Resources

Musicians working with music and climate change:

• Benjamin Tassie and Sam Underwood make water-powered instruments (Michelle saw them present at a ‘Music Since 1900’ conference in 2022 on ‘A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time’: Water-Powered Historical Instruments as Ecological Intervention’): A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time (2023) — Benjamin Tassie
• Liza Lim’s work draws upon ecological themes extensively (including ‘Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus’, 2018, during which the orchestra is submerged by an enormous plastic sheet)
• Sarah Nicolls and Hannah Shilvock have ongoing projects responding to this theme
• John Psathas wrote ‘Voices at the End’ (inspired by the film Planetary) for piano ensemble (which RNCM are performing on 5^th October 2023): Voices at the End | John Psathas (bandcamp.com)
• Graham Fitkin’s work ‘Bla Bla Bla’ was performed at the RNCM in Oct 2022. He is also giving talks on climate change.
• University of Manchester composers Richard Whalley and Kevin Malone have written pieces connected to climate change
• Dr Alice Eldridge is working with ecoacoustics and recently launched ‘wilding radio’ on BBC Radio 4 Today Programme.

Books and journal articles:

• Capstick, S., Nash, N., Whitmarsh, L., Poortinga, W., Haggar, P., & Brügger, A. (2022). The connection between subjective wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour: Individual and cross-national characteristics in a seven-country study. Environmental science & policy, 133, 63-73.
• Prior, H. M. (2022). How Can Music Help Us to Address the Climate Crisis?. Music & Science, 5, 20592043221075725. How Can Music Help Us to Address the Climate Crisis? (sagepub.com) [this has become a key piece of research. Helen is keen to collaborate with us at the RNCM]
• Reid, A., & Petocz, P. (2021). Educating Musicians for Sustainability. Routledge. [one of the editors is part of the RNCM International Benchmarking Group leadership team]
• Rutherford-Johnson, T. (2017). Music after the Fall (1st ed.). University of California Press.
• Steg, L. E., Van Den Berg, A. E., & De Groot, J. I. (2013). Environmental psychology: An introduction. BPS Blackwell. [we now have this in the RNCM library]
• Tsing, A. L., Bubandt, N., Gan, E., & Swanson, H. A. (Eds.). (2017). Arts of living on a damaged planet: Ghosts and monsters of the Anthropocene. U of Minnesota Press.
• Wright, M. P. (2022). Listening After Nature: Field Recording, Ecology, Critical Practice. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

Organisations working in the field of art and climate change

• Arts Council England resources Investment Principles Resources | Arts Council England
• Land Bodies Ecologies research network (‘LBE is a research network of artists, researchers, designers, conservationists, technologists and activists from fields including psychology, arts, ecology, sociology, medicine and human rights. LBE seeks to understand lived experiences of land trauma among marginalised communities’): Land Body Ecologies Festival | Wellcome Collection
• Art, Climate, Transition (ACT, ‘a European cooperation project on ecology, climate change and social transition’): ACT – Art, Climate, Transition – Artsadmin
• Roots and Branches (‘a collaboration between The Carbon Literacy Project, Museum Development England and Manchester Museum, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It aims to train and certify 1,500 people from 300 museums as Carbon Literate over the next two years and give an opportunity for museums to converse, experiment, and test new ideas for a more sustainable future’): Roots and Branches – Museum Development Network (mduk.org.uk)
• GMAST is a Greater Manchester collaboration between various institutions committed to reducing their impact on the climate (‘Manchester Arts Sustainability Team was established in 2011 as a network of arts and cultural organisations who came together to understand how they could contribute to the delivery of our city’s first Climate Change Strategy’): https://www.g-mast.org/our-network
• Julie’s Bicycles – delivers learning programmes, tools and resources, and leadership initiatives, which respond to the demands of the climate crisis.
• Earthrise Studio https://www.earthrise.studio/ – An impact drive media company for people and planet. They get involved in a lot of big climate campaigns and recently hosted a climate panel at the Southbank Centre. Their videos are varied, easy to digest and really well made.
• Climate in Colour https://climateincolour.com/about – An education platform with a monthly subscription service (or lots of other free resources) run by Cambridge University PhD student Jocelyn Longdon. She explores how technology can help repair climate damage and how climate change and racism overlap.
• Slow Food Slow Food International – Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.

People working on art and climate change:

• Paul Stamets (describes himself on Twitter as ‘Mycologist, Author, Inventor, Teacher, Earthling’) making music from mushrooms: twitter.com/0TxVSmentZ
• Tori Tsui About | Tori Tsui – Tori Tsui is a Bristol-based climate activist, speaker and consultant from Hong Kong. She is the co-founder of the space Bad Activist Collective and a member of the climate coalition Unite For Climate Action. Her work centres around climate justice, making sure that climate policy, action and organising is intersectional, inclusive and transformative. Alongside organising, she is an advisory board member of the Earth Percent group, Climate Resilience Project and a strategist with Hero Circle.
• Nemonte Nenquimo: The forest is our teacher. It’s time to respect it | TED Talk

Online materials discussing art and climate change:

• Guardian article on ‘The arts have a leading role to play in tackling climate change’ (2018): The arts have a leading role to play in tackling climate change | Nicholas Serota | The Guardian
• World Environment Day tips on how to beat plastic pollution: Get Solutions (worldenvironmentday.global)
• Scottish Classical Music Green Guide 2021: SCSGG-2021-FINAL.pdf (creativecarbonscotland.com)
• Eat the Seasons http://eattheseasons.co.uk/ – Straightforward UK-based information on what food is in season in the UK every week to help encourage eating local produce and increasing an awareness of where our food comes from.
• The National Food Strategy 2021 https://www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1669_NFS_The_Plan_July21_S11.pdf
• Sage Gateshead website on ‘Our journey net zero’
• Nasa’s ‘Climate Time Machine’: “a series of visualizations shows how some of Earth’s key climate indicators are changing over time”: Climate Time Machine (nasa.gov)
• Aeolian Sound Map: https://www.aeoliansoundmap.co.uk/
• NASA visualisation of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere: NASA SVS | Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Tagged by Source.
• Gallery Climate Coalition resources (including a Decarbonisation Action Plan), based on people working in visual arts and environment sectors: Best Practice Guidelines | Gallery Climate Coalition
• A report on an Arts Council funded project on ‘Transitioning to Sustainable Production across the UK Theatre Sector’: Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre | Transitioning to… (pec.ac.uk)
• Ecolibrium Green Travel and Transport Guide for Festivals and Events: The ecolibrium Green Travel & Transport Guide for Festivals and Events: 2023 – Ecolibrium [you have to enter your details and they send you the guide]

Instagram accounts on climate change:

@climateincolour – climate, justice, conservation, and climate technologies.

@chicksforclimate – feminism and environmentalism coming together.

@climate.psychology.alliance – facing the truths about climate change.

@earthrisestudio – stories to transform, climate people and culture.