The Colour Green Lab

How we steward our relationship with the natural environment is, at its heart, a question of justice: who gets to pollute, how much and where, who benefits and who pays the costs?

What is often recognised as ‘the environmental movement’ in most European countries remains dominated by the voices and perspectives of the white middle-class. The same can be said of the arts and cultural sector – particularly at leadership level. This glaring, systemic, and overlapping underrepresentation means that the stories and solutions proposed in response to climate breakdown are wholly inadequate and reinforce corrosive inequalities.

It is essential to challenge the structures which perpetuate environmental injustice, and ensure cultural leaders and artists from communities of colour have the tools and support they need to advocate for climate action and justice within the sector and society.

The Colour Green Lab is a new environmental knowledge and skills programme which supports and empowers cultural practitioners and artists of colour to lead environmental action. This 4-part digital programme, running between January and March 2021, aims to advance sustainable practice and co-create expertise at the intersection of culture and climate justice.

Led by Julie’s Bicycle as part of the Arts Council England environmental sustainability programme, The Colour Green Lab will connect arts, culture, and creative practice with environmental science, policy and justice. The series of workshops will provide access to learning, inspiration from the sector, and a new community of practice. The Colour Green Lab is free to attend.

Who is the programme for?

The programme is aimed at supporting people of colour in creative organisations and individual artists of colour who would like to engage with climate and sustainability but do not feel that they have enough knowledge or expertise. The Colour Green Lab aims to inspire confidence and leadership to tackle these issues and connect climate change to wider themes in your organisations or creative work.

Overview and dates

Sessions will take place on the following dates. Each session is 1hr 30mins.

1. Welcome and introduction to the programme – 27th January 2021
2. Introduction to climate and environmental science, justice and policy – 10th Feb 2021
3. Introduction to circular and regenerative systems – 24th February 2021
4. Introduction to culture, climate and justice – 10th March 2021

The Lab will be led by Farah Ahmed (she/her/hers), supported by the Julie’s Bicycle team and external speakers. Farah has been part of Julie’s Bicycle since 2016 and is interested in the connections between environmental, racial and social justice, creative activism and how art can reshape climate narratives. Farah produces podcasts The Colour Green and Green Heritage Futures and is co-founder and facilitator of Diaspora Dialogues for Our Futures, a reflective space for people of colour to centre collective care in the face of the climate crisis.

Participate

This training programme is now full. If you’d like to join the waiting list or participate in future training please submit your interest via the link below.

Learn more

If you have any questions regarding the programme or your participation, get in touch with Farah – farah@juliesbicycle.com. (Please note, Farah is out of the office for the winter break and will respond to you from Jan 4th 2021.)

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Delivered in partnership with Arts Council England as part of their Environmental Programme to National Portfolio Organisations 2018- 2022.