Theme: Communication & Storytelling

Check Event Page for tickets for Stirling, Greenock, Glasgow and Edinburgh

-produced by Imaginate and Barrowland Ballet and funded through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund.

Inspired by the Greek legend of Icarus, this is the story of a girl weighed down by the responsibility of the environmental crisis. She dreams of the boy Icarus and begins to work out her escape. This is the story of a girl who’s learning to fly.

At one with the wind, she soars up, up and away…

Too Close To The Sun is about the power of imagination and the sheer determination that lets you fly when forces all around want to pull you down. The award-winning Barrowland Ballet use intricate choreography, spoken word and humour to tell this evocative new story.

“Natasha Gilmore’s choreography explodes on the stage and demonstrates why Barrowland Ballet is one of Scotland’s most successful contemporary dance companies”  – The Reviews Hub on Whiteout

This interactive workshop is for radically minded artists, freelancers, small local businesses, and grassroots community organisations who want to get creative while leveling up their digital communications game.

We will focus on how to use branding, graphics, social media and different digital platforms to build and grow an enthusiastic community that is excited about supporting everything that you do.

You will learn how to:

• Develop and refine a distinctive brand identity that integrates your values, shows solidarity and attracts your intended audience

• Design graphics that engage and grow your online community
• Write copy that makes people want to take action and support your work
• Dramatically improve your camera phone skills and capture images that are perfect for social media
• Build an efficient digital communications strategy using different digital assets including Instagram, WhatsApp, Newsletters, Facebook and more….

There will be creative exercises, group feedback, as well plenty of chances to socialise and network with your fellow attendees.

We will have an hour for lunch and small breaks. For lunch a vegan mushroom stew, salad and bread will be provided. All participants are invited to a post-workshop social at a local cafe or pub (depending on people’s preferences) and everyone will be encouraged to stay connected after the workshop so we can continue supporting each other’s work and begin building a community of radical small businesses in Edinburgh.

About the Facilitator: Lauren Waterman

I am a founding member and digital marketing coordinator for Rhyze Mushrooms. I have over 14 years of experience in using social media to market my own successful photography business, and I have spent the last four years working in digital communications for climate focused NGO’s including the Cop26 Coalition and the Stop Cambo campaign. I love the creative process behind brand development and content creation. I have experience as a community organiser and have facilitated workshops in everything from how to grow mushrooms from household waste to non-violent direct action. I’m passionate about building solidarity amongst small local businesses and encouraging people to bring revolutionary politics into their marketing and business practices.

How To Get Here:

You can find a helpful video here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/ClY094yInl2/

🚗There is a parking lot behind the Edinburgh Print Makers off of Gilmore Park

🚶Walking – Enter at The Forge, Viewforth Rd, Edinburgh EH11 1AL

🚴Bike – Enter at The Forge, Viewforth Rd, Edinburgh EH11 1AL

🚌 Most Edinburgh buses stop at Bread Street, you can then walk along Fountainbridge to the Forge in around 12 minutes

🚆Train – Arriving into Haymarket Train Station, you can walk 12 minutes via this route: https://goo.gl/maps/ZkfdK3zBHXPMU7XA6Arriving into Waverley Train Station, the 1 and the 34 bus will take you to Fountain Park bus stop.

Accessibility: the area around our farm is unpaved and can get quite muddy. We have a ramp into the workshop space – no stairs needed. There is a compost loo on site, but you do need to use stairs to access it. Accessible toilets can be found at Fountain Park – which is just around the corner but may take some time to get to depending on your access needs. We have a few options for quiet spaces if you need a chill out zone.

If you need an interpreter, carer, or support worker to come with you to attend the workshop you do not need to pay for two tickets, but please get in touch by email so we can ensure there’s space for everyone.

If you have any other questions about accessability please reach out at [email protected]

A monthly skillshare for writers who create or are interested in creating stories with the themes of climate and environmental justice, building on SCCAN’s Storytellers Collective.

Whether it’s a landscape or a cityscape we are all drawn to certain places. This skillshare will explore what aspects of place, and those who inhabit it, fascinate us and how they can be effectively recreated when writing about climate.

More about SCCAN Storytellers Collective and our mini-grants for creators on our website: https://scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/storytellers-collective/

Read SCCAN’s 1000 Better Stories blogs here: https://sccan.scot/1000-better-stories/1000-better-stories-blog/

For any queries, please get in touch with Story Weaver Lesley Anne at [email protected]

Check Event Page for tickets for Stirling, Greenock, Glasgow and Edinburgh

-produced by Imaginate and Barrowland Ballet and funded through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund.

Inspired by the Greek legend of Icarus, this is the story of a girl weighed down by the responsibility of the environmental crisis. She dreams of the boy Icarus and begins to work out her escape. This is the story of a girl who’s learning to fly.

At one with the wind, she soars up, up and away…

Too Close To The Sun is about the power of imagination and the sheer determination that lets you fly when forces all around want to pull you down. The award-winning Barrowland Ballet use intricate choreography, spoken word and humour to tell this evocative new story.

“Natasha Gilmore’s choreography explodes on the stage and demonstrates why Barrowland Ballet is one of Scotland’s most successful contemporary dance companies”  – The Reviews Hub on Whiteout

Pibroch is a one-act play performed by writer and spoken word artist John Bolland, exploring our Climate Emergency and the need for an urgent but just transition from the current extractive economic system and the parallels with the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988.

The performance explores the experience of oil & gas workers involved in numerous offshore industrial catastrophes (e.g. Piper Alpha, Alexander Keilland, Macondo) and examines the personal and social experiences of finding oneself on a ‘burning platform’ with a pressing need for change.

Developed from the author’s own experiences working in the offshore oil and gas industry between 1980 and 2014 and subsequent involvement in Climate Activism through Extinction Rebellion between 2018 and 2020, the production is based on a poetry collection – Pibroch – which expands upon and develops the texts used in spoken performance.

Co-directed by Mark Thomson, former Artistic Director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, it has been crafted by an outstanding team of theatre professionals; John Bolland’s words are complemented by Fraser Fifield who provides live musical accompaniment to the performance.

There will also be a post-show discussion and Q&A session.

Pibroch is a one-act play performed by writer and spoken word artist John Bolland, exploring our Climate Emergency and the need for an urgent but just transition from the current extractive economic system and the parallels with the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988.

The performance explores the experience of oil & gas workers involved in numerous offshore industrial catastrophes (e.g. Piper Alpha, Alexander Keilland, Macondo) and examines the personal and social experiences of finding oneself on a ‘burning platform’ with a pressing need for change.

Developed from the author’s own experiences working in the offshore oil and gas industry between 1980 and 2014 and subsequent involvement in Climate Activism through Extinction Rebellion between 2018 and 2020, the production is based on a poetry collection – Pibroch – which expands upon and develops the texts used in spoken performance.

Co-directed by Mark Thomson, former Artistic Director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, it has been crafted by an outstanding team of theatre professionals; John Bolland’s words are complemented by Fraser Fifield who provides live musical accompaniment to the performance.

There will also be a post-show discussion and Q&A session.

Pibroch is a one-act play performed by writer and spoken word artist John Bolland, exploring our Climate Emergency and the need for an urgent but just transition from the current extractive economic system and the parallels with the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988.

The performance explores the experience of oil & gas workers involved in numerous offshore industrial catastrophes (e.g. Piper Alpha, Alexander Keilland, Macondo) and examines the personal and social experiences of finding oneself on a ‘burning platform’ with a pressing need for change.

Developed from the author’s own experiences working in the offshore oil and gas industry between 1980 and 2014 and subsequent involvement in Climate Activism through Extinction Rebellion between 2018 and 2020, the production is based on a poetry collection – Pibroch – which expands upon and develops the texts used in spoken performance.

Co-directed by Mark Thomson, former Artistic Director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, it has been crafted by an outstanding team of theatre professionals; John Bolland’s words are complemented by Fraser Fifield who provides live musical accompaniment to the performance.

There will also be a post-show discussion and Q&A session.

PHA Aim:

To create a space for organisations and groups concerned about health to fashion a more effective response to Scotland’s growing health crisis

PHA Objectives:

• Provide a forum for existing community and national health-related campaigns to enable exchange of knowledge and ideas
• Problem solve the relative lack of impact on political and economic decision making
• Develop thinking on the combined actions needed to effect change in decision making which impinges on health
• Inspire and build a stronger public health movement, including creating resources for those campaigning for better health for Scotland (e.g. evidence, networks and good practice)

Confirmed speakers and contributors:

• David Legge, People’s Health Movement
• Prof Kat Smith, University of Strathclyde
• Kirsty Mackay, photographic artist, educator, activist and filmmaker
• Jackie Erdman, former Head of Equality and Human Rights for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and current trustee with the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland and the Scottish Homelessness Network
• Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland
• The Jimmy Reid Foundation
• Socialist Health Association Scotland
• Kingsway Community ConnectionsScotstoun, Glasgow
• People’s Plan for Glasgow
• Women’s Support Project
• Solidarity Against Neoliberal Extremism (SANE)
• Friends of Saint Fitticks Park, Torry, Aberdeen
• Living Streets Scotland
• Scottish Hazards
• Glasgow Centre for Population Health

Funding and Costs

The PHA is being supported by a grant from The Edge Fund contribution from the Women’s Support Project and in-kind support from our fellow contributors. We may need to ask for a small donation (£5), from those able, to help cover the costs of the catering on the day if we end up with a shortfall (but hopefully not!). This can either be via cash or an online donation and more details on how to donate will be available at the event.

Climate Fringe Festival

The PHA is running as part of the Climate Fringe Festival #ClimateFringeFestival, 10th-18th June

Pre-Assembly Social (Friday 9th June from 7pm)

Ahead of the PHA we are also hosting an informal social event at DRAM! pub, 232 Woodlands Rd, Glasgow G3 6ND. Please pop along to meet other activists ahead of the more formal discussions at the PHA. You can let us know you can come along by including a ticket for this when registering just so we know who to expect!

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Why we need a People’s Health Assembly

We are in a new era of a socio-ecological polycrisis, with the climate emergency being ignored and the lives and wellbeing of millions being cast aside as we face a crushing cost-of-living crisis. There is brilliant work being done across civil society to improve the health and wellbeing of our society, but too much is focused on survival, rather than giving people alternatives and the ability to thrive. We are caught in a cycle of paying to fix what we continue to break.

We must come together to energise a paradigm shift from the grassroots and unanimously advocate systems change to support health and wellbeing of people and planet as our core aims, rather than an outdated, misguided and unfair focus on economic growth and finances.

PHMS wants to start this paradigm shift by bringing people together for a People’s Health Assembly (PHA) in 2023. The 2023 PHA will recognise the failures of current and past approaches, but more importantly highlight the breadth and depth of positive alternatives.

Scotland has its own rich tapestry of activism focused on the global, the national and the local, as well as networks of support for communities and individuals. Yet these efforts lack synergy, leading to a loss of effectiveness. We will focus on the processes of social movement building and grassroots activism in shifting from ‘surviving & coping’ (some better than others) to ‘systems change’. In bringing our voices together we hope to re-ignite solidarity in the face of detached politics.

Without a civic society movement that can highlight the positive alternatives available in policy and practice to the current neoliberal ‘common sense’ of austerity and ‘trickle down’ incompetence, the future of Scotland, independent or otherwise, is appallingly bleak. Informed critical democratic engagement is the only vaccine that can hope to address the pandemic of ‘truth decay’ that is already undermining the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable in our society and threatening the existence of future generations.

If another well-meaning event on health inequalities or climate fills you with dread or apathy, please think again! The ineffectiveness of current responses and resultant worsening outcomes can only be reimagined by a positive and united civil society.

A short history of PHAs

PHAs are based on the model of events run by PHM Global, with the last of these global PHAs taking place in 2018. The previous PHA event in Scotland was held in Edinburgh in 2014. Since then, PHMS have run other regular events and published a People’s Health Manifesto for local and national elections. Our latest report follows a recent inquiry into health inequalities in light of the COVID pandemic: All in this Together? The Impact of Covid-19 on Health Inequalities in Glasgow.

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The People’s Health Movement (PHM) Scotland are a diverse group of health and social activists based in Scotland who are members of a global movement that calls for a right to health for all.

BOOK YOUR TICKET NOW via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-we-the-power-the-future-of-energy-is-community-owned-tickets-629102742237

Imagine upending the traditional energy system and giving the power of clean electricity production back to your neighbours. We The Power follows friends, families and visionaries as they break down legislative barriers and take power back from big energy companies to put it in the hands of locals and strengthen their towns.

Watch the trailer here

The film chronicles local cooperatives from deep in Germany’s Black Forest to the streets of ancient Girona in Spain and the urban rooftops of London, England, as they pave the way for a renewable energy revolution and build healthier, financially stable communities.

The screening will be followed by a facilitated discussion.

Learn how to write great blogs in this Write Here, Write Now workshop from SCCAN Storyteller Collective!

In this workshop we’ll explore five steps to creating engaging blog posts. We’ll work through all stages from planning and research to the use of images and audio to bring your blog to life. As well as check in on rights and permissions and what you may need to put in place.

More about SCCAN Storytellers Collective and our mini-grants for creators on our website: https://scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/storytellers-collective/

Read SCCAN’s 1000 Better Stories blogs here: https://sccan.scot/1000-better-stories/1000-better-stories-blog/ 

For more information get in touch with SCCAN Story Weaver on [email protected].

About the presenters:

Lesley Anne is a writer, creative producer and SCCAN Story Weaver passionate about finding and sharing inspiring stories of climate action.

Join Carbon Copy and Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECAN) at “Edinburgh Community & Climate Connect”. Taking place as Britain’s biggest sporting celebration of climate action and nature – Running Out of Time – reaches Edinburgh; this event will gather some of the city’s best eco-conscious voluntary organisations in the Life Church Hall, less than half a mile from beautiful Holyrood Park.

The event will kick off with a keynote presentation by none other than Dr Heather “The Weather” Reid OBE, former BBC Scotland weather reporter and passionate climate educator. You’ll also get an opportunity to learn more about Running Out of Time, and even to hold the baton!

You can:

• Learn more about different ways to make a difference in your community
• Meet other like-minded people
• Sign-up to volunteer with a brilliant local organisation or campaign
• Get inspired to take more collaborative action to fight climate change and protect the environment

Come and explore all aspects of Why Community Led Homes – and especially Cooperative processes – offer so much; and How the principles and practices have worked to create resilient low impact living affordable communities.

5.30pm for 6.00pm – 9.00pm Wednesday 14 June, Old Assembly Room, 37 Constitution St, Leith EH6 7RB. Includes a community meal.

Book: https://coho14june.eventbrite.co.uk / Share www.facebook.com/events/268123518884216

We shall consider different forms of Community Led and Cooperative Housing (CLaCH) and explore how these options might be established as a middle way between social housing and housing built for profit.

Outline programme: two sets of Pecha Kucha contributions exploring the case for community led homes in urban context as well as rural with a convivial meal:

• 5.30pm Doors open
• 6.00pm Welcome, drinks and mingling / exhibition
• 6.30pm Why? – benefits of plurality in housing provision and of mutual aid in developing and managing intentional communities
• 7.15pm Simple supper
• 8.00pm How? – processes and case studies: what has worked well
• 8.45 Wrap up – Close around 9pm.

Contact [email protected] if interested in presenting.

This event will build on the CLaCH Manifesto, CLaCH Roundtable October 2021 and the Five Roadshows May/June 2022.

This is part of Architecture Fringe 2023.

Many thanks to Architype architects for co-hosting!

Cohousing Scotland – a registered charity SC038745 https://www.cohousing.scot Email: [email protected] Want to be kept in touch? Join Cohousing Scotland now!

This Green Tease event is about climate-induced migration and the role of culture and art in achieving climate justice. It takes place as a part of the Festival of Migration 2023.

At the event, you can learn about how climate change drives migration and displacement in Zambia and Bangladesh, and you can hear a talk by Rahmina Paullete, a climate activist who has experienced climate migration firsthand. Finally, you can meet the people behind the project, “Breaking the 4th Wall of Climate Migration”, who will speak about their work with digital storytelling in raising awareness about the devastating consequences of climate change on communities in the Horn of Africa in Scottish classrooms. Following the talks, there will be time for discussions and networking with the aim of exploring the links between the art, culture and climate sector in working on climate-related migration. It is free to participate.

Sign up here

Rahmina Paullete  is a young climate activist, environmentalist, and wildlife conservationist from Kenya. She is also a climate migrant and will in a recorded talk share her personal story as well as the practical solutions she has initiated in her community.

Rahmina Paullete is the head campaigner for #LetLakeVictoriaBreatheAgain which advocates for the restoration of Lake Victoria. She is the founder of Kisumu Environmental Champions, and the lead activists for Fridays for the Future, a youth champion for Fossil Fuel Treaty, ambassador for Climate Clock, Sustainable Food System advocate at Food At Cop, and a climate change champion at Wangari Maathai Foundation. “

Dr Sennan D. Mattar is a Lecturer on Climate Justice at the Mary Robinson Centre for Climate Justice, Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). His research focuses on climate migration, international development, and climate finance. Sennan will speak on how climate change drives migration and displacement, particularly to informal urban settlements, and the social injustices faced by those forced to leave their homes with examples from Zambia and Bangladesh.

a think tank dedicated to educational research and programming on the social causes and implications of the climate crisis.

This event is part of Festival of Migration arranged by Art27scotland.  Art27 Scotland is an organisation of artists and activists that take their mission from Article 27 of the Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to participate in the culture of their community. As an art and human rights organisation, they centre the promotion of Dignity, Justice, and Peace through our cultural role in civic society, articulated through great art and great stories.

Accessibility

We want to remove barriers to participation in these events and are happy to make adjustments to prevent people from being excluded. Please inform us of accessibility requirements during the registration process or get in touch by email if you would like to provide more information or ask any questions. Please see our Safe Working Spaces Statement for more information.

If you have any questions about the event or want to know more, please get in touch with [email protected].

This event is taking place as part of Creative Carbon Scotland’s Green Tease event series, part of the culture/SHIFT programme.

A monthly skillshare for writers who create or are interested in creating stories with the themes of climate and environmental justice, building on SCCAN’s Storytellers Collective.

Each character in your climate story should have their own voice, motivations and thoughts. In this skillshare, we’ll peel back the layers of character and learn tips on how to create ones that aren’t merely an extension of ourselves, but with distinct passions and personalities all of their own.

More about SCCAN Storytellers Collective and our mini-grants for creators on our website: https://scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/storytellers-collective/

Read SCCAN’s 1000 Better Stories blogs here: https://sccan.scot/1000-better-stories/1000-better-stories-blog/

For any queries, please get in touch with Story Weaver Lesley Anne at [email protected]

Pibroch is a one-act play performed by writer and spoken word artist John Bolland, exploring our Climate Emergency and the need for an urgent but just transition from the current extractive economic system and the parallels with the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988.

The performance explores the experience of oil & gas workers involved in numerous offshore industrial catastrophes (e.g. Piper Alpha, Alexander Keilland, Macondo) and examines the personal and social experiences of finding oneself on a ‘burning platform’ with a pressing need for change.

Developed from the author’s own experiences working in the offshore oil and gas industry between 1980 and 2014 and subsequent involvement in Climate Activism through Extinction Rebellion between 2018 and 2020, the production is based on a poetry collection – Pibroch – which expands upon and develops the texts used in spoken performance.

Co-directed by Mark Thomson, former Artistic Director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, it has been crafted by an outstanding team of theatre professionals; John Bolland’s words are complemented by Fraser Fifield who provides live musical accompaniment to the performance.

There will also be a post-show discussion and Q&A session.