In 1992, in the aftermath of the ‘Earth Summit’ (The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development), I’d started a charity in Gloucestershire called Vision 21, to envision a new future. I had no idea what a new future might look like, but I thought maybe if i brought people together, there might be a way to think differently. The whole thing snowballed, and by the time I left, in 1997, there were 1,500 volunteers and 65 projects. My role had been simply to create the space to bring people together, to try things out. Mostly, the lasting legacy was to have experimented with different ways of working collaboratively, of new processes that bring together interesting and unexpected people and ideas that might create new ways of being in the world. This has been the basis of my work ever since.
A good introduction to my thinking behind the role of engagement in creating change is in Involve’s Post Party Politics pamphlet: The Art of Facilitation and Mainstreaming Change (see pages 67 - 75).
But to be honest, I have struggled to maintain cheerfulness about the possibility of real, deep change. After all, 2020 is now next year. Much of what is in that vision is in place, but nothing has changed at the heart of the system, and that that means that no way near enough is changing. And now we are hearing we have 11 years left to sort it.
It’s easy to feel hopeless. I am not convinced by the ‘only 11 years’, for surely, this is not all or nothing, and perhaps creating such a ‘crisis’ focuses power in the hands of the already powerful, who are necessarily part of the existing mind-set, the one that got us here in the first place? I have had my fair share of feeling guilty, and hopeless.
But something special is happening this Spring, don’t you think?
I have a glimmer of anticipation that we’ll be able to look back on it as the time when things really started to change. And perhaps we will be able to say we have saved the world? But I think that might again, be from the same mind-set. It would be accurate to say perhaps we have stopped ourselves - those from the privileged, industrial, imperial, colonial parts of the world/mindset, for the responsibility is not equal - from totally destroying it.
I thought I’d share three reasons for my feeling cheerful [although also I think that acknowledging grief for all that has been lost, is continuing to be lost, and will be lost is essential too, perhaps I’ll write more about that another time]!
The first is that I am surrounded by things that are flourishing: I’m astonishingly priveliged to be able to live in Dyffryn Peris. And here, the butterflies and birds in particular, are astounding this year.
I saw a pair of ring ouzels up on the mountain slopes behind our house yesterday, and today, sandpipers and a pair of pied flycatchers in the garden. All of them under threat. But here they are! And as I write this, the first call of the cuckoo (see cuckoo project)
I just hope that the cold snap coming won’t be too destructive. Or maybe drought. Or storms. Or floods. Climate chaos is like that of course.
But this brings me onto the second reason to be cheerful: the upsurge of support and recognition of ‘the world in crisis’, and the need for us collectively to work out what to do about it - Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thornburg, the Youth Strike for Climate, and even the previously-reticent David Attenborough. All creating more space for debate - building on years and years and years of others’ work - for deciding together how we can create a new future.
And that is at the heart of why I’m - albeit cautiously - cheerful. My first direct experience of these new movements was while setting up our Merched Chwarel exhibition on 12th July. From the rarified confines of the gallery, I could hear chanting, and the Youth Strike for Climate marching past. I went down to watch them, and their banners bring together the complexity of the situation - some emphasising the ‘crisis’ and others asking for a new way of being, recognising our interdependence with other beings in the world, a need to change our systems etc
“More trees less asshols”, “System Change not Climate Change” “Time is running out Act Now” “Respect Existence” (photos by Alan Crawshaw)
I was pleased to see the Mayor of Bangor turned out. Albeit for about 1 minute. He looked uncomfortable and the protestors don’t look very convinced by what he said, although I couldn’t hear it.
The following Tuesday, I found myself on Waterloo Bridge (London, not Betws y Coed!), amongst what I found out was the Extinction Rebellion. From those I talked to, it seemed there was a deep understanding of the root causes of climate change, not just superficial ‘lifestyle change’ sentiments, and such diversity amongst those present, it felt like the concern might be on the verge of shifting the sense of a need to address these issues to the mainstream. Rather randomly, I was interviewed, along with Omar, who I’d met amongst the crowd:
Omar is studying human rights at Plymouth Uni. He is also a poet. And he was brave enough to go up and perform infront of everyone, and then to do the same performance for interview: Such a great illustration of the spirit and understanding of the event:
Meanwhile, my favourite banner was: “WE WILL BE LESS REBELLIOUS IF YOU WILL BE LESS SHIT” (you can see it in the middle of this pic), although this does bring to question who is ‘you’ and what might ‘our’ rebellion mean? Does this just disempower us, suggesting that it is only others that can do anything? Time will tell whether this ‘uprising’ will create space for change, or whether it will just further polarise debate.
So what next?
I’m helping National Theatre Wales facilitate EGIN, a two week international artists climate change residency in Snowdonia in July. You can read about that here . My main role is to help the residency be embedded locally, and I’m facilitating some Climate Conversations (themes: land, money, rebellion and hope) to bring together the artists and locals. Looking at the residency applications is inspiring - so many people are (still) on the case! I’m really looking forward to the discussions
I’m also involved in the Anthropocene Alliance, a transatlantic initiative to help communities - especially marginalised communities, and those of colour, those disproportinally affected - achieve the power they need to in the face of climate change and environmental abuse. They are doing great stuff mobilising around flooding in the US.
I’m also (perhaps too subtly) building some bits into my work for Merched Chwarel (see the pieces on the windowsill in the pic below - with Lisa’s work on the left, Marged in the middle and Jwls on the right)… and Map Du Gogledd Cymru (**** The Five Thousand) of the sheer extent of the quarrying of stuff in North Wales, an example of our rapacious, extractive behaviour to resources (human and otherwise). Something that continues now, of course, and I’ve made a film exploring contemporary ‘quarry women’ which brings the global inequality of the situation to the fore. I’m also developing some ideas for some new work, focused around connections to species living in the spaces we live in…
