Last week co-founder of Culture Futures Peter Head gave his speech in connection with the launch of the student competition ‘Co-creating Sustainable Solutions for the Future’, 14 September. The launch was arranged by Cultures Futures Club, CBS Goes Green and the Danish Cultural Institute as a part of ‘India Today – Copenhagen Tomorrow’. Read
more about the competition at http://cocreatenow.org/competition/
Listen to Peter Head sharing some of his experiences concerning co-creating sustainable solutions with students at Copenhagen Business School – examples for inspiration in relation to the competition
Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.
The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.
Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society. Go toThis post comes to you from Culture|Futures
Sustainia is a consortium of partners representing civil society, businesses and experts. The concept of “Sustainia†is developed by the Scandinavian think tank Monday Morning in a collaborative effort with global companies and foundations.
It is a concept for communicating a sustainable future based on concrete and tangible know-how and technologies – a global collaborative platform for building a model and vision for a sustainable future. The model of Sustainia represents best practice, knowledge and technologies that already exist. It is inspired and designed by world leading companies, institutions and experts.
Sustainia100 was launched at Rio+20, in the first edition, they guide you through solutions from 56 countries on six continents. From solar power in Sudan, to sustainable fashion in Switzerland; from water-cooling in Canada to solar-cooling in Singapore; from buses in Brazil, to smart buildings in Sydney.
The solutions they present have been organized into sections for the citizen; the CEO; the advocate; the engineer; the venture capitalist; and the politician. They also clearly say which sector (buildings, food, fashion, etc.) each solution impacts, and how each solution benefits economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.
Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.
The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:
– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)
Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21
Roskilde Festival and Backstage invites you to Backstage Sustainability Workshop on July 3rd from 10:00-14:00. Get a guided tour of the festival ground and experience quirky experiments, green installations and sustainable solutions.
Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.
The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.
Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society. Go toThis post comes to you from Culture|Futures
The next ‘Sustainable Solutions for a Fair Future’ talk will take place on Thursday 29th September in the Arcola Tent. Our speaker this time will be:
Maria Adebowale, who is the founder and director of the environmental justice organisation: Capacity Global. She will be talking about Capacity Global and how they aim to support every ones right to a clean and healthy environment by supporting strong, diverse and multi cultural community action as well as providing innovative thinking on the opportunities for environmental justice and equality, policy, research, campaigns and legislation.
Maria was recently listed in The Independent on Sunday’s –Top 100 Environmentalists.She works on environmental justice and environmental equality policy. She has a Masters in Public International Law from SOAS, University of London. Maria is also the author of numerous publications in environmental justice and equality and the principal author of The Third Sector Climate Change Declaration. She is also the Access and Inclusion Commissioner for English Heritage, a trustee for Allavida, Matron of the Women’s Environment Network and Chair of Waterwise. She is a former Commissioner on the UK Sustainable Development Commission..
Join us this Thursday from 6pm, as Charlotte Webster from Solar Century will be discussing the global potential of solar power, including macro and micro uses; barriers to uptake and new policies, and the UK story of solar power. We’ll discuss what’s happening on the ground and what individuals can do.
Founded in 1998, Solar Century is the UK’s largest independent solar energy company and has delivered a number of high profile projects including the Eden Project, the CIS Tower and the Big Brother House. Solar Century is working on the largest solar housing project with 650 homes in South Yorkshire powered by solar electricity by 2012.
Cycle Sunday organised in partnership with Artsadmin, will take place on 12 June. It will be a jam-packed day with events, discussions, workshops and artistic interventions all about bikes and cycling. Click HERE for more information
From April 2011 Arcola, alongside Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth group, are hosting a series of monthly, expert-led talks around exciting and challenging aspects of sustainability. Our overaraching theme is innovation, and tangible solutions to the sustainability issues of both today and tomorrow.
For an overview of the series of talks, please see HERE. They take place on the last Thursday of each month, from 6 – 7.30pm, at Arcola Theatre 
Our first speaker on 28 April is Sue Riddlestone, of BioRegional.  Information coming soon on her proposed topic – which will undoubtedly fire up conversation and inspire new thought.
The Eyebeam Sustainability Research Group is comprised of past and present residents, fellows, and staff. Our goals are to improve the internal practices, physical infrastructure and materials used at Eyebeam to create a lab for workable sustainable solutions, to educate ourselves and the public through programs and exhibitions, and to facilitate the creation of sustainability-related projects at and beyond Eyebeam. The main areas of focus for the group have been energy, materials and making, urban sustainability issues, especially transportation and pollution, and green spaces and agriculture.
We’ve arrive back in the apartment after our second day in Copenhagen. I will refrain from saying we’re here for Cop15, because, while I’m interested in what’s going on in there, I’m really here to see the creative responses collected in this place at this time. That isn’t to say we didn’t go to the Bella Center, we did, but it’s not our primary goal.
I had the opportunity to check in with Martin Rosengaard of Wooloo.org while Miranda was delayed in London, as well as get a very helpful and personal tour of the city on bike by our host (and sterling scenographer)Â Sara Vilslev, a friend from the 2007 Prague Quadrennial.
On Sunday we headed to the Bright Green Expo at the Forum. It is the concurrent trade show for green tech during COP15. There was a promise of the inclusion of cultural programming, so it seemed like a good place to start. The Cultural programming really consisted of a DJ/VJ set for about an hour by CPH:DOX remixing Cities on Speed. We moved on pretty quickly: green-tech (good or green-washing) is green-tech. We’re into it, but it’s better covered elsewhere.
Afterwards we returned for some quality time with the work at Hopenhagen Live. This green glowing cluster of portable exhibition rooms showcased policy, the integration of sustainable solutions into the city scape and some creative interpretations highlighting everyday relationships to the environment. A favorite was The Apartment, seen in a quick video here:
We wandered to the Polar Ice Bear to check it’s melt status, slowed by the freezing temperatures we’ve dipped into. After dinner we headed over to the CO2 Cube Reception, which was a high class affair, no pictures, but we did catch some night footage of the cube.
We did miss the demonstrations going south, which you’ll likely know resulted in hundreds of arrests. We did hear the helicopters and sirens as Police sprung into action, preemptively arresting people after a group of anarchists started egging them on. Tensions are a little high now, though the majority of all demonstrations have been peaceful.
Monday is now wrapping up and the center of the city, all the way to the Bella Center is policed to within an inch of it’s life. However, we both leave (though I return just 24 hours later) on Tuesday, so Monday became about trying to see everything that was open (like many cities, cultural institutions in Copenhagen are closed on Mondays).
We began by heading to the wrong address for the Poulsen Gallery. But, once we found our mistake, we were able to make it to the installation of Ghost Forest in Thorvaldsens Plads, right around the corner from the real Poulsen Gallery. It’s quite breath-taking, especially with a proper background in the process of getting these stumps here. But, even as we seemed to be some of a few onlookers, there was a constant police presence here and along the canal.
LED at 7 meters high, where the sea will rise here if Greenland's ice sheet melts.
The Poulsen Gallery has been turned over to The Colonel (said phonetically and not as one who serves fried chicken or in the military), the identity of french artist Thierry Geoffroy, as his HQ for a number of evolving projects during COP15. This is serving as the headquarters for the Yes Men and their SurvivaBalls (registered trademark), a series of Critical Runs, Facebook projects, and whatever else they come up with while here. It’s advised to check in with them regularly. Upon my return, I’ll likely head back over to try and talk to some of them about what they are doing. We were lucky to be invited to a semi-junket event, which we’ll get to in a moment.
With the short daylight moments dwindling, we walked to the Bella Center, hoping to find the path set by Glowing Climate, which we were able to find some of as we got closer.
It should be remarked that the Bella Center is not in the center of Copenhagen. It is, from our lodgings, 8.4km or 5.2 miles. From the center of town it is 5.9km or 3.7 miles.
While we didn’t see much until right up to the Bella Center, as the lights from 7m began to appear overhead. Â Once we were there the walk was worth it. The Pulse of the Earth is a fantastically creepy piece and really lends to the night time, what I’d venture to call semi-apocalyptic scene that is the entrance to the barricaded center. This is entirely appropriate, COP15 itself is semi-apocalyptic. Between the pulsing red lights of the installation, the cold an huddled hopeful observers lined up at the fences, scores of police, Avaaz.org‘s and Climate Action Network‘s Jumbotron showing the award for fossil of the day, press, vegans dressed in animal costumes pass out bags for converts and the ground littered with pamphlets (really now), it was all a bit amazing to see.
As the talks let out, we hopped the metro back into town. We had diner and made it to the Poulsen Gallery event, were we saw a demonstration of the SurviaBall (still a registered trademark), were treated to a song from the Red Suited Climate Debt Agents (accompanied by the green suited Mr. Green from Oxfam), and milled about the gallery while that day’s talks were remixed for ambiance.
It’s getting colder here in Copenhagen, but tensions are starting to boil over.
Tomorrow we both head to London. Miranda will continue to head on home, but I will be there for the Future Arcola launch event at City Hall. I will also , finally, meet William Shaw of the RSA in person, after missing him by hours in Copenhagen.
More recap soon. When I return the museums and exhibition halls will be open, while parts of town are shut down. And I’m curious as to see how we move around the city when Obama arrives on Friday.
Last week co-founder of Culture Futures Peter Head gave his speech in connection with the launch of the student competition ‘Co-creating Sustainable Solutions for the Future’, 14 September. The launch was arranged by Cultures Futures Club, CBS Goes Green and the Danish Cultural Institute as a part of ‘India Today – Copenhagen Tomorrow’. Read
