Your narrative and culture change roundup! 📢
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Greetings newsletter-ers,
Spring feels to be truly springing here in London, which I am very grateful for! Lots of pieces in today’s newsletter exploring and celebrating our interconnection with nature too, so why not grab yourself a beverage and get outside to read this newsletter? Send me a pic of your fav nature spot to really make my day!
A big thank you to everyone who got in touch with ideas on how to revamp In Other Words. I shall continue to mull and you can expect some changes in the coming months :)
Until then, there's plenty to keep us busy...
Ruth x
p.s. Apologies for any typos in this edition - I am sending quickly and so haven't done a go-through like I normally do. Forgive me... or send me more hours in the day!
THE LINKS
Articles, reports & podcasts.
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"Planet Earth: Our home that we shall protect and love” - Posted on Instagram in celebration of Earth Day by artist, Tanja B. Artistry.
Culture, Deep Narratives and… Whac-A-Mole? I recently wrote a new piece for Reset Narratives reflecting on my journey to narrative change work and proposing two ways of working that I hope to see take root across the social and environmental change sectors in the future. Have a read and let me know what you think. Or, if you’re short on time, take a look at this twitter thread summary. [Medium]
Why Did We Stop Believing That People Can Change? A wonderful read by Rebecca Solnit on the possibility of transformation - people change all the time and there is much hope and humility to be found in that recognition! There's no 'them' and ‘us'. [New York Times]
To Change Narratives about Black Men, We Must Start with Black Boys In this article for NPQ, Trevor Smith advocates for the importance of championing narrative-power building work with young black boys as a means of creating new, transformative narratives for themselves and the wider world, decentering whiteness and directly confronting the anti-Black narratives so prevalent in many of our societies. [Non Profit Quarterly]
We Are Earth adrienne maree brown has written a beautiful piece for Atmos exploring the dominate narrative of human separation from nature and offering a number of emergent strategy principles to help us reshape our relationship with each other and our planetary home. [Atmos]
Reforest the Mind, Say Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders A powerful piece written by Felipe Viveros advocating for solidarity with Indigenous peoples who embody an alternative relationship with our living planet. [Dumbo Feather]
How Studio Ghibli films can help us rediscover the childlike wonder of our connection with nature A lovely little article exploring the pro-environmental narratives found in three of Studio Ghibli’s most well-known films, Nauicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke. [The Conversation]
Net zero, fairness and climate politics New research from the team at Climate Outreach seeking to understanding how people prioritise climate change compared to other issues; how they relate fairness to climate change policy; how they understand net zero; and how they think climate action may affect the UK’s place in the world. Check out the webinar video for an introduction to their findings, as well as the fantastic do’s and don’t in terms of communications. [Climate Outreach]
Story Activism Dan Burgess explores the narrative of separation that has come to define the dominant story found in the West and advocates for a renewal of a narrative of interconnection. I love his idea of story activism! [Becoming Crew Substack]
Culture and the Anthropocene The wonderful Culture Hack Labs team have released the first edition of their new journal, including a series of pieces about the cultural context of the Anthropocene. Can’t wait to dive in! Not one to be missed! [Culture Hack Labs]
Our favourite communications resources for social change Some excellent links to explore (including one to my narrative report!) to strengthen your comms game. Thanks Kathryn LeBlanc and team :) [LeBlanc & Co Communications]
Firstly, if you’re not signed up to ASO Communications newsletter, you should be. Secondly, here’s a link to their latest one, including a video called #SomeoneYouLove that advocates for the necessity of being able to access safe, legal abortion care. Thirdly, here’s a twitter thread from Anat Shenker-Osorio on lessons to be learnt from the Irish and Argentinian campaigns to legalise abortion. [Mailchimp]
Covid-19 and the yearning for a collective narrative A super interesting piece by Brett Davidson, where he advocates that a key role of leadership is to provide a narrative that reminds us of who we are and to provide hope in times of struggle and confusion - something that was lacking in the national response to COVID. [Story for Impact]
Migration in the Media On Road Media has released a new guide for media professionals on how best to tell authentic, interesting and powerful stories about people who’ve migrated to the UK. The advice has been curated by the Media Movers who are a group of young people with migrant backgrounds. [On Road Media]
‘Immigration with Destroy Us’ and Other Talking Points The folks at Define America have been delving into the nastier corners of YouTube to better understand the anti-immigration narrative and how it’s developing, in order for us to skill up and know how best to combat the spread of disinformation and hate. [Define America]
Solarpunk Girl, Phoebe Tickell on the Green Pill Podcast Check out this interview with Phoebe, founder of Moral Imaginations, exploring what imagination activism is and how it can open up the door for new, possible futures. [Youtube]
UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Things for the calendar.
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*Job Klaxon* Development Producer
The Abundance Team, a new production company, is on the lookout for a Development Producer to join their ranks and help them create powerful film and impact proposals.
Location: Bristol/remote
Hours: Full time
Contract: Initially 3 months
Salary: to be agreed
Application deadline: Wednesday 11 May
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*Job Klaxon* The Workshop are recruiting a Senior Narrative Advisor
If you’re a passionate researcher and communicator motivated by creating a better future for people and planet, this might be the role for you!
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Hours: 30 - 40 hours per week
Salary: $95k - $110k (NZ dollar)
Contract: Permanent
Application deadline: 9am NZST, Monday 16 May
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*Job Klaxon* Communications and Storytelling Lead
New Media Advocacy Project is on the look out for someone to join their team to lead their communications and strategic storytelling work.
Location: Remote/US based
Hours: full time
Salary: $65k+ (US dollar)
Application deadline: Friday 20 May
Online
£8 / £4 concession
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Do better work by telling intersectional stories - a workshop
Hosted by the Center for Public Interest Communications, this workshop will explore how telling intersectional stories can help build understanding about systems of oppression, whilst also centring voices of people who experience multiple layers of marginalisation.
Wednesday 1 June
4.30pm - 6pm BST
$159
Zoom
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What impact would you like entertainment content to have in 2022?
The OKRE Summit is a new annual event convening people from across the entertainment and charity sectors to advance cross-sector collaboration and champion entertainment content that makes a real difference in the world.
Wednesday 15 June
8.30am - 7.30pm
London
Tickets priced from £60 - £220
Words to Live By
Clever people saying clever things.
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