Culture and storytelling take centre stage at London Climate Action Week

As London Action Week comes to a close, we’re reflecting on an inspiring week of events, initiatives and collaborations. Culture and storytelling took centre stage across the programme, reinforcing what feels clearer than ever: we’re not only ready for a new story, we’re already moving towards it - away from extractivism and towards regeneration. Read on for some of the highlights from our week:

We partnered with Green Rider and Goals House to bring together a group of brilliant industry leaders for a powerful conversation on the challenges and opportunities in storytelling on screen and sustainable production, hosted by Benedict Cumberbatch. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and shared so openly - from insights and challenges to successes and solutions. It was truly energising to reflect on the progress we’ve made so far, celebrate the incredible work that’s already underway across our industry, and look ahead at what’s next as we continue to accelerate this work together.

In addition, we launched submissions for our inaugural Climate Playwriting Prize, presented in partnership with Shakespeare's Globe and Fern Culture, inviting playwrights to explore climate themes in engaging new ways. The prize will uncover the most exciting new plays about the climate crisis, and support them to find their audiences. In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story. Submissions are now open, click here for details.

As part of London Climate Action Week's programming at this year’s Solutions House, presented by Futerra, we co-curated a ‘World Building Room’ in collaboration with our partners at Netflix, showcasing a range of content and inspiration to envision a cleaner, fairer future for all, including our recently released teaser of new upcoming short film Tuk Tuk!

As part of the Solutions House programme, and ​brought to you by Futerra, TED Countdown and the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance, we were also delighted to join an energising discussion on how storytelling and culture can drive climate solutions, with award-winning writer Sonali Bhattachayyra, Justin Worland (TIME Future Proof) and Rachel Orr (Climate Outreach), chaired by Futerra’s Solitaire Townsend.

To round off the week, we co-hosted a session and workshops on the theme of ‘A World Worth Choosing’ with our friends at Global Commons Alliance, Earth4All, Earth Commission and Planetary Guardians, sparking our imagination on how to start building a vision for a healthier and fairer world for all.