Episode 25 - Will Skeaping - Extinction Rebellion -Ecological breakdown, Creative Courage, Climate strikes and Rebelling for life

This episode is a two for one bargain. The theme is the climate and ecological crisis and the enormous creative response needed from humanity at this moment in time.

Kicks off with a ramble from me, some personal reflections into the sadness of the climate and ecological crisis and my journeying to deeper understanding through the last decade. To 2019 and the energy and urgency of the school climate strikers, collaborating with them through my Good for Nothing project, the call for adults to step up to the climate and ecological emergency from our kids. Designing creative interventions and experiments to nudge collective action and waking up the talent and potential of creative professionals to respond to this crisis. This is followed by a conversation with Will Skeaping from Extinction Rebellion (XR). Will talks about his journey into XR, the missions he’s currently involved in, the response from the Advertising industry so far to XR interventions and plans for the October rebellion, the global climate strikes on the 20th/27th September and and why everyone is needed. This is an open honest conversation, we cover grief, anxiety, despair, uncertainty, the global economic system that we’re all implicated in, the role of advertising, consumerism and materials economy at the root of the crisis, the need for creative visioning of a more beautiful world and how the responses we must find as a civilisation, will have to come from the most creative places, minds and radical collaborations. We riff on creative activism and participation culture. Some thoughts on what next and how to get involved in a load of great projects and collectives that are fast emerging from the crisis now the space has been created. I finish with musings on how Joanna Macey’s 'Great Turning' work might help with more intentional mobilisation within this industry and share the warning from the UN’s leading Biodiversity expert from just days ago that a complete redesign of our consumption and production culture globally is urgently needed if we are to protect a life sustaining earth for our future generations. Can the creative sectors lead the shift to a more beautiful world? It needs all of us. Enjoy.

Please rate and review the show if you like it.

Drop me a line > dan@thespaceship.earth / @dansolo

Show Notes:

Dan’s stuff

https://medium.com/@dansolo/climate-breakdown-exceptional-circumstances-and-pissing-on-the-childrens-fire-39ca048d6a6d

https://medium.com/@dansolo/fridays-for-future-for-everyone-48d9152de17d

Youth climate Strikes

https://ukscn.org/

https://globalclimatestrike.net/

https://www.goodfornothing.com/

https://weglimpse.co/

Ad/Creative industry climate crisis interventions and initiatives