DREAMING
CLIMATE
CONSCIOUSNESS

Are you concerned about climate change and its impact on both your community and all life on the planet?

Do you enjoy speculative fiction and/or science fiction?

Are you interested in working towards social and environmental change?

Inspired by the work of adrienne marie brown, Walidah Imarisha, and Donna Haraway, Dreaming Climate Consciousness is a facilitated, six-day workshop, held both online and in-person, where participants work in creative collaboration to build science fiction worlds and narratives that exist in dialogue with conversations about the unfolding realities of our climate emergency.

If you enjoy speculative/science fiction, like building community connections, and are interested in dreaming of new, just worlds through imaginative frameworks, definitely consider applying for the next round.

No writing or artistic experience is necessary!

  • Evan’s facilitation style is remarkably respectful and gentle, and creates a really safe space to contribute ideas freely.

    Max (Cohort 1)

Evan Medd (he/they) is a dramaturg, producer, performer, facilitator, and puppeteer who works across Turtle Island, primarily based in Mohkinstsis/Calgary on Treaty 7 territory, but who also sometimes works on Treaty 6 territory in amiskwaciywaskahikan/Edmonton, and out east in Prince Edward Island on Mi’kmaq territory.

Evan’s practice primarily focuses on dramaturgical strategizing of process design, mostly in collaboration with younger artists, community engaged art that intersects with environmental issues, and collaborative new play development and production with the Alberta-based Major Matt Mason Collective, for which they are a Co-Artistic Producer. A graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Performance Creation program, Evan is passionate about how dramaturgical practice can help artists discover themselves more deeply within the pursuit of artistic excellence, and how interdisciplinary performance practices can meaningfully engage communities in environmental and climate focused dialogues.

Evan spends his summers working in PEI at The River Clyde Pageant, a creative, community integrated outdoor spectacle that celebrates a social ecology while drawing attention to the impact of climate change on PEI’s waterways and ecosystems, and is currently researching and developing a similar project on the Bow River through Mudfoot Theatre with his collaborator Geneviève Pare, currently titled the Bow River Boat Pageant.

Evan has also spearheaded and facilitates an initiative called Dreaming Climate Consciousness, a collaborative process where participants work together to imagine eco-conscious futures through the lens of speculative/science fiction. Evan is passionate about utilizing creative practice as a means to stimulate both imagination and artistry while interrogating and examining the tensions that define our world.

Evan would like to thank the International Centre of Art for Social Change’s FUTURES/forward Mentorship Program for supporting them in building the DCC pilot project.

Also, Evan has endless gratitude for Dr. David Diamond, without whom this initiative would not exist.

What the participants have to say:

  • Science fiction is not a "practical" answer to climate change, but it is an inspiration to start to create practical solutions. We are allowed to imagine a future where we have fixed or can fix our mistakes.

    Michael (DCC Cohort 1)

  • Being challenged to think, write, and most importantly talk and collaborate within a sci-fi lens really unlocked something for me.

    Geoffrey (DCC Cohort 2)

  • Regardless of what the world throws at us, we are routinely asked to get creative and collaborate with others. I will remember the "Dreaming Climate Consciousness" process every time I am on a team.

    Liam (DCC Cohort 1)

  • The focus on process over product in this workshop is especially helpful, and gives participants the chance to really sit with and have thoughtful discussions about climate change.

    Camryn (DCC Cohort 2)

  • I now feel more creative and empowered to take on new solutions, different solutions, challenging and non-conventional solutions: in a changing climate, we need everyone, everywhere, doing everything!

    Allison (DCC Cohort 1)

  • This process has been at once therapeutic and energizing. I learned a great deal from each stage of the process.

    Max (DCC Cohort 1)

  • The whole experience was cathartic. Instead of being paralyzed by climate-grief, we were able to channel those fears and concerns through a creative medium.

    Kurt (DCC Cohort 1)

  • For me, personally, this process was really helpful in showing me how I can start incorporating climate activism into my work.

    Geoffrey (DCC Cohort 2)

  • The experience really expanded my imagination of what climate change and system transformation might look like.

    Hima (DCC Cohort 2)

Contact

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