conscient podcast

• Museums have been very good at normalizing social values and so when you have this shift and the government is seeing it, we have to change behavior, the museum can create that space where people can rethink some of their conventional thinking about consuming, for example and there's all kinds of ways, like we were saying earlier, of integrating this kind of knowledge, not in a lecturing way. I think that's the key word, is we can be cheeky. This is a social activity. Nobody is forcing anyone to come to the museum and so when people come, they want to be intrigued, surprised and they love it. If you look at exit surveys, they love to come out thinking it's like: I had no idea that I can make this kind of change and have this kind of impact.

Viviane Gosselin, Director of Collections & Exhibitions, Museum of Vancouver, November 2021

I worked with Mauro in 2006 on the Art in Ecology – A Think Tank on Arts and Sustainability and was happy to reconnect and learn about his leadership of this institution. I met Viviane through SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency, notably on the Education working group and was impressed by her passion for the environment and institutional engagement on the climate emergency.

This conversation was recorded in 3 spaces: office, collections and exhibitions. I learned about the MOV’s 4 engagement priorities (redress and decolonization, immigration and diversity, environment and sustainability and urban and contemporary issues) and how they are greening their operations and addressing climate change and climate justice through their exhibitions.  

Viviane also spoke about her work with the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice. 

Mauro and Viviane in the MOV collection, November 15, 2021

Exhibition at MOV, November 15, 2021

Exhibition at MOV, November 15, 2021

Entrance of MOV, November 15, 2021

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

‘This episode lasts 59 seconds. I want to share a November 13th, 2021, tweet by British writer and climate activist George Monbiot: 'Now we have no choice but to raise the scale of civil disobedience until we have built the greatest mass movement in history. We do not consent to the destruction of our life support systems’.’

George Monbiot, November 13th, 2021, tweet 

This episode lasts 59 seconds. I want to share a November 13th, 2021, tweet by British writer and climate activist George Monbiot: 

‘Now we have no choice but to raise the scale of civil disobedience until we have built the greatest mass movement in history. We do not consent to the destruction of our life support systems’.

I agree with George and thank him. I find that his statement is both devastating and heartening. Here it is again: 

‘Now we have no choice but to raise the scale of civil disobedience until we have built the greatest mass movement in history. We do not consent to the destruction of our life support systems’.

Climate action rally in Vancouver, November 12, 2021 see https://www.conscient.ca/podcast/e82-washable-paint/)

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

My goal with this episode was to record the soundscape of a public protest : the singing, chanting, speeches, random chatter and marching as well as the ambiance of the city, however what I witnessed and heard at this event was the response of the protesters to Vancouver Police around the arrest of group of young people who were doing a ceremony with washable red paint onto the windows of the federal Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change building on Burrard street (see photos), at which point the protest leaders requested the release the arrested persons and decided to remain in solidarity with them instead of continuing with the march towards the banking sector of downtown Vancouver and CBC Vancouver. 

The recording starts with a song and an indigenous person explaining what the intention was were with the ceremony. You then hear a ‘let them go’ chant followed by the police taking the arrested persons away in a van and the protesters’ reaction (‘they only used washable paint’). The march was then redirected onto Cordova Street towards the courthouse where detained persons were likely being held. You hear the protesters doing climate emergency chants followed by a song at which point I stopped the recording because my hands were shaking with cold.

In the end, 3 persons were arrested for public mischief as noted in this CTV news video posting and online.

I thought about whether it was ethical for me to publish this recording, given the delicate nature of the event, keeping in mind what Dr. Milena Droumeva told to me in episode 78 (at 31 minutes 50 seconds):

‘I feel very torn about doing field recordings. I think there are ethics that we need to think about. I try to convey that so that it is not extractive’.

I decided this recording was worth sharing given that it was a public event and of public interest to listen to these voices. It captures a dilemma for our society of balancing the urgent need for peaceful climate emergency protests, indigenous rights and the rule of law.

I want to thank those who were inadvertently recorded and hope their messages about the urgency of the climate emergency and the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’ carry wide and far. 

Protesters at November 12, 2021 climate action rally in Vancouver

Speaker at November 12, 2021 climate action rally in Vancouver

Protest sign at November 12, 2021 climate action rally in Vancouver

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'Art is a practice of expanding consciousness, which gives us a tremendous opportunity to explore and to embody possibility and to engage with the earth as it continues to change and with each other.

Rebecca Mwase, excerpt from e10 mwase – expanding consciousness (from an interview at Creative Climate Leadership USA, March, 2020)

*

e81 inspiration are excerpts from all my conversations up to today, November 10th, 2021. I chose short excerpts where the tone and emotion in the voice of each person inspires and uplifts me every time I listen to it and I hope they will inspire and uplift you too (because we need it). Thanks to all those recorded for this fragmented reading of our conversations.

In order of appearance (bolded episodes are in French and have an ‘é’)

Note: I am aware that the time indication numbers below do not align up well but chose not to correct it as I enjoy the uneven flow...

• e10 mwase, Rebecca Mwase                                            00:00
• e29 loy, David Loy                                                               00:21
• e03 tickell, Alison Tickell                                                   00:35
• é37 lebeau, Anne-Catherine Lebeau                          00:56
• 12 liverman, Diana Liverman                                            01:16
• 17 piro, Em Piro                                                                   01:37
• e50 newton, Teika Newton                                               02:00
• é32 tsou, Shuni Tsou                                                        02:26
• 13 freiband, Andrew Freiband                                         02:46
• e58 huddart, Stephen Huddart                                        03:03
• é27 prévost, Hélène Prévost                                         03:30
• e47 keeptwo, Suzanne Keeptwo                                      04:00
• 08 johnston,  Sholeh Johnston                                         04:25
• e33 toscano, Peterson Toscano                                       04:51
• é60 boutet, Dr. Danielle Boutet                                   05 :20
• e51 hiser, Dr. Krista Hiser                                                  05:42
• e53 kalmanovitch, Dr. Tanya Kalmanovitch                   06:01
• e21 dufresne, Dr. Todd Dufresne                                    06:22
• é55 trépanier, France Trépanier                                  06:42
• e24 weaving, jil p. weaving                                               07:00
• e25 shaw, Michael Shaw                                                    07:38
• e39 engle  Dr. Jayne Engle                                               08:01
• é56 garoufalis-auger, Anthony Garoufalis-Auger 08 :19
• e54 garrett, Ian Garrett                                                      08:46
• 06 lim, Milton Lim                                                                09:48
• e22 westerkamp, Hildegard Westerkamp                     09:25
• é57 roy, Annie Roy                                                           09:50
• e73 marcuse,,Judith Marcuse                                           10:19
• e26 klein, Seth Klein                                                           10:58
• e36 fanconi,  Kendra Fanconi                                           11 :26
• é28 ung, Jimmy Ung                                                        11:47
• e40 frasz  Alexis Frasz                                                         12:10
• e41 rae, Jen Rae                                                                  12:27
• e42 rosen, Mark Rosen                                                      12:52
• é48 danis, Daniel Danis                                                  13:17
• e43 haley, David Haley                                                      13:57
• e44 bilodeau, Chantal Bilodeau                                      14:32
• e45 abbott, Jennifer Abbott                                             15:13
• é60 boutet, Dr. Danielle Boutet                                   16 :03
• e49 windatt, Clayton Windatt                                           16:33
• e50 newton, Teika Newton                                               16:53
• e51 hiser, Dr. Krista Hiser                                                  17:30
• 07 kasisi, Robert Kasisi                                                   17:52
• e52 mahtani, Dr. Annie Mahtani                                      18 :23
• e53 kalmanovitch, Dr. Tanya Kalmanovitch                   18:49
• e68 davies, Andrew Davies                                               19:20
• é34 ramade, Bénédicte Ramade                                  19:47
•  e61sokoloski, Robin Sokoloski                                        20:12
• e46 badham, Dr Marnie Badham                                    20:39
• e43 haley, David Haley                                                      21:01
• é55 trépanier, France Trépanier                                  21:16
• e38 zenith, Shante’ Sojourn Zenith                                  21:37
• e30 maggs, David Maggs                                                 22:22
• e23 appadurai, Anjali Appadurai                                     22:56
• é48 danis, Daniel Danis                                                  22:14
• e21 dufresne, Dr. Todd Dufresne                                    24 :57
• e35 salas, Carmen Salas                                                    25:46
• e31 morrow, Charlie Morrow                                           26:27
• é57 roy, Annie Roy                                                           26:53
• e59 pearl,  Judi Pearl                                                          27:29
• e71 green sessions debrief, Emma Stenning                27:49
• e78 droumeva, Milena Droumeva                                   29:11
• 04 fel, Loic Fel                                                                    29:54
• 05 carruthers, Beth Carruthers                                         30:15
• e77 klein, Seth Klein                                                           30:45
• e15 chasansky, Matthew Chassansky                              31:15
• é55 trépanier, France Trépanier                                  32:00
• e71 green sessions debrief, Sandy Crawley                  32:22
• e11 dunlap, Eliana Dunlap                                                33;11
• e71 green sessions debrief, Liisa Repo-Martell            33:34
• e63 a case study (part 1), Clara Schryer                       34:11
• 09 macmahon, Ellen MacMahon                                     34:24
• e76 richards, Kim Richards                                                34:50
• e16 delaparra, Lauren De la Parra                                   35:28
• é37 lebeau, Anne-Catherine Lebeau                          36:07
• 14 kirn, Marda Kirn                                                             36:30
• e63 a case study (part 1), Clara Schryer, Riel Schryer 37:38
• e71 green sessions debrief, Robyn Stevan                    38:18
• e64 a case study (2), Clara Schyrer, Sabrina Mathews 38:50

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'We, the undersigned, declare that people, their cultures, and the natural and cultural heritage of the earth are profoundly at risk from human-caused climate change and the climate inaction that is deepening the unfolding climate crisis even while we reaffirm the immense power of arts, culture, and heritage to inspire climate action and enable a just transition to low carbon, climate resilient futures.'

Accelerating Climate Action through the Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage manifesto, 2021

My reading of the ‘Accelerating Climate Action through the Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage’ manifesto developed by the Climate Heritage Network to summarize key cultural messages for COP26 and activate the arts, culture and heritage sector. You can find more information on the origins and the co-authors of the manifesto at cultureatcop.com.

It’s Monday, November 8, 2021. I’m on a beach in Stanley Park, in Vancouver and this is an episode where I will read to you a manifesto. A very good one and a very timely one.

Here’s the story… I first met archeologist and museums champion Dr. Robert R. Janes through the Sectoral Arts Climate leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) where he spoke about some of his climate projects, including the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice. We’ve kept in touch. A few weeks ago, Bob sent me a link to a manifesto called ‘Accelerating Climate Action through the Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage’ developed by the Climate Heritage Network . I had not heard about it and maybe you have not as well. So I wanted to read it to you. 

I was deeply moved by the clarity and power of these words. 

So I asked for, and was granted, permission by the co-authors to record the manifesto for this podcast in both English and in the next episode 80, je vais le lire en francais. One of the reason for a recorded version of this manifesto is that you might be like me and tend to retain information more when I listen rather than when I read and so I wanted to share an audio version of this manifesto available to the listeners of this podcast during COP26. I will read out the manifesto’s introduction followed by the manifesto in its entirety. In keeping with how I have been doing the podcast this season this will be in one take with no editing so please forgive any mistakes.

You can find more information on the origins and the co-authors of the manifesto at cultureatcop.com. I would to thank Bob and the other co- authors of the manifesto for this gift and for this invigorating wake up call. 

Here is the introduction that you’ll find on the website.

‘This Manifesto provides key messages on culture and climate change aimed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) and beyond. It seeks to activate those involved in arts, culture, and heritage to take climate action through communication and engagement, inspiring and assisting their constituents, members and audiences to increase ambition; to change their own behaviours; and to engage with climate change policy development at local and national government and intergovernmental level.  Simultaneously, in order to meet the urgency of the climate emergency, it strives to inspire and encourage greater synergistic collaboration on climate action with other sectors and partners that have not traditionally engaged with cultural actors. We invite civil society, government at all levels, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, cultural organizations and institutions, businesses, universities and research organisations and other stakeholders to join us in signing on to this Manifesto, signalling our shared ambition to create just, thriving, and resilient communities today and into the future.’

Now here is the manifesto:

Accelerating Climate Action through the Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage

A Manifesto on Keeping 1.5° Alive

COP26

We, the undersigned, declare that people, their cultures, and the natural and cultural heritage of the earth are profoundly at risk from human-caused climate change and the climate inaction that is deepening the unfolding climate crisis even while we reaffirm the immense power of arts, culture, and heritage to inspire climate action and enable a just transition to low carbon, climate resilient futures.

Climate change is already impacting people and planet, with long-lasting and irreversible effects. Avoiding the worst of these requires limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Yet the world is failing to meet even the Paris Agreement’s 2 degrees temperature goal, with current Green House Gas (GHG) concentrations now the highest ever recorded.

The present COVID-19 pandemic, and the suffering it has caused, have made the response to climate change even more difficult while also revealing essential lessons, including the imperative of heeding science, the consequences of the separation between humans and nature, the importance of centering the needs of the most vulnerable, and the fact that rapid and far-reaching social and economic change is possible when society, working together, wills it.

Building back better, tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, and achieving sustainable development requires ambitious, transformative action at scale, including deep GHG emissions reductions in all sectors, a wide portfolio of mitigation and adaptation options and a significant upscaling of investments in those options.

Centering equity and justice should be at the heart of all actions so that widening economic and health disparities can be reversed. Culture and the arts reflect and influence consumption patterns, mediating our awareness of nature and the planet and our relationship to the environment.

Culture anchors people to places and to each other. It can create cohesion in ways that enable community-building and collective action. Artists and cultural voices drive public awareness and action; their work can be a powerful tool for climate mobilization. Through public accessibility and trust, cultural institutions like museums and libraries provide platforms for listening to communities and hubs of multicultural and inter-generational exchange, capacity building, and knowledge-sharing.

Integrating natural and cultural values highlights linkages between the ecological and social functions of landscapes in ways that promote lifestyles in harmony with nature. This historic environment embodies past carbon investments, now stewarded by the owners and users of landscapes and buildings. Cultural heritage holds peoples’ stories and the knowledge of local communities (what the Paris Agreement calls ‘endogenous technologies’). The archaeological record illustrates the causes of, and adaptation to, past changes.

Yet, the talents of many arts, culture and heritage actors, operators and advocates have still not been mobilised for climate action. They include artists, anthropologists, archaeologists, architects, landscape architects, administrators, archivists, crafts persons, conservators, curators, engineers, geographers, historians, librarians, musicians, museologists, writers, performers, urban planners, and site managers, as well as scientists, researchers, teachers, and scholars, and carriers of Indigenous knowledge, whose unique insights have not yet been adequately applied to climate change or accounted for in climate science.

We represent institutions and organizations committed to shifting this paradigm and unlocking the potential of arts, culture, and heritage to achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. We recognize this must include transformation within the culture sector too, embracing sustainable practices and stewardship; lifting up the voices of underserved communities and prioritizing solidarity with frontline communities, as well as preserving, recording and making culture and heritage available in inclusive ways, including through traditional and innovative artistic forms as well as new technologies.

This paradigm and mindset shift also require the cultural dimensions of climate action be prioritized in science, policy, planning and fiscal frameworks for climate mitigation and adaption, disaster risk reduction and in planning for losses and damages. The mainstreaming of cultural considerations must be done at all scales (local, regional, national and international) and across all sectors from energy to buildings, from mobility to agriculture.

We recognize the profound connection between cultural rights, cultural survival, and climate action. We also consider this Manifesto to be a contribution to human-centered, rights-based approaches that places culture as an explicit and operational dimension of development and provides cultural actors (civil society and institutional) a seat at the table required to make it happen.

It is time to act. 

We must close both the emissions and ambition gaps. To achieve a 1.5°Celsius world, more attention must be paid to the cultural dimensions of lifestyles and livelihoods, to the public understanding of climate impacts, the social acceptance of systems changes, to gender-responsive and diverse approaches, and to the wellsprings of climate ambition. In short, we must transcend the divides between culture and science, people and policy, memory and evolving practice.

COP26 must be a turning point for multi-level action to realize the potential of culture to effectively combat the climate crisis. It is our shared responsibility to secure the cultural inheritance and cultural rights of current and future generations; to safeguard a healthy, prosperous, and resilient planet; and to deliver the emissions reductions upon which these outcomes hinge. In all this work, count us in! Count culture in!

Me at Stanley Park beach, Vancouver, November 8, 2021

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'I think art needs to get on the street, because raising awareness in a gallery is really speaking to the choir. I'll leave raising awareness, because we both agree that the time for that has passed, but I think art needs to revert back to artisan and crafts, in the sense that imagination can lead to crafting things that we will actually need for survival. I think that - and again, this is my radical rant - I think that one of the reasons why we're seeing these unprecedented amounts of anxiety and even this new term 'climate anxiety' that we have, which is almost probably about to be defined as a kind of mental health condition, is because we are so profoundly disconnected from our own means of existence.'

Dr. Milena Droumeva, November 3, 2021, Vancouver

My conversation with acoustic ecology colleague Dr. Milena Droumeva on November 3, 2021 in Vancouver about multiple points of ‘listening’, thoughts about radicality, that imagination can lead to crafting things that we will actually need for survival and how to address profound disconnections.  Note: There is a slight flame rumble in the background but the voice is clear :-)  

Milena Droumeva is an Associate Professor and Glenfraser Endowed Professor in Sound Studies at Simon Fraser University specializing in mobile media, sound studies, gender, and sensory ethnography. They have worked extensively in educational research on game-based learning and computational literacy, formerly as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Research on Digital Learning at York University. Milena has a background in acoustic ecology and works across the fields of urban soundscape research, sonification for public engagement, as well as gender and sound in video games. Current research projects include sound ethnographies of the city (livable soundscapes), mobile curation, critical soundmapping, and sensory ethnography. Check out Milena's Story Map, "Soundscapes of Productivity" about coffee shop soundscapes as the office ambience of the creative economy freelance workers and the Livable Soundscapes project. 

Fireplace where we recorded this episode on November 3, 2021 in Vancouver

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'I think the same model (climate emergency coalitions) could and should be used by SCALE to have these arts and culture groups come together, identify a shared vision and a shared set of actions that together constitute a true climate emergency agenda for the arts and culture sector. That's step one and then agreement to jointly campaign all with your individual constituencies on that declaration on that list of actions so that if you are the federal minister of culture or provincial minister of culture, you keep hearing over and over again from all of these different groups that are part of your portfolio. This is what we want.'

Seth Klein, October 2021, Vancouver

My first conversation with seth klein was on april 16, 2021 (see e26 klein – rallying through art). This follow-up conversation on November 2, 2021 (again once again at Trout Lake Park, Vancouver) looks at what has happened with the Climate Emergency Unit since then and includes a suggestion on how the arts and culture sector can identify a shared vision and a shared set of actions that constitute a true climate emergency agenda and how to create a joint campaign. We also talked about radical listening, the 85th anniversary of the CBC (founded 2 november 1936) and life as a climate emergency worker. This episode includes an excerpt from e41 rae, from Jen Rae, in response to e26 klein.

While I chose the ‘identifying a shared vision and a set of actions’ as an excerpt to promote this episode I also want to quote this passage from later on in our conversation, which touched me deeply. Thanks for this and all the work you do, Seth. 

Claude
The theme of this season is radical listening. It's something I've been trying to do because I think radicality is necessary now, but also listening very carefully to the people around us and to knowledge that we might not have really understood in the past. I'm thinking about indigenous knowledge, but other types of knowledge. So that's, to me a bit of a contradiction, because if you're in an emergency mode, how can you slow down and listen? You can actually walk and talk at the same time. That's what we're doing right now. 

Seth
You're right to name the tension and I actually I speak to that tension in the chapter on Indigenous Leadership in the book (A Good War) : the tension between trying to move at the speed of trust, which is often not very speeding, particularly when doing coalition work, and yet feeling the panic and the urgency of this moment. I remember Khelsilem in the book, a local indigenous leader from Squamish nation. When I asked him about that tension, he just said, just start. You know, and it has to be okay to make mistakes.

Seth Klein is a public policy researcher and writer based in Vancouver who served for 22 years as the founding director of the British Columbia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Canada’s foremost social justice think tank. He is now a freelance policy consultant, speaker, researcher and writer, and author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency. Seth is also an adjunct professor with Simon Fraser University’s Urban Studies program and remains a research associate with the CCPA’s BC Office. For more information on Seth work, see https://www.sethklein.ca/ Note: there is a section on this web page about ‘Art and Music’ and http://www.climatechangetheatreaction.com/marcus-youssef-with-seth-klein that I recommend.

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'I wrote an article called Seeding a Green New Theatre in Canada that is drawing on a lot of principles of conversations happening around a green new deal in the United States and elsewhere, as well as other kinds of social justice movements happening on both sides of the border and thinking through what's the kind of theatre and what are the plays that already existed in Canadian theatre history and what are more of the kinds of stories that we need to be telling and sharing and how to think about the transition that we're facing socially from a justice perspective that really advances and brings forward the impact of the existing system by racialized communities, low income communities, the people who work within the energy or extractive development sector. There are a number of really quite remarkable pieces of work, many of which hadn't been produced a whole lot of times that addressed those issues.'

Dr. Kim Richards, Vancouver, November 1, 2021

e76 kim richards – seeding a green new theatre in canada is my conversation with Dr. Kim Richards about the role of theatre in the climate emergency. With excerpts from e44 bilodeau, e59 pearl and e36 fanconi. Dr. Richards is currently a post-doctoral fellow in public energy humanities at the University of Alberta and is building an open-access video archive of performance-based strategies to promote a just energy transition. Kim recently co-edited an issue of Canadian Theatre Review on “Extractivism and Performance” (April 2020). This conversation took place during a soundwalk around Trout Lake Park in Vancouver on Monday, November 1, 2021. Note: to access Dr. Richards’ writings contact her at: [email protected] and for information on her work see https://ualberta.academia.edu/KimberlySkyeRichards

Canadian Theatre Review on “Extractivism and Performance” (April 2020).

Excerpt:

I wrote an article called Seeding a Green New Theatre in Canada that is drawing on a lot of principles of conversations happening around a green new deal in the United States and elsewhere, as well as other kinds of social justice movements happening on both sides of the border and thinking through what's the kind of theatre and what are the plays that already existed in Canadian theatre history and what are more of the kinds of stories that we need to be telling and sharing and how to think about the transition that we're facing socially from a justice perspective that really advances and brings forward the impact of the existing system by racialized communities, low income communities, the people who work within the energy or extractive development sector. There are a number of really quite remarkable pieces of work, many of which hadn't been produced a whole lot of times that addressed those issues.

Tree in Trout Lake Park, Vancouver,. that we listened to while on our soundwalk

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026

• 'To me, radical listening is about stepping out of our comfort zone when we listen. Radical listening about thinking beyond what we think we know when we listen. Radical listening is about recognizing our biases, both conscious and unconscious. It’s about listening actively and sincerely. Ultimately, it’s about getting to the truth and facing reality.'

Claude Schryer, FKL’s Unheard Landscapes Symposium, October 29, 2021 

e75 radical listening as climate action is my presentation and Q&A period at the FKL’s Unheard Landscapes Symposiumon October 29, 2021 about ‘music as acoustic ecology’ and ‘radicality’ in the context of listening and the climate emergency, with excerpts from e54 mahtani, é55 trépanier and e22 westerkamp 

Script

Note: audio on podcast is slightly different due to improvised elements during the presentation. The question-and-answer period below was transcribed using TEMI and slightly edited for concision.

Good morning, Bonjour 

Welcome to radical listening as climate action.

It’s 7.35am here in Vancouver on Friday, October 29th, 2021. The sun is just rising here on the west coast of Turtle Island. I know you’ve already had a long day of presentations and deliberations where you all are in Blois, France so I’ll try and be brief in my presentation and get to questions as soon as possible. Je vais parler en anglais mais il me fera plaisir de répondre à vos questions en français aussi. 

But before I start my presentation, I want to let you know that I’m recording this talk as episode 75 of my conscient podcast, which is a podcast, sometimes in English, des fois en français, that explores art and the ecological crisis. The third season of this podcast is on the theme of radical listening, so I thought it would make sense to include this presentation as an episode. Please let me know if you do not want to be recorded when we get to the question period, ok? I understand that the Symposium is also doing a podcast of this presentation, which is great so there will be 2 versions, I’ll be publishing this recording later today. 

Let me begin by saying that I’m speaking to you from the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I would like to acknowledge these nations as the traditional keepers of these lands and reiterate my commitment to indigenous people as an ally. 

Some of you might know that I’m a composer by training and worked in acoustic ecology for most of the 1990s, with the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and other similar organizations - before joining the Canada Council for the Arts for 21 years. I retired from the Council in 2020 in order to focus my work on art and the climate emergency through my podcast and a new organization in Canada called SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency: which is an example of a collective action that the Symposium has suggested we undertake. I can talk about that more later if you wish. 

I was very pleased to see that the Unheard Landscapes Symposium is exploring climate emergency issues, such as changing soundscape of our endangered planet today and, importantly, future soundscapes and thefuture of listeningitself as the climate emergency deepens. And the crisis will unfortunately get much worse as emissions are currently actually rising worldwide in spite of efforts at COP26, which starts in a few days just north of you in Scotland. 

So big thanks and Graci to Stefano Zorzanello and the FKL Symposium on Soundscapes team for this timely event and for having me here today. I also want to thank you in the audience for taking the time to be here today – I wish I was there with you - and for sharing your thoughts today, and online afterwards if you wish. 

I’d want to start my presentation with a short story. Now I’m not a storyteller but I like the format as a way to bring information to life. 

I once upon a time, a composer gave a workshop called Reality, Extinction, Grief and Art at a festivalsomewhere in Europe. The audience was most professors, composers and music students from around the world. The theme of the festival was soundscapes during a pandemic. The composer talked about the issues that kept him up at night, including the deepening climate crisis, the real possibility of civilization collapse, the lack of understanding about ecological grieving and the role of arts and culture in all of this. Now the question-and-answer period was quite intense: one participant asked how to deal with the rise of fascism and war as the climate crisis worsened and resources become scarcer. This person had seen conflict before in her home country.  Another asked how can we address the debilitating sense of sadness that comes from environmental loss? Someone else kindly suggested that we should stop using printed programs for our concerts, which was recognized as a good idea but not nearly enough of a change. Finally, one participant proposed that from now that all music should be considered as acoustic ecology…the workshop leader said ‘now there’s a radical idea’: all music as acoustic ecology.

Now, this is, of course, a true story, though I did dramatize bits here and there for effect. It took place on April 23 of this year at the BEASTFeAST2021: Recalibration festival under the direction of Dr. Annie Mahtani at the University of Birmingham. I gave this workshop because I wanted to raise these issues in my peer community of electroacoustic and soundscape composers and am happy for this opportunity to continue the conversation today and at any time in the future. 

So, let’s dig a bit deeper into this idea of music as acoustic ecology. I realise that it is a provocative proposal. What did this person mean? 

I’ll remind you that acoustic ecology is defined as the ‘relationship, mediated through sound, between all living beings and their environment.’ The concept was developed right here in Vancouver at the World Soundscape Project by a composer, R. Murray Schafer and his colleagues at Simon Fraser University. One of their goals was to point out that the world was out of balance and that we needed to listen much more carefully to our environment and to respond to issues through deep listening and heightened environmental awareness. 

Music, on the other hand, is defined as the ‘art of arranging sounds in time through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre’. No mention of the environment here though it might be implied with the idea of timbre. 

So, in other words, acoustic ecology is about our relationship to our environment, through sound, whereas music is about organizing sound to make art. 

What’s the connection between these two? How can we consider music as acoustic ecology and why should we?

Here’s a theory.

What I think that person was saying is that music, in the context of the ecological crisis, needs to take place in relation with all living beings and their environments. In other words, music should not be separated from its context. It never should have. For example, if the world is on fire, music and all other art forms for that matter, need to emerge from, and engage with that reality in ways that we have not yet imagined (a form of unheard landscape).

I won’t get into stories about fiddling while Rome burns… but that’s another story.  

I’m curious to know what you think about this when we get to the questions period in a few minutes. 

Let me share my screen now. This is the conscient podcast website. 

I’d like to play you three excerpts from conversations I had in the second season of the conscient podcast, which was about reality and ecological grief. The first is with Dr. Annie Mahtani from episode 52 :

If we can find ways to encourage people to listen, that can help them to build a connection, even if it's to a small plot of land near them. By helping them to have a new relationship with that, which will then expand and help hopefully savour a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our natural world, and small steps like that, even if it's only a couple of people at a time, that could spread. I think that nobody, no one person, is going to be able to change the world, but that doesn't mean we should give up.

Annie’s point here is that everything is local and that listening, with our ears and hearts, is how we need to move forward, even if the future looks bleak. Annie reminds us that we should never give up on leaving a livable world for our children and their children. 

One of the questions raised by the organizers of this Symposium is about collective actions. What kind of collective actions can the soundscape community undertake about something as massive and amorphous - some might say invisible or unheard - as the climate crisis? For example, we could focus on mitigation – which is about raising awareness about imminent threats, many soundscape compositions try to do this – or maybe we put more energy into adaptation – about learning to live our damaged planet and how to listen even more carefully - or maybe we could priorise regeneration – which is about rebuilding and providing a vision for a sustainable future? These are admittedly complex and uncomfortable issues, in part because people do not feel empowered to address them, so most of us live in denial and with deep, repressed sadness, right? 

Let me tell you another short story. This one is also true.

During the fall of 2019, I was at a meeting about how the arts and cultural sector, and in particular the indigenous traditional knowledge community, could play a much larger role in the fight against climate change. We were sitting around a table – remember that this was pre-pandemic times - with each person sharing knowledge and stories. I spoke about how we need to walk our talk in order to be credible with environmental issues. Then, a representative from an indigenous cultural organization said that it would ‘likely take as long to resolve the ecological crisis as it did to create it’. I repeated what he said in my head: ‘take as long to resolve the ecological crisis as it did to create. How is this possible, I asked myself, so I said: ‘but, but we do not have that kind of time’. We all looked at each other in silence. 

(moment of silence) 

This is what I mean by ‘radical listening’. 

To me, radical listening is about stepping out of our comfort zone when we listen. Radical listening about thinking beyond what we think we know when we listen. Radical listening is about recognizing our biases, both conscious and unconscious. It’s about listening actively and sincerely. Ultimately, it’s about getting to the truth and facing reality.

(moment of silence) 

(Share screen) 

I’ll give you another example from season 2 of the conscient podcast. This is Indigenous artist France Trepanier who is a visual artist, curator and researcher of Kanien’kéha:ka and French ancestry. This is from episode 55 and it’s in French.

Je pense que ce cycle du colonialisme, et de ce que ça a apporté, on est en train d'arriver à la fin de ce cycle là aussi, et avec le recul, on va s'apercevoir que cela a été un tout petit instant dans un espace beaucoup plus vaste, et qu’on est en train de retourner à des connaissances très profondes. Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire de vivre ici sur cette planète? Ce que ça implique comme possibilité, mais comme responsabilité aussi de maintenir les relations harmonieuses? Moi, je dis que la solution à la crise climatique c'est cardiaque. Ça va passer par le cœur. On parle d'amour avec la planète. C'est ça, le travail.

What Trépanier is saying here is that she thinks that the 500 plus year cycle of colonialism on Turtle Island is coming to an end and that it’s everyone’s responsibility to maintain harmonious relationships in their respective communities. She is also saying that we need to fall back in love with our planet in order to save humanity. She said that this is the work that is ahead of us: c’est ca, le travail and I agree.

So, let’s think about this. How do we maintain harmonious relationships with all living beings as a soundscape community?

I’d like to conclude my presentation with a proposal. It’s from soundscape composer Hildegard Westerkamp, who lives here in Vancouver and is a living legend in the soundscape community. This is from conscient podcast episode 22, which was recorded in April of 2020 here in Vancouver. 

We need toallow for time to pass without any action, without any solutions and to just experience it. I think that a slowdown is an absolute… If there is any chance to survive, that kind of slowing down through listening and meditation and through not doing so much. I think there's some hope in that.

This, to me, is also an example of ‘radical listening as climate action’. 

I now invite comments or questions. I’ll remind you that I’m recording this presentation as episode 75 of the conscient podcast. 

Merci Stefano et chers collègues. Questions, comments? En anglais ou en français. 

Question and Answers

Stefano Zorzanello  

It's quite interesting to think about listening as an action. When we think about listening, we tend to think about a passive kind of action, which is receiving and not really changing anything. It's getting something from the world out there, but we know also from an ecological point of view that listening is an act of selection of messages that is active and not passive. It’s a way of taking away something away from too crowded world, which is full of things: full of noise, full of information, full of life. The act of taking something away and making room for other things or maybe nothing at all is in itself a kind of ecological action. I think we should be more careful about this. What do you think? 

Claude Schryer

I'll respond briefly because I'm interested in other thoughts or at least initial reactions, but Stefano, I agree that a lot of what we need to do is to stop the destruction and to take away things that are inhibiting natural processes. And the most obvious is ecological systems. For example, with trees, if we stopped cutting them and polluting their environment, they will flourish and they will bring back life: air and sounds. And so that's something that we don't think of as progress, right? We think of progress as building and new and better and bigger. And we have to find a positive way to get into a subtractive space so that we think of less as more and think of quiet, as an example, in the sound world, but there are so many ways that we could do things less and better for all life forms. 

That's why I played the example from France Trépanier (é55), who's a senior indigenous artist here in Canada who has a lot to say about indigenous non-indigenous relations and how difficult they have been from the very beginning in Canada because of what the Europeans essentially brought as an ideology. So, there's a conflict of ideology that needs to be resolved here and yet we have so little time to resolve it. That's why I told the story about that indigenous knowledge keeper who said that it's going to take a long time... So, we're facing unthinkable situations and we, as soundscape artists, one of the things we can do, is talk about our profession, because we're professional listeners, we're professional recorders, we're professional analysts of sound and that's why I liked so much the questions that you ask you and your colleagues ask in Unheard Landscapes. You're looking at unknown issues, things that we don't know about yet. I think those are the right questions to ask. 

Personally, I try to reduce my carbon footprint. I do what I can, but I'm producing podcasts and using energy. I'm aware that everything we do has a footprint at, but to be aware of it is already to start to change. So, listening to me, radical listening, is about listening with the intent of changing, not just the intent of saying, well, that was nice, but it's not going to affect me at all, or that was sort of fun. It's not entertainment. When you receive information, you take it seriously and it challenges your worldview. Then you not only think about it, but you receive it in your body and then you start changing your behavior. And even that's why I put the Annie Mahtani example. Even the smallest things like going into a garden and talking with somebody and planting a seed, those seeds will grow. And if we all do that, and I don't mean to lecture anybody here, I know people are aware about the seriousness of the environmental issues we face, but I do think that we need, as a community, to be much more in climate emergency mode. 

There's a group here in Canada called the Climate Emergency Unit. I think everybody on the planet in particular, those who have consumed more than their fair share, need to be in climate emergency mode and behave that way. And so, music as acoustic ecology, is an interesting idea, but really what we need is to be in climate emergency mode. Any other thoughts from people in the room? I'd be happy to hear.

Olivier Gaudin

I'm one of the organizers. I work here at this school, and I teach a history of landscapes. So basically, I was wondering about the way you use the adjective radical. Could you make possible connections between radical and indigenous people and whether that makes sense to you, because in France, there is still a discussion about radicality. It's also the way you connected it with emergency that is interesting. I wonder how you manage this possible connection between radicality and indigenous. And I interested in that and why. 

Claude Schryer

Well, there's lots of connections. The word radical can be used in different ways, but it basically means cutting through certain conventions and going to the most basic essential element. In Canada we have about 15,000 years of knowledge in indigenous communities. Colonization was about 500 of those. That's why France Trépanier was saying that the colonization period is starting to end. We use the term reconciliation in Canada, not unlike what happened in South Africa. We had our own a truth and reconciliation process a few years ago, which had some positive outcomes, but we're struggling with the deep, deep issues of how we can share this land because we, the non-indigenous people, have exploited it so much and have lost the trust of indigenous people through treaties that weren't respected. 

So, there's lots of that kind of talk now talk and action and our government's making, I think, an effort at addressing these issues, but it's not enough. And now the population is rising and starting to demand that of not just governments, but all institutions. So, there's a positive dynamic, or at least a forward motion in Canada around thinking about things in a totally different way in our relations with each other, with the land and the people with a a lot more listening going on with indigenous people, not necessarily dialogue, sometimes it's dialogue, but it's mostly listening. There's are so many interesting initiatives right now, in Canada, I'm thinking of the indigenous climate action network and so many others that are doing great work. So it's really a question of listening.

Olivier Gaudin

Thank you for this answer I am interested if to some people to know this attitude that you share with us today is perceived as a counterproductive, meaning that in France, you, if you present yourself radically, you will be told that you lose the majority of the population, you know, too much excitement. Do you manage to frame it differently in Canada? I would be interested to know that. And maybe you can enlighten us a little bit about the differences between Western Canada and Québec. 

Claude Schryer

I can't really speak on behalf radicals in Canada. There are some very politically radical people. I'm not really one of them. I consider myself a progressive, but what I'm talking about is radical listening, which is a process and, and hopefully it leads to radical actions. I use the radical in the sense that the status quo is unlivable. We are living far, far beyond our means. And so, you can't sot of piece meal or go incrementally. If people are uncomfortable with the word radical, you can think of other words, but I'm not talking about only radical political action. I'm talking about radical lifestyle change and of radical rethinking through listening. That's my own personal point of view. 

Canada is an oil and gas producing country, so we have tremendous challenges with the climate emergency, because a lot of our economy is based on gas and oil. So, we're struggling with that too. We have a new minister of environment and climate change right now. So, there's, there's that that debate is going on. Your other question about Western and Eastern Canada, or in Quebec in particular. There are definitely regional different regional approaches in Canada right now. I'm in Vancouver where there's the David Suzuki Foundation and the World Soundscape Project legacy, and lots of going on on the environmental front, but in Quebec you also have very strong environmental sensitivity. You have it across Canada, but in Quebec, you have street movements, like when the Fridays for Future movement happened in 2019, there were, you 400,000 or 500,000 people in the streets. There is a sense of mobilization and action that we're seeing in Canada and Quebec is very good and strong at that. 

You're also seeing it also in the arts community. There are all kinds of organizations now that are rethinking how they work, in part because of the COVID crisis, but also because of the climate emergency. I can't get into it too much because I don't think there'll be time, but I mentioned this group, SCALE as an example of a national initiative to bring us all together in Canada to talk about the role of arts and culture in the climate emergency and we're working with Julie's Bicycle and Creative Carbon Scotland and others who are doing similar kinds of work. And I know that there's initiatives in Europe and in France as well. 

I think that's what we need to do is get out of our little silos of my art form and my interests and think broadly together and create coalitions so that we can identify the things that we want to do together and do them, as your symposium has suggested, as collective actions, because individual actions, while important for the person, are not as effective as collective actions. 

It's easy to find my email [email protected] . I think it's an ongoing conversation. Thank you. I know you've had a long day, so I'm going to go have a shower and it's been a lot of fun. I think I appreciate your being there and let's keep in touch.

Unheard Landscapes group in Blois, France delivering 'radical listening as climate action' and me on October 29, 2021, Vancouver

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Note : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. 

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  

Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Thanks for listening. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 21, 2026