To create a spectacular outdoor circus & theatre show that addresses climate change for a young audience in a meaningful and positive way.
Extra funding will allow us to:
- Commission Hannah Lavery to write the script for the show, inspired by the children's positive imaginings;
- take our climate change workshops to more communities in areas of multiple deprivation in Scotland.
We are Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education CIC and we are raising £10,000 towards the development of an original outdoor circus & theatre show that will engage children with the issue of climate change and how it is linked to our connection with the natural world. We want to gather their visions, hopes and dreams for their future in the face of the climate emergency and use what we discover to inform the creation of our show. By sharing these children’s voices with the wider community we will demonstrate our collective responsibility to ensure a positive future for all children.
"No one will protect what they don't care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced." David Attenborough
This is the year we must address climate change! Scotland is hosting COP26, the most important meeting on climate change since the Paris Agreement in 2015. We need to create a better post-COVID world for every child. We cannot return to the way things were. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, ‘normal’ was never good enough to begin with. Climate breakdown is endangering children and threatening their futures. Positive Imaginings is an opportunity to re-imagine a better future, giving children a sense of agency and hope.
Climate justice is at the heart of this project. Reaching people most affected by climate change and/or who encounter barriers to participation in tackling climate change is one of our main aims. Positive Imaginings will put these children’s voices at the very centre of the story.
Positive Imaginings will be co-created by professional theatre makers, environmental educators and children from areas of multiple social deprivation.
Lucy & Arran created Rowanbank to combine in-depth scientific knowledge with high quality performing arts to bring people together to experience, enjoy and learn about their natural environment. They engage children in an imaginative and inclusive way, building a community of creative environmentalists and young leaders determined to tackle the climate crisis.
We are very excited to have some amazing collaborators:
Hannah Lavery (www.hannahlavery.com), is an award winning poet & playwright. The Drift, her autobiographical play, was part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s season 2019 and Scotland’s Black History Month. Her recent play, The Lament for Sheku Bayoh, commissioned by the Royal Lyceum Theatre, was part of the Edinburgh International Festival 2019.
Rachael MacIntyre is a children's theatre maker. She has incredible enthusiasm and talent for nurturing creativity through performance, as well as a strong interest in politically engaged art. From her multi-disciplinary background come performances, workshops, and installations that captivate and inspire (www.jabutitheatre.com).
Jemima Thewes is a musician, puppeteer and actor (www.jemimathewes.co.uk). Jemima captivates audiences with her spell binding performances, and adds her creative magic and laughter to every project she works on. She has been working with Rowanbank for 10 years.
Felipe Bustos Sierra (Debasers Filums) is an award winning film director and producer. His debut feature-length documentary, Nae Pasaran (2018), won the Best Feature award at the 2018 British Academy Scotland Awards, where he was also nominated for Best Director.
Dr Elizabeth Vander Meer has a PhD in Environmental Policy and Ethics, specialising in biodiversity conservation. She is Research and Policy Manager (Climate Change and Biodiversity) for the University of Edinburgh Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability.
A very special thank you to Daniel Dumnov and Orkestra del Sol for the soundtrack to our film.
Rowanbank’s extensive work on climate change communication means that we are experienced in helping people concentrate on the positives, focusing on the potential for recovery and renewal, and providing accessible and creative environmental education.
● We will facilitate a 6-week series of play-based woodland workshops, with carefully written fireside stories to inform & inspire in equal measure. This process aims to give children the space and time to engage their imaginations, experience the childhood joy and healing that comes with creative play outdoors in a safe and supported environment.
● During the workshops we will collect the children’s visions of a positive future in the face of climate change, to inspire the development of the final show, and to be used to help adults rethink their perceptions of what a more sustainable future could look like.
● The final circus & theatre show will be performed in primary school playgrounds and local greenspaces in central Scotland in Autumn 2021, as Glasgow hosts COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
● We hope to tour the show throughout Scotland in 2022, and beyond after that!
● The project methodology and outcomes will be shared with artists and educators, providing an inspirational tool for others to use with the communities they work with.
● This innovative approach to climate education will enhance children’s health & wellbeing, connecting them with nature and their local environment, building self-esteem, creativity, resilience and understanding of key environmental issues, sparking environmental action.
● An illustrated children’s book will be made of the fireside stories we created for the workshops to communicate key climate change messages in an age-appropriate way.
● A film of Positive Imaginings will be distributed online allowing an even wider reach for the project.
Our project is part of the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch - we are 1 of 20 shortlisted creative projects in Scotland that have the opportunity to win a share of £75,000 in match funding, up to £10,000 per project! AND it’s a race against time, as this is a competition! The quicker we reach our targets, the more likely it is we win!
We have some fantastic rewards on offer when you donate, including an outdoor trapeze workshop and prints of our original illustrations & stories!
Our Crowdfunder will kickstart the Positive Imaginings Project, enabling us to employ Hannah Lavery to write the children's stories & script and pay for Rowanbank to develop & deliver the outdoor workshops and collect positive imaginings!
Climate change affects everyone, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. The impacts of climate change are frightening and together we are facing the biggest challenge of our time. Circus & Theatre can be very effective tools for environmental education, engaging emotions and expanding the imagination to create hope and inspire action.
Rowanbank re-imagines places to become stages and re-imagines the way that Theatre & Circus is created and delivered in order to make our performances accessible to people that have limited access to the arts & green space. This project is inspired by ideas taken from climate psychology about how we can most effectively act on environmental issues and help address young people’s climate anxiety. Working creatively with children to address the combined mental health impacts of the climate crisis and COVID 19, we will support children to understand climate change in ways that are relevant for them, leaving them feeling empowered and listened to.
“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” Amanda Gorman
This project offers rewards in return for your donation.