Climate Beacons was launched in June 2021 and, one year on, we are taking the opportunity to look back at their successes and achievements.
About the Climate Beacons
Climate Beacons is a Scotland-wide collaborative project between climate change or environmental organisations and arts, heritage or cultural organisations to stimulate long-term public engagement in the lead-up to and following COP26.
Seven hubs known as ‘Climate Beacons’ can be found in these regions:
- Argyll
- Caithness & East Sutherland
- Fife
- Inverclyde
- Midlothian
- The Outer Hebrides
- Tayside
Bringing together shared resources and knowledge from cultural and climate organisations, the Climate Beacons provide a welcoming physical and virtual space for the public, artists and cultural sector professionals, environmental NGOs, scientists and policymakers to engage with environmental themes and climate action specific to each local area.
The project is led by Creative Carbon Scotland, connecting the seven Beacons and offering support throughout, alongside six co-ordinating partners, Architecture & Design Scotland, Creative Scotland, Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, Museums Galleries Scotland, Scottish Library and Information Council, and Sustainable Scotland Network.
What has been happening?
- The Argyll Beacon arranged trips with local school pupils into the local rainforest and worked with artists to create a film and sound collage creatively sharing the pupils’ perspectives and ideas
- The Caithness & East Sutherland Beacon released a film, ‘The Fifth Giant (or What Would You Do?)’ about their work with the Bare Project on the People’s Palace of Possibility
- The Fife Beacon is working on an artist residency at Silverburn Park as well as a tree planting project with Levenmouth Academy
- The Inverclyde Beacon worked with a local youth theatre group to research, write and perform a new play about climate change, which was performed at the Beacon Arts Centre and will soon be available as a film
- The Midlothian Beacon’s ‘Weathering Earth’ participatory sculpture project accrued over 1000 contributions and culminated in a closing celebration that also featured the screening of new films produced by students at Queen Margaret University and the unveiling of a new sculpture by Nicole Manley
- Làn Thìde (the Outer Hebrides Beacon) worked with the Met Office on a series of Storm Stories events gathering and sharing people’s experiences of extreme weather in the islands and contributing to plans for the islands to adapt to climate change. Artist Sandra Kennedy and scientist James Pope collaborated to turn climate data into a new piece of music.
- The Tayside Beacon ran a series of events across Tayside combining showcases for local groups with the results of creative commissions that were created through collaborations between artists and scientists
You can find out more about what has been going on by visiting www.climatebeacons.com.