A Creative Climate

We’ve seen the line graphs, we’ve heard the statistics, we’ve seen the images of polar bears stranded on melting ice blocks. Yet political momentum on climate change has stalled. What can younger generations do to get this urgent issue back on the agenda? Can literature and storytelling shake us out of inertia?

We think so. That’s why, for the past 18 months, the Wheeler Centre has worked with partners in Berlin, Dublin, London and Warsaw on the Weather Stations project; a project that seeks to put literature and storytelling at the centre of efforts to discuss climate change.

As part of this project, students from Footscray City College have been working with our Weather Stations writer-in-residence Tony Birch on strategies to break the silence on climate change through art, writing and creativity. The students have met scientists, activists, artists, politicians and filmmakers and created their own films on topics including food miles, sustainable architecture and extreme weather events.

At this event, which marks the conclusion of the project, we’ll screen the students’ films and talk with Tony Birch and facilitators from Tipping Point Australia about their involvement in Weather Stations. We’ll also speak with the young filmmakers from Footscray City College about how the Weather Stations project has affected their outlook on climate change and their views on strategies to confront it.