Becoming Climate Artivists

This learning journey is co-designed by young adults for young adults so as to transform the way we tackle the climate crisis. Our goal is to inspire and empower you to mobilize the arts, creativity and our community, so that we can deal with this global emergency effectively and with joy, through activism and climate change work. You can still register here.

We are living in the midst of a climate crisis. Devastating droughts, floods and fires are raging in Europe and around the world. The urgency of the crisis, combined with lack of political action, can easily lead to despair, powerlessness and apathy. That is why alternative narratives are so important. What if urgency means that there is only time for what matters most?  Now, more than ever, we need young people to take a leap, be creative and dare to do things differently.

With the support from the Erasmus+ program, One Resilient Earth and Climate Creativity are offering a free online Learning Journey targeting Europe-based youth, while being open to participation of youth from around the globe.

What is the purpose of the learning journey?

The purpose of the learning journey is to create a safe space where young people can explore ways to cultivate awareness and social change through art and storytelling, also known as artivism.  As young people are entering organizations and workplaces, they often find themselves trapped in limiting mindsets, systems and structures. This learning journey provides students and young professionals with the knowledge, skills and tools they need to co-create initiatives transforming universities, workplaces and communities. The journey is undertaken as a community to nurture resilience, creativity and wellbeing.

Who is the Learning journey for?

The Learning Journey is open to all young people of 18-30 years of age, who are curious about climate change. We welcome (aspiring) artists, creatives, climate activitists, young sustainability professionals, … as well as youth who have not been involved in climate action in the past.

This Learning Journey will particularly speak to you if:

  • You wish to work with the arts as a channel for transformation, and are willing to explore your own creativity through various artistic expressions
  • You wish to address the root causes of the deeper ecological crisis we are entangled in
  • You feel the need to address climate injustice, environmental racism, colonial continuities, and flawed developmental paradigms
  • You understand that self-care is community care, and vice versa, and value all living beings or ‘the more-than-human world’
  • You need community, either locally or transnationally, and are wiling to engage with respect for all, and humility
  • You are ready to play, be vulnerable, un-learn, re-learn, share, and support others to grow

What will we learn together?

The Learning Journey will feature a variety of practitioners, scientists, artists, and storytellers, who will share their lived experience as well as a simple methods and tools to mobilize the arts and creativity to rethink activism and/or engage in transformative work in the sustainability sector. The wonderful humans who will be sharing their life work and life stories during the workshops will are being chosen during the co-design process with Europe-based young people, in the course October-November. Hence, this page will be regularly updated. For now, we can confirm the participation of  Tori Tsui (Author, Climate Justice & (Environ)mental Health), Joshua Konkankoh (Indigenous Elder and Permaculture Practitioner), Sarah Queblatin (Designer for Resilience and Regeneration), Iselin Shumba (Actress and Climate Activist), Amy Franceschini (Artist, Designer and Founder of Futurefarmers) and Liv Torc and Chris Redmond ( Poets at Hot Poets) .

Through eight online workshops participants get to learn about the impact of different art forms in fostering effective climate action, and will have an opportunity to practice with theatre, dance, music, drawing and storytelling. Becoming a Climate Artivist is a personal and collective journey where we will explore:

  • what can be the role of arts in climate activism and climate change work
  • how telling better stories about global heating can change everything, and what you need to know to become a compelling storyteller;
  • why engaging with our emotions associated with the climate emergency is key to climate resilience, transformation and regeneration;
  • how the arts can help us face the root causes of climate change, as well as cope with, prepare for and prevent some of the unavoidable impacts of climate change;
  • what people will tell you to dismiss the arts and creativity and how to counter it;
  • how the arts can shift perspectives to achieve political objectives when everything else failed;
  • how to unleash empathy, imagination and creativity to facilitate transformation at work when everything seems blocked.

The workshops will take place online, every other week from Tuesday 16 January to Tuesday 23 April, from 5 to 7pm CET.

Throughout the learning journey, we will gather at ‘We Are One Resilient Earth’, a dedicated online community platform to facilitate exchanges, foster collaborations and reflection. Stories and insights from the learning journey will be shared  with a global audience through  conferences and via social media.

How can you join?

Even if the learning journey has started, you can register for free for the remaining workshops by clicking here. Do not wait to register as we can only take in a limited number of participants!

How is the learning journey designed?

The learning journey was co-designed by Climate Creativity and One Resilient Earth, in close collaboration with youth co-designers from Europe and other parts of the world. Co-designers have a say in the choice of speakers, formats and directions of the different workshops.

How is the learning journey supported?

The Learning Journey is being offered for free thanks to the generous support of European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme. Although the Youth Climate Learning Journey is open to all and can be accessed free of charge, this support also implies that the learning journey primarily addresses the climate change knowledge and support needs of young people based in Europe.

Following the principle of ‘paying it forward,’ we encourage all participants who can contribute to expand the reach of this learning offer, so that we can support other cohorts of young people, and cater to the climate-change knowledge and support needs of young people in other geographies, including through collaborations. Every small amount helps One Resilient Earth and its partners in pursuing their mission.

If you have questions, please reach out: contact@oneresilientearth.org

Banner illustration by Carolina Altavilla