© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2024
From Harm to Harmony
Resources
Fostering Environmental Consciousness through Community-Engaged Art
Artists and organizations are encouraged to make use of these materials to gain the knowledge and skills required to facilitate community-engaged art projects that contribute to environmental and climate change advocacy. Browse our resource directory to learn about community engaged art, including how it can be used for climate education, empowerment, and community engagement.
You can browse our resource directory by resource type:
Books
Solarities explores the complexities of organizing societies and economies around solar energy while addressing the challenges of a fair and just transition away from fossil fuels. It envisions and advocates for energy justice in the midst of this transformative transition. Through the perspectives of various scholars, and activists it dives into the diverse relationships and orientations with the sun.
This book explores the transformative potential of research-creation in academia by incorporating feminist sciences studies, psychoanalytic theory, and her own experiences.
It is a captivating book depicting an intimate exploration of our connection with the natural world, urging us to embrace a harmonious existence with the earth. The author encourages us to live with the earth in profound ways and reimagine our relationship with trees and animals.
Winner of the green prize for sustainable literature. The author beautifully illustrates a remarkable story of how nature has laws and humans have responsibilities, and how cultures and laws are transforming to provide a powerful new approach to protecting the planet and the species with whom we share it.
The book explores positive and negative emotions towards the Earth, introducing concepts like solastalgia, biophilia, and topophilia. By creating a hopeful vocabulary, the book aims to inspire a shift from environmental desolation to rekindling our love for the planet and embracing the Symbiocene—an era based on symbiotic science and a profound change in thinking.
Papers
Field Scan: Arts and culture have always been a part of important movements for change, and environmental sustainability is no exception. Increasing numbers of artists and arts organizations are engaging with environmental issues, and a growing number of arts funders are thinking about and seeing this kind of work as both artistically valid and socially relevant.
This paper talks about traditional ecological knowledge which is increasingly being
sought by academics, agency scientists, and policymakers as
a potential source of ideas for emerging models of ecosystem
management, conservation biology, and ecological restoration.
Learn more about the Two-Eyed Seeing which is the Guiding Principle brought into the Integrative Science co-learning journey by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall in Fall 2004.
Websites
Thoughtful and thought provoking descriptions about the community-engaged arts for social change from their community partners and friends across Canada.
Books, report, articles and links to learn about the Art for Social Change (ASC) field.
This site is dedicated to helping performing arts presenters and artists to understand and create community engagement projects.
Its mission is to unleash the creative potential of young people while prioritizing engaging diverse populations, with the end goal of reaching youth who are marginalized and furthest from opportunity.
Through engaging, arts-based professional development activities, Instruments of Change leads innovative, collaborative processes which foster divergent thinking that you can bring to your work and your life.
Project’s research findings on building capacity for partnership.
No.9 is an arts organization that uses art and design to bring awareness to environmental concerns. They deliver programs in schools and in the public domain designed to encourage the use of creative thinking to resolve environmental issues and to promote a sustainable lifestyle.
A nonprofit arts organization founded out of MIT and based in Miami, FL whose mission is to educate and inspire people to build a more sustainable world together. They use art and storytelling to connect to people and shift perspectives. They partner with artists to create beautiful experiences.
Environmental Graphiti by artist Alisa Singer, uses art to dramatize the critical science of climate change. Divided into five galleries featuring digital paintings, each derived from a chart graph, map, word or number relating to key facts or data about climate change. The galleries are Why, How, Who, What, When and include key data and images inspired by them.
Government of P.E.I., Efficiency P.E.I.
Programs/Events
Artist, Sanjay Sundram, asked kids across Ottawa and India to paint climate change for their parents.
With the SolarButterfly, a 10 meters long butterfly-shaped trailer, they are traveling around the world with Solar Power.
The Rewilding Arts Prize showcases Canadian artists who are creating innovative art that communicates the importance of nature in our communities.
The video discusses about the changes that are needed to ensure that Nova Scotia Power is helping and not hindering the transition to renewable energy.
Effective activism takes ‘urgent patience,’ says head of N.S. environmental racism panel | CBC Radio Examples of environmental racism in the NS province.
Petro Cultures research group produces and supports research on the social, and cultural implications of oil and energy for individuals, communities, and societies.
Child’s Eye: Paintings offer a unique perspective on climate change
The article talks about how the term ‘Indigenous,’ in its current use, might be doing a disservice.
This article highlights 10 artists and art-based initiatives that are showing just how powerful art is as a tool to bring about a more inclusive, just, equitable and sustainable world.
Based in San Francisco, USA, this project combines the talents and expertise of world class scientists, composers, musicians, artists, and technology visionaries, and enable the creation and staging of science-guided music and visual experiences to inspire people to engage actively on the issue of climate change. During and after most performances, audiences also have the opportunity to engage with members of their science team, artists, and organizational partners about solutions to the climate crisis.
Julie’s Bicycle recording from Arts and Culture at the Heart of Climate Action, a November 2022 event exploring how the arts and culture sector can be at the heart of the climate conversation and transformative action.