Empowering Change: A Week of Creativity, Ethics, and Climate Conversations

What a week it was last week.

I have attended three incredible events.

• Ethics in Leadership: Creating a culture of ethics for success
• Design for planet festival 2023
• BBC Climate Creatives 2023 

There were numerous outstanding speakers and discussions and these events have made me feel generally hopeful and excited about the future. 

I found particularly interesting to learn that the creative industry has become more aware of the damages that have contributed to cause, and has also become more empowered to repair them.

Broadcast and advertising industries are steadily moving forward and challenging their mission, actions, and raison d'être. 

Some highlights from BBC Climate Creatives 2023:

• The importance of not focusing solely on negative stories
• More ethnic diversity in the commissioning rooms
• Some excellent examples of successful climate content (The rig, The Cynefin, Michael Sheen film)
• Is nature endowed with legal rights that can be enforced?
• Can nature be given a profit share based on company turnover?
• The power of collective action and the shift from individual behaviour to empowered citizens
• The importance of surrounding climate change shows with additional activities and campaigns to create a more significant impact. Learn from advertising.
• Need for simplicity and emotional connections in messaging
• The importance of systemic change in addressing climate change
• While individual sustainable behaviour is essential, political action and societal change are necessary
• Using storytelling and imagination to spark conversations, generate complex insights, and inspire action towards a net-zero future.

The speakers: Bryony Kimmings , Simon Armitage, Jennifer Pullan, Swarzy Macaly , Alf Lawrie, David Smyth, Jack Bootle , Laura Grange , Lucy Willis , Christiana Figueres , Philippa Thomas , Brontie Maria Ansell , Simon Sharpe , Pim Sullivan-Tailyour, Catarina Zuzarte Tully, Dan Barnard (he/him) , David Macpherson, Philip Davies, Gaby Hornsby , Lisa Merrick-Lawless , Jon Alexander , Sunita Ramani , John Marshall .

Exciting.

The design industry is also asking itself how design, fashion, and creativity can play a role in untangling this crisis.   

• Starting new conversations, provoking and influencing behaviours, and creating new narratives
• It's an industry taking this crisis as an opportunity to redefine its why. 

I especially enjoyed the sessions moderated by the Design Council on the importance of clear, friendly, and engaging communication of climate data by Stefanie Posavec , as well as the work of Edward Bulmer Edward Bulmer Natural Paint , Smile Plastics , and Colorifix on new pigments, plastic and materials.

Exciting.

The speakers: Tiffanie Darke , Eve Kekeh , Daniel Whitley , Frances Jackson , David Bennett , Lois Irvine, Stefanie Posavec , Sophie Vaud , Adam Fairweather , Shruti Grover , Rosalie McMillan , Cedrine Streit , Asher Minns .

Last, I attended a thought-provoking panel organised by the World Ethics Organization and Kotel Group LLC with many conversations around leadership and ethics. 

👉🏽 Leaders and C-suite executives and leaders must make ethical decisions now more than ever. 

👉🏽 For a few decades, the focus has been on me rather than us 

👉🏽 Leaders now have the opportunity to redefine behaviours if informed by morality and ethics. 

👉🏽 The World ethic Organization mission is to build a better future with the power of ethics.

Exciting.

Some of the speakers were: Sandra Dee Robinson , Rich Trigger Bontrager , Simon Longstaff , Ann Gregg Skeet , Walter Earl Fluker , Walter Fluker , Richard Messing .

Lots of inspiring talks and people, all steps moving in the right direction.

Onward, forward, upward.