Ways of Repair : Loss and Damage is an online artistic research residency, a series of public events, and a set of commissioned texts, aimed at facilitating a transdisciplinary exchange around the issue of loss and damage caused by the climate crisis. “Loss and damage” is a term that is used in two ways. Firstly, it is used as a technical term by climate scientists, researchers and policymakers to describe the devastation that is being caused by the climate crisis. When used in that way it is stylised with a lower case “l” and “d” (“loss and damage”). Whilst, when stylised with an uppercase “L” and “D” (“Loss and Damage”) it is used to describe the policies and plans that are implemented to address loss and damage, such as those that are negotiated at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Throughout the year-long research residency, the selected artists and/or curators are engaged with the issue of loss and damage and encouraged to spend time exploring and developing their artistic and/or curatorial practice in dialogue with other like-minded cultural practitioners as well as a global community of climate change researchers, policymakers, advocates, activists, and negotiators, working on Loss and Damage — the policies and plans developed to address loss and damage.

The S+T+ARTS4WaterII programme is a continuation of the successful implementation of its pilot predecessor S+T+ARTS4WaterI, initiated by the European Commission through the European S+T+ARTS initiative (Science, Technology, and Arts) and organized by Ars Electronica. S+T+ARTS4WaterII facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration, collective critical thinking, research, experimentation, and co-design led by artists through collaborative art residencies, international educational workshops, exhibitions, conferences, and networking activities that bring together artists, researchers, stakeholders, and ICT experts. These collaborations focus on addressing specific local or regional water challenges and envisioning future water management through creative, critical artistic works, novel digital solutions and public engagement.

ENCC has conducted research on transformative power of socio-cultural centres in close collaboration with their members. The aim of the research was to identify, develop, and amplify roles that align with and contribute to just sustainability transitions and are related to socio-cultural centres, which are uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in steering these transitions in a manner that is impactful and lasting. Socio-cultural centres serve as vibrant hubs where culture, community, and sustainability converge. They possess the potential to act as catalysts for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collective action, making them indispensable in addressing the multifaceted challenges confronting our global society. By employing collaborative action-led research involving socio-cultural centres across Europe, the organic emergence of these roles was co-created and facilitated aiming to provide actionable results.

In 2022, Creative Scotland published their Climate Emergency and Sustainability Plan which set out a programme of action for the agency to achieve the targets within the Climate Change Scotland Act. The implementation of the Plan amplifies the key role that culture and creativity already play in helping address the climate emergency, both in terms of the actions being taken and the ability for creative practice, in all its forms, to tell the story of the climate emergency, to influence and inspire others to take action. In 2024 Creative Scotland has published their first Annual Review of progress on the actions contained within the plan (2023/24), and also their organisational emissions (2022/23), Regularly Funded Organisations (RFO) emissions (2022/23) and examples of work they fund which deliver on their environmental sustainability funding criteria (2023/24). The report increases the visibility of the work the sector is undertaking as agents of transformational change but also delivers on one of the actions within the Plan to report progress annually.

The reports gathered here document the implementation of the Cultural Adaptations Project which brought together leading cultural organisations and their innovative local partners from Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and Sweden. There were two main strands of the project: the development of adaptation strategies as part of new business models for cultural SMEs; and the embedded artist projects which placed artists within adaptation projects run by climate or sustainability organisations. The strands were realised through ongoing collaborative working between a cultural organisation, a sustainability organisation and an embedded artist in each of the four cities across the project span; and transnational meetings. The aim of the meetings was to facilitate mutual learning and sharing of progress between the project partners (combining meeting-type sessions with site visits), as well as to engage other cultural SMEs and climate/sustainability organisations working in each city in thinking about the interface between culture and climate change adaptation through half-day workshops combining talks/lectures and discussion activities.

The toolkits gathered here were developed during the implementation of the Cultural Adaptations Project which brought together leading cultural organisations and their innovative local partners from Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and Sweden. The aim of the project was the development of adaptation strategies for cultural SMEs; and placing artists within adaptation projects run by climate or sustainability organisations. The strands were realised through ongoing collaborative working between a cultural organisation, a sustainability organisation and an embedded artist in each of the four cities across the project span. These toolkits are imagined to support both cultural organisations (Adapting Our Culture toolkit) and adaptation practitioners (Embedded Artist Projects for Adaptation toolkit).

The year-long project was a collaboration between Creative Carbon Scotland, Perth Theatre and Concert Hall and embedded artist Helen McCrorie and it addressed the environmental impact of audiences travelling to and from their venues, by using creative methods and working with a creative practitioner and participants drawn from Perth Theatre and Concert Hall’s audiences. The project was funded through Paths for All’s Smarter Choices Smarter Places fund. The project artist, Helen McCrorie, ran a series of creative activities at Perth Theatre and Concert Hall and in the towns and villages surrounding Perth, including designing a ‘dream bus ticket’, mapping, printmaking and filming a choir performance on the bus.

Cultural Adaptations was a 4-year project (2018 – 2021) which brought together leading cultural organisations and their innovative local partners from Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and Sweden. The project was co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union with match-funding from Scottish Government. ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) contributed to the dissemination work of the project outcomes and outputs. The aim of the project was to find creative, innovative and place-based responses to climate change impacts, equipping cultural organisations and cities with the knowledge and skills they need. In each country, action-research projects took place, exploring how cultural organisations in each specific city region can adapt to the local area’s expected climate change impacts, and how artists embedded in adaptation organisations and municipal governments can support and shape these efforts.

We Feed the World is a photography project capturing global food systems, coordinated by The Gaia Foundation. The focus of the project is bringing the attention to small-scale farmers and fishers all around the world who are using regenerative techniques to nurture biocultural diversity and raising the awareness of food systems which cultivate equality, justice and diversity. The project, launched in 2018, resulted with 300 portraits of regenerative farmers by renowned photographers whose work was showcased across 50 exhibitions. 55 million people got to see the agricultural workers who feed 70% of the world population using less than a quarter of its agricultural land, thus proving the myth that we need intensive, industrial farming to survive, wrong.

Cultural Deal for Europe campaign is call for European Union to place culture at the heart of its political vision and ambition for years to come. Launched in November 2020 by Culture Action Europe, the European Cultural Foundation and Europa Nostra, acting also on behalf of the European Heritage Alliance, the campaign asks for culture and cultural heritage to be duly included in the EU’s recovery and funding programmes, its sustainable development strategies, and its relations with the rest of the world. Thousands of organisations and individuals endorsed the Cultural Deal for Europe campaign alongside the support of 110 European networks. The unprecedented challenges and unforeseen circumstances Europe and the world are currently facing call for coordinated and bold actions, from decision-makers and civil society alike: locally, regionally, nationally, across Europe and beyond.

EcoArt is a grassroots charity based in Southwest Scotland connecting community, art and sustainability, whose work embraces the transformational power of art for social and environmental justice. This call is open for creative proposals from individuals, collaborative partnerships or other collectives. Proposals can be a complete project, co-funding, seed-funding, development funding, residencies, research or any combination of the aforementioned. They need to be interdisciplinary collaborations by artists, scientists, activists and/or people with different kinds of knowledge and centred around exploring new ways of engaging a broad public with environmental issues. EcoArt is also willing to assist in the development of ideas for projects, especially from young people, and in using its networks to help make contacts between people looking for creative collaborations. The proposed project must cover the area of Scotland and especially Dumfries and Galloway. Longer-term projects that require funds over a number of years are also preferable. EcoArt will support a number of creative projects that respond to a broad range of ecological issues, raising awareness and leading to action at a local, national or international level.

Cultural Vistas is a globally active, non-profit exchange organisation with offices in Berlin and Washington, D.C. The organisation develops and implements various programmes such as study trips, exchange, scholarships, residencies, as well as professional development and training programmes. The Climate Action Artists Residencies are focused on climate change and its impact and consequences on the countries of the Vulnerable 20 (V20), as their very existence is threatened, for example, by rising sea levels or an increase in extreme weather events. The Residencies provide a novel approach to address these complexities by transcending borders and translating scientific research results into artistic media. To this end, the Residencies establish new networks between Germany and the countries of the V20, giving a new voice to those affected most and artistically conveying the global interdependencies of the climate crisis.