Arts4Climate | Julie's Bicycle | Culture & Climate Non-Profit

A 2017 weekly spotlight on creative initiatives and cultural responses adding to the global efforts to act on climate change.

Julie’s Bicycle worked with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to highlight the full force of creativity within global efforts to act on climate change.

The international arts and cultural community are leading the way to ensure the challenge of climate change does not get ignored or silenced: turning venues and events into laboratories for sustainable living; policymakers working with artists, audiences and citizens campaigning for change; cultural leaders speaking out; and artists producing work that speaks to the heart.

Every week, we will work with the UNFCCC to showcase one arts initiative that celebrates innovation, courage, and inspiration in the face of climate change, in support of political action at the annual UN Climate Conference.

“Art and cultural works, from painting and sculpture to theatre, music and poetry have the unique power to shift perceptions and provide emotional connections to complex issues that are facing communities and countries world-wide. There can be few subjects as complex and as challenging as the existential threat of climate change, but we need the arts to shape the discourse and provide new impulses for action. For it is the decisions taken today by governments but also individuals, cities and companies that will echo down the centuries, defining the lives of billions of people alive today and many more who are yet to be born.”

– Nick Nuttall, UNFCCC

Inspiration

This idea was inspired at a Salzburg Global Seminar within Julie’s Bicycle’s session on The Art of Resilience: Creativity, Courage, Renewal, which brought together UNFCCC spokesperson Nick Nuttall, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and artists from around the globe.

As human beings, we live by values shaped through our culture, communities, and experiences. Policy is increasingly recognising the importance of culture to sustainable development. Who we identify with, how our values are expressed, and how we ‘feel’ about the world are all critical triggers for change. The creative community, existing as it does at the heart of culture, has a particular part to play.

We believe highlighting creative responses to climate change will provide a vital way to set the scene as nations work to implement their commitments under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Submit your work

We are looking for creative responses to feature on the UNFCCC website.

Chosen stories will be contacted by the UNFCCC communications team.

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