Friday 11 April 7.30pm at Stroud Subscription Rooms
The floods devastating homes, farms, lives, transport and the environment today challenge us to re-imagine a greener future in the face of climate change. Storytelling for a Greener World will tell vivid stories of a resilient future, as a first step in getting there. There will be moving stories of re-connecting with nature and also hard hitting talks by Jonathon Porritt of Forum for the Future and Alida Gersie, co-editor of a new Hawthorn Press book on how storytelling can help create a greener world.
The evening celebration includes stirring songs by local choir Circle of Song and magical nature tales told by some of Britain’s finest storytellers including Eric Maddern, Finding our Bearings; Edward Schieffelin, Reframing the Apocalypse to Rescue a Rainforest in New Guinea and local Stroud storytellers Anthony Nanson, The Passenger Pigeon, Kelvin Hall and Kevan Manwaring.
Alida Gersie PhD, storymaker, pioneer art therapies trainer, advisor to leading arts, health and environmental NGO’s and governments, will introduce the power of a new book Storytelling for a Greener World to help make a difference. She co-edited this book with Anthony Nansen and Edward Schieffelin. Alida will show how storytelling can help us reconnect with nature, ‘to see the world in a grain of sand’. Stories such as a friend describing a skein of geese in evening flight can invite action. She will explain some core principles and methods of story-based learning for change.
“If the typical content of movies, the news, video-games and social media is anything to go by, many of us seem to like tales about calamity. More often than not we relish the thrill of horror stories that don’t affect us personally. On top of this we are pretty unresponsive to warning stories that urge us to change a habit or life-style in order to avoid future disaster. So what kind of stories cans those who care about the environment and its troubles usefully tell? Are there ways of engaging people with stories that facilitate the turning of benign intent into sustainable behaviour? And if so, how is all of this best done? These are the kinds of questions that I will explore on 11 April.”
Alida Gersie
Jonathon Porritt, eminent environmentalist, will challenge us to raise our game in confronting the challenge of living more sustainably with this local launch of his new book, The World We Made. Told through the eyes of Alex McKay, a 50 year-old teacher writing in 2050, his book describes the key events, technological breakthroughs and lifestyle revolutions that he believes could transform the world over the next few decades.
“The irony is that we are surrounded by astonishing innovation on every side, in terms of both technology and new thinking on economics, social and governance issues. A fair, dynamic and genuinely sustainable life is still available for all of us in 2050 assuming only that we get a move on.”
Jonathon Porritt:
Storytelling for a Greener World – Tales, Talks and Songs : Friday 11 April 7.30pm at Stroud Subscription Rooms
Tickets from www.subscriptionrooms.org.uk, 01453 760900 Price: £12.00 (£10 concs, under 18’s £6.00). For more informationplease contact Martin Large (01453 757040) martin@hawthornpress.com.
