenty of restaurants, cafes and eating spots serving Scottish and sustainable food within the Blue Zone, but I didn’t make time for it in my day. It feels like you’ll miss something by stopping to eat, but you definitely still need the fuel.
You never know who you’re going to bump into: World leaders, celebrities, colleagues and friends mixing in one space is a strange combination. Recognising people and stopping to say hello was one of the joys of my COP26 experience.
COP26 [took] place in Glasgow until Friday, 12th November 2021.
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.
Stitched Stories & Wellbeing – in conversation with the planet.
In May 2021 Stitched Stories & Wellbeing responded to a call from Season for Changeto use our creative voices to declare our commitment to the environment ahead of COP26. A group of members began stitching a conversation between themselves and the planet. Using the subject of wellbeing, members reflected on how intrinsically linked our own wellbeing is with that of the planet. The aim was to reflect that conversation in a stitched panel which we would all stitch slowly during the summer.
There is a worldwide slow-stitching movement that affirms that stitching slowly and mindfully is very good for our health so this approach seemed to fit the brief well. Each member of the group reflected on what they wanted to say using the language of stitch and work got underway. This was a challenging narrative to work with so we supported each other with monthly zoom catch-ups and a Facebook group where we could share work-in-progress.
During the summer these stitched panels had become part of the fibre of our being and we were pleased to share them alongside a free downloadable e-book that places the project in its widest context. We hope that you might visit the exhibition and ‘read’ the conversations for yourself and reflect on what your conversation with the planet might look like.
Ahead of COP26 we hope our voices will be heard as we stand alongside other creative voices. Great change is needed. The world is watching and the time is now.
Stitched Stories & Wellbeing is a community stitching project with over two thousand members worldwide. It began life on the Isle of Arran with the intention of stitching a postcard a week for a year. The pandemic provoked a huge explosion of the project as people sought ways to help them get through this challenging time. The project now runs a number of stitching projects, a learning space and a store. It is completely self funded. New members are always welcome.
Fiona Doubleday Founder, Stitched Stories Member of Creative Carbon Scotland
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.
