Our Story Weaver, Kaska Hempel, talks to Karen Ridgewell about year one of Scottish Climate Action Town project, delivered by Architecture and Design Scotland (https://www.ads.org.uk/)  and funded by the Scottish Government.

Karen shares lessons and tools for empowering communities to plan for their own climate friendly and fair future.

Production and editing: Kaska Hempel

Resources

Climate Action Towns report on A&DS website (includes a list of community engagement and planning tools used by the project):

https://www.ads.org.uk/resource/climate-action-towns-year-one-lessons-report

Delivering place-based approaches in Scotland event, 27th of Sep, online: https://www.ads.org.uk/event/climate-week-2022-designing-changing-climate

Place standard tool (including place standard tool with a climate lens): https://www.ourplace.scot/About-Place-Standard

Place standard

https://www.ads.org.uk/resource/place-standard

SEPA Flood Risk Map https://map.sepa.org.uk/floodmaps

2050 Climate Map https://coastal.climatecentral.org/

Heat Resilience Map https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62243280 (this was produced by 4 Earth Intelligence - they offer more detailed info but you would have to pay for the service).

In this episode we focus on helping children process their climate anxiety in a holistic approach using stories. One of our mini-grant recipients, Maria Barros, invites us on an immersive and interactive journey with Nefelibatas (Cloud Walkers), and SCCAN Story Weavers Kaska Hempel and Joana Avi-Lorie chat about Joana’s research and practice in using such stories to help children tackle anxiety.

Mini-grants of £250 are available to anyone wanting to contribute content to the 1000 Better stories podcast or blog so please get in touch with Kaska or Joana on [email protected].

For future developments of Nefelibatas projects check Instagram: Nefelibatas (@nefelibatastory)

Or contact: [email protected]

Nefelibatas credits

Story and narration: Maria Barros

Sound production: Rui Morgado

Logo: Márcia Fernandes

Interview credits

Recording and editing: Kaska Hempel

Have you ever tried to get your head around climate models? And what they show may happen in the next 50 to 100 years to the places you where you live, places which you love and care about?

What would it really mean for you or your children?

Today we bring you a story behind an Outer Hebrides Storylines project aimed at exactly that. Combining creativity, oral history, and science to help local people and communities engage in adaptation planning in the way that’s meaningful to them.

The project got support from SCCAN’s Pockets and Prospects fund as well as NERC, Adaptation Scotland, and Làn Thìde Climate Beacon and involved several partners. 

The story was recorded and produced for us by Matthew Logan, Community Energy Scotland, and one of the leads on the project.

We also hear from Dr James Pope from the Met Office, Eleanor Pratt from Adaptation Scotland, and a Lewis-based artist, Sandra Kennedy, who carried out the commission.

Resources

• Tuil is Geil Storylines on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/andraennedy

Join Luke Winter, one of our mini-grant recipents on his adventure to Knoydart. Stories of the land and how it has changed hands in recent history. 

Grants are available to anyone wanting to contribute content to the 1000 Better stories podcast or blog so please get in touch with Kaska or Joana on [email protected].

Producer: Loris S. Sarid (https://lorisssarid.bandcamp.com/ )

Writing/recording: Luke Winter (https://www.storiesforstrangers.com/)

Background information:

Knoydart Foundation: https://knoydart.org/about-the-knoydart-foundation/

History of Knoydart land ownership: https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-75580

Seven Men of Knoydart song lyrics: http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/m/menofkno.html 

In this episode we continue a conversation about how community organisations involved in climate justice work can benefit from collaborating with creative practitioners.  We hear from another partnership within Creative Dundee’s CULTIVATE project - Joyce Reid from Transition Dundee and their creative partner - Jade Anderson. Their collaboration focused on a community wardrobe project and destigmatising the idea of second hand clothing.

Listen to the previous episode to find out more about CULTIVATE and the creative collaboration centred around Community First projects based in Forfar, Angus. 

Production and edit: Kaska Hempel. Illustrated with excerpts from Wee Wardrobe documentary with permission from Jade Andreson.

Resources

Transition Dundee: http://www.transitiondundee.com/ 

The Wardrobe: http://www.transitiondundee.com/thewardrobe

Wee Wardrobe event in February - programme and contributors https://creativedundee.com/2022/02/cultivate-wee-wardrobe/

Jade Andreson: https://www.jadeanderson.org/home 

Wee Wardrobe Documentary with voices from community groups: https://youtu.be/jImheKAwaxk

Oor Memories / Oor Stories compilations from:

• Stand Easy Productions
  

Jade’s talk “Sustainable Choices and Social Stigmas for the Working Class”  for Zero Carbon Tour’s event in Dundee.

In this episode we start a conversation about how community organisations can benefit from collaborating with creative practitioners. We talk to Claire Durfour, Climate Creative Producer for Creative Dundee, about their CULTIVATE project which has been partnering creative practitioners with Tayside community organisations working in climate justice. We also chat to members of one of the partnerships, Pauline Lockhart and Carol Malone from Community First based in Forfar, Angus and their creative partners, Kirsty McKeown and Jenny Reid.

And to start us off you, will hear work by another one of SCCAN mini-grant recipients, Studio Youth Theatre in, Dumfries and Galloway. They show off a pilot episode of their brand new podcast, Blank Generation.

We will continue conversations about the value of creative collaborations in the next episode, due out in a couple of weeks.

Production and edit: Kaska Hempel

Resources:

Community First projects 

• S-Mart (the good shop!) https://www.s-martscot.com/ 

Studio Theatre, Moffat  https://thestudiotheatre.co.uk/ 

Tayside Climate Beacon events in May and June: https://creativedundee.com/2022/05/2022-tayside-climate-beacon-event-series/

CULTIVATE https://creativedundee.com/cultivate/

Culture Collective https://www.culturecollective.scot/ 

Today’s storytellers, Mary Troup and Hazel Darwin-Clements, share personal reflections on how they were inspired to act on climate with their local communities. And on the often random, unplanned, messy and sometimes personally exhausting nature of what we all are trying to do. They both make a powerful case for working together with others so that we can spread our burdens, and so that we can keep ourselves motivated and sane in making a real difference.

We start with Mary’s brief piece, which she created during one of our Stories for Change workshops on finding and telling your climate action story. Through story and song she tells us about her involvement with COP26 and inspirations to set up a climate café.

Next, we hear from Hazel, one of the 8 recipients of our storyteller collective mini-grants. Her honest, first hand documentary about the first few months of setting up the Porty Community Fridge. What is a Community Fridge? How do we create projects that aren’t dependent on one person? Will coming face to face with food poverty divert a mission to reduce carbon consumption? 

The Porty Fridge has a Facebook page.  

You can connect with Hazel @HazelDarEd on Twitter or find her at www.hazeldarwinclements.co.uk.

The episode starts with a recording of a story “From fossil fuels shirt-and-tie to fossil-free hippie guy” shared by Bruce Donald, a net zero researcher for Thurso Development Trust. He was one of the participants in Paul Bristow’s January workshop on finding, writing and telling our climate action stories to better engage others in our communities. 

It's followed by Phillip Revell’s uplifting story from Pilgrimage for COP26, with a couple of conversations about hope and coming together, beautifully illustrated with poetry and song. Philip spoke to two Pilgrimage participants David Gee about his book, ‘Hope’s work’, and to Olga Bloemen, one of the Pilgrimage organisers and a poet.

Pilgrimage songs were performed by Freedom of Mind Community Choir and written by Karine Polwart. The Pilgrimage poem was written and performed by Olga Bloemen.

Recording and editing: Kaska Hempel and Philip Revell

Production: Kaska Hempel

Resources:

• Pilgrimage for COP26 website: https://artandecology.earth/pilgrimage-for-cop26/

• Soundcloud (audio): https://soundcloud.com/olga-bloemen/why-are-we-walking 

Now that it's all over, Kaska Hempel talks to SCCAN members about their participation in COP26, their most memorable moments and thoughts on what it all means for community climate action in Scotland.

Our guests included:

• Joana Avi-Lore, SCCAN Events and Story Weaver

We also feature a wee teaser of another fab pod in our Scottish climate family - Local Zero. Check out their feed from last year for some excellent coverage of the events on the ground.

Credits

Episode recorded and edited by Kaska Hempel.

Includes excerpts from film about Tayport Climate Festival, shot and edited by Alex Caldow. Music from performance by Essa Flett.

Resources

Joana Avi-Lore

• Net Zero Nation SCCAN stall at Green Zone: https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/we-are-net-zero-nation/ 

Philip Revell

• Pilgrimage for COP26: https://artandecology.earth/pilgrimage-for-cop26/ 

Cornell Hanxomphou

• Migrants Organizing for Rights and Empowerment (MORE Glasgow): https://twitter.com/MOREGlasgow 

Alison Stewart

• Panel on Just Transition - Local Zero podcast https://www.energyrev.org.uk/local-zero/local-zero-live/ 

Andrea Elder

• Demystifying COP26 GK discussion panel: https://www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk/cop26-the-case-for-stubborn-optimism/ 

Lynsey Penny

• Dundee Cycling Hub launch video: https://youtu.be/-QnwyksT5uo 

Kaska Hempel

• Video from Tayport Climate Festival: https://youtu.be/p6Gcd5m4ilA

In August we published a collection of Scottish podcasts with focus on climate justice and action.

This magazine episode is a companion to that blog, and it is showcasing 3 of the included shows.

We hear from Col Gordon about his Landed series with Farmerama radio (co-produced with Katie Revell), Catriona Spaven-Donn about United Nations House Scotland podcast - Connecting Women's Voices on Climate Justice, and the PLANT Voices podcast from Tayport Community Garden.

Magazine episodes are just one thing we are trying out as ideas for Storytellers Collective aimed at amplifying powerful stories helping everyone imagine the the future worth fighting for. To share your ideas and get involved get in touch with Kaska at [email protected].

Storytellers Collective blog: https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/category/blog/