Help us light a fire within the North East arts and culture community to embark on the most ambitious and hopeful climate and nature work we possibly can.
This is a new network of culture-sector people (artists, administrators, freelancers, staff) who want to do more ambitious climate work. We are planning a programme of workshops, peer-mentoring, and resourcing.
This is an opportunity to be a Good Ancestor. We hope you’ll join us.
Small peer-mentoring groups, supporting each others’ learning and development of climate practice
Assembling the community for facilitated discussion and planning of ambitious work
R&D commissions for artists. Collaborative commissions by member organisations
Join the Climate and Culture Assemblies
Why are we setting up another culture sector network?
We live in a weirdly unique moment in human history. There is scientific consensus that the policies and investments made in this narrow window of 5 - 10 years will determine how livable a future all humans inherit. The leading voices in climate and nature tell us that we need to completely reinvent our global systems, redefine what it means to be human.
Now is a moment to be working as ambitiously and hopefully as we possibly can. And yet…
And yet…
Where is the enormous region-wide programme of cultural climate activity, bringing audiences together to reflect on our species-defining moment? Where is the coordination, the shared resourcing, to help us refine our collective practice and thinking? Where are the joint initiatives to clean up the pension and investments of our institutions?
Lots of us are doing really great work. But does our collective ambition and collaboration live up to the moment? Forgive us if you disagree…but we think that the North East Culture sector could be doing much more ambitious climate and nature work. And we want to do something about that. We want you to help us do something about that.
Who is running this?
This has come about organically and is being held collaboratively by a few people. We are working to expand and diversify our steering group.
The network is currently held by Threads in the Ground, The Amateur Ancestor Project, The Glasshouse, New Writing North, and Museums North East.
The network is administered by Anya Bonner, Threads in the Ground
The network is supported with funding from the Newcastle Culture Investment Fund.