Close Of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action
Climate Emergency Roundtable: Culture as Cornerstone
3-6pm, 3 - 4 November 2021
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA), in partnership with University of the Arts London (UAL) presents a two-part online roundtable event in response to the COP26 Climate Summit. Guests from across the HEI and Cultural sectors as well as guests from other fields will discuss four topics, responding to questions and prompts submitted by members of the UAL and GSA communities.
DAY 1
Wednesday 3-6pm
Convened by James Purnell, President and Vice-Chancellor, UAL, Penny Macbeth, Director, GSA and Allan Atlee, Deputy Director, GSA.
1 - Learning with Urgency:
Curriculum Transformation in the Age of Emergency
Join our sprint to explore how educators and students can work together to embed climate and ecological justice within the curriculum and in everything we do. Using a relay-style format, we will pass the baton of ideas across panel members and audiences in our race to address social and planetary challenges.
Panel Members
Chair: Dr Nicky Ryan, Dean of Design, London College of Communication, UAL
David Cross, Reader in Fine Art, Chelsea, Camberwell and Wimbledon Colleges, UAL
Professor Becky Earley, UAL Chair of Sustainable Fashion Textile Design & Co-Director, Centre for Circular Design, UAL
Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Policy and Translation at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London / COP26 Universities Network
Maria Hansen, Executive Director, ELIA - The European League of Institutes of the Arts
Dr Gordon Hush - Head of Innovation School, GSA
Alejandro Martinez, Climate Advocate, London College of Communication, UAL
Professor Ramia Mazé, London College of Communication, UAL
2 - Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development
The second sitting will debate the contribution of the Arts to Culture as the fourth pillar of Sustainable Development and its relationship to pillars of economic viability, environmental protection and social equity. Through responding to the question, what has culture got to do with Climate Justice? Contributors will share ideas and experiences relating to creative education, advocacy, activism and citizen participation and roles of artists and designers.
Panel Members including:
Chair: Dilys Williams, Professor of Fashion Design for Sustainability / Director Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, UAL
Leonie Bell, Director, V&A Dundee
Naresh Ramchandani, Partner, Pentagram / Co-founder, Do The Green Thing
Professor Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins and Pro-Vice Chancellor, UAL
DAY 2
Thursday 3-6pm
Welcome from Professor Penny Macbeth, Director, GSA. Convened by Allan Atlee, Deputy Director, GSA and Professor Jeremy Till, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) UAL, Head of College, Central Saint Martins.
3 – We Need Each Other: Transdisciplinarity and Interdependence for Just and Ecocentric Futures
The third sitting will consider how combinations of creative practices and disciplines might offer forms of critical understanding and ways of engaging with the climate emergency. How do we produce, recover or accept knowledge appropriate to our situation?
Chair: Dr Gordon Hush- Head of Innovation School, GSA
Professor Tom Corby - Associate Dean, Research, Central Saint Martins, UAL & Co-founder and Principal Investigator, Manifest Data Lab
Janine Francois, Course Leader, Central Saint Martins & Governor, UAL
Dr Kate Goldsworthy, Co-Director, Centre for Circular Design, UAL
Professor Stuart Jeffrey, Professor of Digital Heritage at the School of Simulation and Visualisation, GSA; and Co-Director, One Ocean Hub
Helen Storey, Professor of Fashion & Science, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, UAL
Farhana Yamin -Lawyer, Author, Activist, Expert Adviser to Climate Vulnerable Forum & Visiting Professor, UAL
4- Closing Session
More than Words: From Strategies into Action
Facilitated by Deepa Patel, the final sitting will draw together speakers from all three previous sessions and help us move from discussion into tangible action.
This event is part of GSA’s series ‘Close of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action; and Carnival of Crisis: Mobilising Creative Action in the Age of Emergency, hosted by the UAL Climate Emergency Network
