We’re thinking about nature and climate justice
one of the artworks from Carlo Hornilla’s social media campaign for our collaboration with the eden project - shows an illustration of bees and lady birds amougst some abstract flowers all in the purples, pinks and oranges that pollinators see in
Working with the Eden Project over the last few months got us thinking - What is our commitment to nature and the environment here at Rising Arts Agency?
Nature came up a lot in our August of Rest.
For one thing, we’d ditched the office and spent more time outdoors, having picnics in the park and bathing (and sometimes burning!) in the heatwaves of the Summer.
We also spent the month reading and reflecting on adrienne maree brown’s Principles of Emergent Strategy. Here, adrienne speaks about how the wonder of nature can inspire social justice activism. She describes how we can learn from the complex systems of the natural world to explore a new way of being. She looks to murmurations of starlings as an example of synergistic relationships we could replicate in our social movements. To show the need for fluidity and flexibility, she reminds us: “Change is constant - be like water.”
Coinciding with all this, Arnolfini’s exhibition Forest: Wake This Ground Exhibition was taking place just outside our studio. And we’d just started a collaboration with the Eden Project, where Rising artists had been commissioned to engage with the themes of Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s Pollinator Pathmaker living artwork - and draw attention to the importance of biodiversity and ecology.
All that got us thinking about our role in environmental activism. What are we doing to step up in the fight against climate change? We need the sector, and society at large, to re-centre underrepresented young people’s voices in conversations around climate change.
So, we came up with our Environmental Policy. Here it is:
OUR COMMITMENT
There can be no climate justice without social justice
We strongly believe there can be no climate justice without social justice, therefore we will use our commissions, partnerships, agency and platform to advocate for those who are often left out of the conversation.
Sustainable growth over "Growth for growth's sake"
Through our ways of working, storytelling and practice, we strive to identify and address Rising’s environmental impact while encouraging others to do the same. We are aware of the relationship between capitalism’s incessant need for profit and ‘growth for growth’s sake’ and the climate crisis we are now facing, therefore as a not-for-profit and community interest community, we will ensure that Rising’s grows mindfully and sustainably and in the direct interests of our community.
We’ll keep learning
As a small, yet growing agency, we do not claim to be experts, but committed students in the fight for climate justice.
OUR COLLABORATION
If you want to support our continued work on climate justice, please consider joining the Rising Alliance or increasing your regular donation.