Julie’s Bicycle and partners programme COP27 events to show the important role culture plays in resilience, community and justice.
COP27 is underway in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, with world leaders coming together to negotiate a path forward for global climate action. This year’s COP will be critical to keeping the target of limiting heating to 1.5°C in reach. There is also a particular emphasis at COP27 on the theme of ‘loss and damage’ – with countries on the front line of climate impacts that have done little to cause them calling for wealthier nations to pay compensation for their historical emissions. The role of culture has an important part to play in these discussions.
Julie’s Bicycle, a pioneering non-profit mobilising the creative industries to take action on the climate crisis and a key member the Vision: 2025 Steering Group, has joined forces with leading cultural voices to put culture at the heart of COP27. Throughout the two weeks at COP, there are a number of events being held that highlight the creative climate movement. This is an important task given that culture is currently underrepresented at COP and needs to be recognised as a critical driver of change.
Julie’s Bicycle are co-leads of the Resilience Hub’s ‘Arts, Culture, Heritage and Antiquities’ theme at COP 27, alongside Culture Heritage Network (CHN) and International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI). As part of this, Julie’s Bicycle are supporting a number of events focused on the role of culture in the climate crisis. You can register for any of these events through the Resilience Hub here #CopResilienceHub
The first of these is an in-person assembly taking place on 11 November. This will highlight how culture-based strategies can transform climate planning, policy and action. It will draw on the worldviews held by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as well as artistic, heritage, creative, and imaginative tools the can support transformative reinterpretation of inherited mindsets. This event will put diverse cultural voices and leaders from every continent into dialogue with each other about how they can leverage each other’s strengths to deepen and expand the scale and scope of culture-based climate action.
Those following COP remotely can join a dynamic session entitled Mobilising Creativity: Showcasing the depth, range and potential of creative climate practices. Speakers include Julie’s Bicycle’s Alison Tickell and Farah Ahmed; Sheikh Ahmed Abu Rashid of the Bedouin Jebeleya tribe of St Katherine and Sinai Trail; architect Rosie Paul from Masons Ink Studio, India; Rosanna Lewis of the British Council, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, Director of Center for Climate and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University;alongside artists Love Ssega and Fanny Pierre-Galarneau.
The event will also include live readings from Letters to the Earth, a participatory creative campaign calling on people around the world to write and share a Letter in response to the planetary emergency.
At a second session, ‘Culture, Gender, and Resilience: Unlocking diverse knowledge systems’, Julie’s Bicycle’s CEO Alison Tickell will highlight the essential role of women and culture in driving gender-inclusive climate-resilient pathways for adaptation and mitigation.
Below are the full details of cultural events COP27 that were accessible remotely. Please find the recorded sessions on the Resilience Hub’s youtube channel HERE.
- Culture, Gender, and Resilience: Unlocking diverse knowledge systems 14th November, 1.30 – 3.30pm (GMT)
Watch the catch up recording on youtube here - Mobilising Creativity: Showcasing the depth, range and potential of creative climate practices 14th November, 4.30 – 6.00pm (GMT)
Other events that will be live-streamed as part of the Resilience Hub’s Art, Culture, Antiquities and Heritage theme include:
- Vulnerability Assessment Lessons from the Culture and Heritage Worlds in Africa, (15 November, 8:30-10:30am GMT)
- Culture and Biodiversity: Applying traditional knowledge and practices to support the 30×30 biodiversity target, (16 November, 10:30am-12:30pm GMT)
- Losing the Irreplaceable: Loss & Damage, Culture & Heritage, (17 November, 7-9am GMT)
This news originally appeared in our November 2022 Vision: 2025 newsletter. Sign up to receive monthly event sustainability news, case studies and guest blogs direct to your inbox.