Can events and culture be responsible?
When you consider the environmental impact that an event can have from conception to completion, it may seem difficult to believe in sustainable events. We must consider the design of the event (eco-design, materials used, messages conveyed), its installation (transport, energy requirements, venue), its dissemination (information communicated, means of transport for visitors), and its end-of-life. There are many parameters involved.
However, culture can be at the service of the ecological emergency. And some cultural events aim to be responsible, both in their production and their message, to be useful. The event can act as a showcase for an environmental awareness or scientific mediation project. The use of interactive and playful processes can raise awareness without frightening people. On the other hand, shocking images or scenes can also raise alarm about these issues. Music, dance, song, and photography can also convey emotion, which is one of the reasons why they are used to raise awareness of issues such as climate change.
Events and culture can therefore be used to raise public awareness of environmental issues. And the organization of a cultural event can also be thought through responsibly if we anticipate and surround ourselves with committed partners.
We want to highlight 5 committed cultural events that have take place in Ottawa.
1/ Eco-responsible futures: music, theatre, and discussion
Eco-Futures took place in two stages. On 28 March 2023, in Ottawa, the Canadian New Music Network (CNMN) welcomed Tanya Kalmanovitch, composer, ethnomusicologist, and climate activist, to present her documentary play “The Tar Sands Songbook”. The play explores the complexities of life, culture, and the oil economy in Tanya’s hometown of Fort McMurray. Through text, ethnographic video, and music, she questions our relationship with oil.
On the following day, 29 March 2023, the CNMN brought together Ottawa’s diverse music community to discuss topics linking culture, music, and ecology. The aim was to discuss questions of eco-responsibility such as: How can we, as individuals and as a community, deal with and move through the difficult emotions that transformation and sustainability can evoke: from (eco)grief, complacency, and complicity to depression and isolation?
These two events, with their eco-responsible dimension, brought together the worlds of culture and music to raise the associated environmental issues. These are two formats – theatre and debate – that can generate emotions, discussions, and awareness on subjects where we may be novices. And it’s through art that we can raise awareness of the issues tackled.
For these two eco-responsible events, the RCMN has joined forces with Carleton University’s Centre for Research in Music, Sound and Society.
Further information: https://www.reseaumusiquesnouvelles.ca/avenirs-eco-responsables-ottawa/
2/ Eco-gala: an annual event to bring together committed Ottawa figures
Organized every year by Ecology Ottawa, the Eco-gala is an evening event that brings together people in the capital who are committed to climate action and the protection of nature and biodiversity.
For the occasion, Ecology Ottawa welcomes one or two people known or recognized for their commitment to take on the role of speaker. It’s also an evening where professionals and those passionate about environmental issues can meet to network and develop new projects.
The gala is made up of lectures, music, professional meetings, and culinary discoveries.
The last edition took place on 4 November 2023. See you in 2024 for the next Eco-gala!
Further information: https://www.ecologyottawa.ca/ecogala2023
3/ Climate Change is Here: a moving digital exhibition
This exhibition, created by National Geographic and the Canadian Museum of Science and Innovation, illustrates several National Geographic photographs warning of the consequences of climate change. National Geographic’s incredible photographs are also used to highlight Canadian initiatives in the fight against climate change. This digital exhibition combines art and warning to raise awareness and illustrate the actions being taken at the national level.
The exhibition consists of 20 panels that can be presented digitally or printed by the venues.
Several sessions of the exhibition were held between 2016 and 2023, mostly in Canada.
Once again, we see that photography is a lever for bringing reality face to face with a wider subject, and the emotions that these photographs can convey play a role in raising awareness among the public.
Further information: https://ingeniumcanada.org/scitech/exhibitions/climate-change-is-here
4/ OSR exhibition: responsible initiatives from Alliances Françaises around the world
OSR (Organisational Social Responsibility) is defined as “the contribution of organizations to the challenges of sustainable development”. In other words, it’s the integration of today’s social and environmental concerns into all the organization’s activities. Whether it’s in the creation of its products, the organization of its workspaces, its commercial practices, its regulations, or even the organization’s method of governance.
The Alliances Françaises network is made up of non-profit associations and organizations that play an educational role via the language center, and a social role via the cultural center. The Alliance Française Ottawa is one of them.
In 2022, Alliances Sonores (a Latin American/Caribbean regional initiative working on issues of eco-responsible culture) carried out a CSR action research project with a dozen pilot Alliances Françaises (in the region and France). For the 140th anniversary of the Alliance Française, in July 2023, the Alliance Française Ottawa has invested in the creation of an exhibition presenting projects that contribute to the integration of the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Alliances Françaises around the world.
The Alliance Française Ottawa is, therefore, the first Alliance Française to host this exhibition on its premises (not counting the 140th anniversary event organised in July 2023 in Paris).
The RSO exhibition will be on display in the Alliance Française Ottawa gallery from November 1st to November 30, 2023.
The exhibition is made up of 42 cubes, each representing a project, plus 3 signage cubes. On each project cube, we find:
- The location of the project
- One or more photos of the project
- A description of the project
- One or more CSR pillars to which it refers
- A question related to CSR (for example: Can culture be responsible? Can the CSR argument be used as a customer argument? Does CSR give meaning to action?)
- A graphic piece to create a general visual with the 42 cubes whose message is “Commitment is our nature”
This exhibition is intended to be interactive; the cubes are available for the public to read. It is also intended to be educational; our teachers can use it with their pupils to discover places, words, and colors and even create a debate based on the questions. And finally, it has an educational and instructive dimension thanks to the actions put in place, which can inspire every structure.
The Alliances Françaises network has used art to inform, raise awareness, and mobilize people around socio-environmental issues. By making these initiatives available, visitors to the exhibition can also draw inspiration from them and replicate initiatives that they feel are feasible.
5/ Healthy Oceans for a Healthy Planet: the exhibition that combines biodiversity and climate issues
“Healthy Oceans for a Healthy Planet” is the name of the exhibition currently on show at the Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum.
The oceans cover 70% of the planet and the spaces that live there are under threat. Between plastic pollution, oil disasters, the destruction of natural habitats, and overfishing, some species of marine flora and fauna are on the brink of extinction.
This exhibition links marine biodiversity, the human impact on it, and the perverse effect of depleting food resources. While we throw plastic into the oceans every second, we are also the first to eat fishes that ingest our plastic waste. So, it’s important to understand that there is a strong link between pollution, human activity, the destruction of biodiversity, dwindling resources, and sustainable food.
In place since 1 July 2022, the temporary exhibition “Healthy Oceans for a Healthy Planet” can be visited until 1 July 2026.
Further information: https://ingeniumcanada.org/agriculture/exhibitions/healthy-oceans-for-a-healthy-planet
Through each event, whether a performance, a debate, a networking evening, or an exhibition, we have seen that culture can serve the ecological cause. The emotions aroused by these art forms are designed to raise awareness and encourage people to take action to reduce our environmental impact.
The Alliance Française Ottawa is aware of current issues and is committed to raising awareness of climate change among its members and the public.