Climate Story Lab
Climate Story Lab, US-South 2021
Curated by Doc Society and Exposure Labs, in partnership with the New Orleans Film Society and the Southeast Climate and Energy Network, a virtual Climate Story Lab US-South is taking place the week of April 26th, 2021.
Click to see Selected Projects
Climate Story Lab is a series of interventions designed by Exposure Labs and Doc Society with a laser focus determination to accelerate effective climate storytelling at the regional level. The first two iterations were held in New York in 2019 and London in 2020. Hoping to learn from past successes and failures in climate narratives, the Labs showcased selections of new storytelling projects that aimed to reach and engage diverse audiences.
The Southern region of the United States is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to the impacts of climate change. The South is also plagued by extractive storytelling practices and viewed through a very narrow lens perpetuated by mainstream media. Women, BIPOC, and low-income communities are often at the forefront of the climate emergency, yet rarely at the forefront of storytelling, both as makers and as protagonists. There is a critical opportunity to support sustainable infrastructure for Southerners to determine who the story is about, who is telling the story, how it’s being told, and how it gets shared.
Over one week in April, we will bring together regional creative storytellers with the climate community – scientists, economists, political strategists, faith leaders, cultural curators, journalists, grassroots organizers, and funders – for four days of radical collaboration. Together, this powerful group will:
- Grow thought and power-building partnerships between climate storytellers, climate organizers, and other stakeholders, that center and build the potential for climate impact
- Reimagine notions of success beyond the big festival circuit, the major institutional funders, etc
- Discuss and share solutions around how to disrupt and challenge power in the storytelling landscape by examining and reimagining extractive storytelling and funding models
Thank you!
This initiative is made possible by generous support from Kendeda Fund, our Leadership Circle, and WILD Foundation and organizational support from Far Star Action Fund and Perspective Fund.
