Skye Climate Action: Future Tellers subgroup

Join us for an online meeting of the Skye Climate Action Future Tellers subgroup.

‘Plural Futures’ is a thread running through various ATLAS projects, organised by ATLAS Arts in collaboration with community groups around Skye and Lochalsh. This programme is about thinking of the many different kinds of possible futures we might make, and ways of relating to the world – with humans, animals and other critters – whilst building solidarity in this imagining.

The original aim of this event was to create a collective brief for the Plural Futures film project (see below). In light of the ongoing public health emergency with Covid-19, and with so much uncertainty and anxiety about the future, it feels important to keep this event open as a forum for discussing and sharing ideas beyond just this original outcome – to learn from what’s happening.

What tools do we need to think beyond the present and form new solidarities in the future?  We have seen through this crisis how fragile the systems of support are for many people. What do we want from the future, and who is this ‘we’? This is a simple workshop and discussion to explore some of these questions – and to find out what feels right at this time.

Please share with anyone you think wants to talk or listen. It might also be of interest to people who want to be creatively involved in the work of the Skye Climate Action group.

The workshop takes place online via Zoom, a platform for holding meetings with large groups over the internet. The event will take the following loose form:

• Email ainslie@atlasarts.org.uk to be sent a Zoom link for this event. You can then join online or by phone.
• Prior to the event – choose a book or text that is important to you, something that might help you think about the future. It could be anything – a sci-fi story, a poem, a novel, something academic, spiritual or non-fiction. Choose a short passage from that text you might want to share.
• If you’d rather just listen in, that’s fine.
• The conversation will be mediated by ATLAS Arts director, Ainslie Roddick. We can decide together how any future group could take shape.

Original event copy:

In January 2020, ATLAS was approached by Skye Climate Action, asking if we would help steer a community film project that would predict the future. The proposed film will imagine a future in which various communities in Skye, Lochalsh and elsewhere have come together to successfully respond to the challenges of ecological crises. The project works with the premise that if humans want to tackle the climate crisis, we have to first imagine together what that change might look like. 

How can we work positively, pleasurably and critically to embrace these challenges? How can we be in solidarity with those dealing with the effects of the climate crisis now?  Led by ATLAS, this future telling workshop is the first session of the SCA Future Tellers subgroup – as we work towards the co-production of this new community film. With film clips, texts and exercises we’ll start the process of scripting and creating the project together. 

Feeding in to the wider group – we’ll examine how we might think about food, transport, buildings, energy, the circular economy, climate literacy and our relationship to the world, differently.

If you are interested in hearing more about SCA’s work, have a story to tell about Skye’s past and present, a skill to share, or want to learn more about film making and future-telling, come along for a relaxed conversation and help us shape the production of the film.The main Skye Climate Action group meets every two-months, with splinter groups for various issues and locales meeting across the island in between.

This Event is related to the following Project: