Climate Storyteller Fellowship
The fight for climate justice needs creators.
Are you an artist, storyteller or content creator?
Do you live in Ottawa?
Are you part of a community that’s not had a ton of space within the climate discourse? (i.e., BIPOC)
Do you want your art to be a part of fighting the climate emergency?
Would you like to receive funding to experiment with a new media project around climate and equity?
We’re looking for 3 Ottawa based content creators to make art about climate change. If selected, we will give you $7,500, a guided 3-week intensive training in climate communications, and team you up with communication experts from Ottawa-based environmental and social justice NGOs.
We want to challenge you to create boundary-pushing content about climate and inclusion.
Why are we doing this?
Climate change is humanity’s greatest threat. Yet the discourse about the transition to a low-carbon future has been dominated by white, middle and upper class, educated homeowners who speak English or French as their first language. Of course many of the most effective and influential climate leaders, innovators, activists and organizers are from diverse backgrounds, but despite these important examples, it is essential that the climate movement becomes more diverse as we seek to design low-carbon futures that also advance equity and justice.
Storytelling is essential to creating a broad coalition that influences change, and that’s where you come in.
How does this work?
If you are selected, you will be part of a 9 person cohort made up of 3 creators (i.e. you), and 6 communications experts from environmental and social justice organizations. Each creator will form a team with 2 NGOs.
Over the course of 3 workshops, from September until November, all three teams will receive a crash course on communications theory and climate and work together to generate “sticky” climate messages. Then you’ll split off with your team of three and get to work making stuff! You’ll work on your medium of choice, and be given the creative license to experiment wildly. No client here to satisfy or reign you in. Do something bold.
In the final session, all three teams will review the experiments and together select a favourite. The winner will be given additional resources to be further developed and distributed as a campaign.
This work will take place over 4 months (Sept to December). The sessions will take about 10 hours of time, so we’re expecting your content development to be a minimum 150 hours kind of effort.
You’ll be granted a $7,500 stipend for your involvement and creations.
Our ideal candidate looks something like this:
You make really fresh content
You are actively building your audience. You could be a journalist, filmmaker, visual artist, TikToker, music producer, playwright, poet or chef. You could have 1500 followers or 1.5 million. If you’re making innovative content and if you’re actively growing your audience, you’re a fit for this.
You’re motivated to work on climate
You may already be a climate activist, or you may not. But you’re passionate about climate and have been looking for a way to get involved in the issue.
You’re creative and hungry AF
This is a sweet opportunity to make things without needing to satisfy a client or fit it into a narrow constraint of deliverables. “Hell yeah, a chance to throw myself at this issue.”
Are you selling something? Advocating for something? Where did the money come from?
This program is funded in part by the Government of Canada, and designed to get social justice and climate groups to work together with content creators from diverse backgrounds who have traditionally not been part of the climate discourse. The only objective is to make engaging content and learn about how these groups should work together.
Think of this like the mix between a masterclass and an arts council grant. There is no "client", instead, there is a short curriculum to give you new skills and insights from leading climate and equity activists, community organizers and other content creators. Together you will learn about the issue, and be set loose to experiment, create and make content intended to engage your community in the climate conversation.
Sound good? Well then apply with the form below and tell us a little about yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at lu@adjacentpossibilities.org
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
