The Carbon Literacy Project’s Post

Virtual Conference from MuseumNext: Museums are transcending their traditional roles to make significant contributions to addressing pressing societal challenges, such as poverty, climate change, mental health and equality for all. 22 - 23 May 2024

Virtual Conference from MuseumNext: Museums are transcending their traditional roles to make significant contributions to addressing pressing societal challenges, such as poverty, climate change, mental health and equality for all. 22 - 23 May 2024

‼️ Our 7 tips support #museums to start taking political action for the #climate by advocating for their own #sustainable transition. 🙌 Tip 6 encourages you to not let your hard work go by unnoticed. Get in touch with decision-makers, funders and media to present your results and ongoing commitment to the sustainable transition. Highlight what the museum already is doing and how you can assist further at a societal and systematic level. ✨View all 7 tips 👉 bit.ly/7-advocacy-tips

A job worth doing is worth doing together – and we can’t think of a more important mission than creating advocates for the planet. Now’s your chance to join us! The Fixing Our Broken Planet: Community of Practice is an initiative to connect museum professionals who care about addressing the planetary emergency, building a strong community that will inspire widespread action. We're offering grants to UK museums who want to create impactful exhibitions and programming. There are three ways to take part: 🌎 Generation Hope: Grants up to £2,500 for two to three organisations to develop programmes that coincide with Generation Hope, our annual events programme delving into the challenges and solutions for people and the planet. 💡 Interconnected: Light: One-off grants up to £3,000 for 10 organisations to host displays from the Fixing Our Broken Planet exhibition alongside your own collections and storytelling. 🤝 Interconnected: In-Depth: One-off grants up to £10,000 for four organisations to develop larger projects. This opportunity includes support from our scientific and curatorial teams and access to extensive Fixing Our Broken Planet content to be tailored to your local context. Applications close on 23 September. Discover more and apply below 👇 https://brnw.ch/21wMJBW

Another tremendous nudge in the right direction from David Maggs, Metcalf Foundation. To which I can't help but respond with the same argument I've been making for years ... Just as Vicki Stroich brilliantly puts it: "Our collective imagination needs to work harder. We need to go beyond imagining new technologies, we need to imagine new ways to live and form community, and new ways to invite people into those stories and visions." YES. And she says, "Dramaturgy for me has always been about helping artists open up a pathway to the most potent expression they can possibly make ..." To which, again, I say YES. But I can't help but feel that we are not going far enough when she says that thinking beyond bias is thinking in story. Art-as-story is already our bias. And it is a beautiful and wonderful bias to have. But I think it's a continued failure of imagination for western dramaturgy to keep storytelling on a higher pedestal than audience experience. This is especially magnified by citing David's other essay(s) which implore the actual practical engagement of the audience. Western story structure is an argumentative structure. The tradition of multi-act dramatically active dialogue is intentionally rooted in spreading political bias. And, sometimes, that's fine. But if we want the arts to catalyze a cultural shift of thinking around our approaches to the climate crisis, then we could stand to demonstrate the possibility of such shifts. Story itself (if used at all), has to be one humble tool, not the whole shed.

In the spirit of “sharpening the saw”, I participated in a Design Thinking DC field session for the National Museum of American History this week. Question: How might we create a more inviting and engaging Constitution Ave entrance? So great to flex my DT muscles IRL with creative designers! #designthinking #smithsonian #creativity #brainstorming #prototyping

We know staying connected is crucial for your business and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. 🦕 Discover how we can empower your business with seamless connectivity. ✨ Learn more here https://lnkd.in/eEVBbCsE ✨ #DataProtection #CaseStudy

'I believe that we are all connected by these invisible threads, the shared sinew amongst all living things, that includes humans, plants, animals, what have you, and that what art is, is the lighting up, making those invisible threads visible. … It doesn't really explain in that analogy what art is, but it certainly speaks to the way it functions and why it should matter to society : why arts should matter.' In this episode, Robin Sokoloski (she/her) discusses her recent experiences and current work in the arts research sector with a focus on how the arts community can have meaningful impact on climate change and on community-engaged arts, emphasizing the importance of relationships and collaboration in creating impactful art that resonates with communities. Robin has been working in the arts and culture sector for over twenty years. I remember her coming to us while I was working at Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada with this crazy idea for Mass Culture / Mobilisation culturelle and 20 years later it is wonderful organization where she is Director of Programming and Research of Mass Culture, where Robin is working with academics, funders and arts practitioners to support a thriving arts community by mobilizing the creation, amplification and community informed analysis of research. My last conversation with Robin Sokoloski was https://lnkd.in/geDe2Z52 in 2021. This time we focused on the end of the world as we know it and the role of art came up, including how to use tools such as the Living Climate-Impact Framework for the Arts project, (see https://lnkd.in/gnA-z9B6 for details) and how to better mobilise the arts sector around climate change. After our conversation, I wrote to a friend that ‘Robin is one of the holders of key knowledge for the future of the arts in this country’ and I think she’s just getting started. * Sections of the podcast (generated by AI and reviewed by Claude Schryer) Welcome back to conscient podcast Introduction The Climate Crisis and Art’s Role Living Climate Framework for the Arts Barriers to Engagement in the Arts Community Engaged Arts The Future of Arts in a Changing World Arts as Meaning Makers Recommended Reads and Resources Shannon Litzenberger Kelly Langgard Kelly Wilhelm #ClimateAction #CommunityEngagedArts #Sustainability #CulturalLeadership #ArtAndEcology #MassCulture #ArtForChange #EnvironmentalChallenges #ArtCommunity #Storytelling

Join us on March 28 at 5:00 p.m. for The Searchers: Wayfinding on the Water in the Pre-Modern Age with Connecticut River Museum. This talk is in anticipation of the Connecticut River Museum’s spring 2024 exhibition, "The Searchers: Wayfinding on the Water in the Pre-Modern Age." Museum Curator Amy Trout will give a preview of the new exhibit that recounts the risk-taking voyages of Connecticut Valley mariners over time. Crossing the seas evolved from being highly hazardous in the seventeenth century; to being quite routine by the mid-nineteenth century due, in great part, to improved methods of navigation. From Indigenous people to trans-Atlantic immigrants, there were dangers and challenges in transportation by water. Developing technology and improved navigation tools assisted in the safe and successful search for raw materials, for new markets, for trading partners, for new opportunities, and for some, freedom. Learn more by visiting our exhibition "Charting Your Course: Cutting Edge Navigation and Seafaring," on view through May 11. Register for the March 28 talk here: https://buff.ly/3V7xX4S.

In today's troubled times, I find myself seeing the value of museums as a tool for teaching tolerance more and more. Museums play a crucial role by providing a platform for understanding diverse cultures, histories, and perspectives. Through thoughtfully curated exhibits and educational programs, museums foster empathy and awareness by showcasing the experiences and contributions of different communities. By highlighting stories of struggle, resilience, and cooperation, museums encourage visitors to reflect on issues of prejudice, discrimination, and social justice. This helps build a more inclusive and compassionate society, where individuals appreciate and respect each other's differences. In this way, museums are vital in promoting tolerance and mutual understanding, and in this current global climate, we need as much of that as possible.