South Australia's Green Revolution: How Art & Policy Catalyze Climate Action

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South Australia has become a global leader in green energy transition, getting off fossil fuels faster, and to a greater extent than almost any other country. How did they do it, and what can we learn from them? In this report for Climate Week, Laura goes Down Under with her partner, Elizabeth Streb, and her extreme dance company, and discovers how the region’s culture and its many world-class festivals have helped pave the way for transformation. Helping to unpack it all is a range of impressive guests, including Susan Close, deputy premier of South Australia; Anoté Tong, the former President of the Micronesian island, the Republic of Kiribati; Ruth Mackenzie, former Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival, now Program Director of Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Policy within the South Australia state government; Rob Brookman, the co-founder of WOMADelaide, the capital’s premier outdoor festival; MacArthur “Genius” Award winner, Elizabeth Streb and the action heroes of her company STREB - and a WHALE. As you’ll hear, it’s taken politics, policy, science and culture to shift public practice in this extreme-weather-vulnerable area. Over the last decade, South Australia has faced massive storms, brush fires, and extreme heat that have put people, wildlife, and even the festival at risk. Now South Australia is leading the way and using art to help people envision a green future, but they can’t solve the climate crisis alone. In this Climate Week special, we ask, how can the rest of the world follow suit?
“We don't get exempted from climate change because we've got a green electricity grid . . . It is globally caused and has to be globally solved. So part of what we do is not to boast about what we've done, but to hope that our leadership will show others that you too can do this. Come and learn from us.” - Susan Close, Deputy Premier, South Australia
“We've got the arguments, we can tell you the facts, but people don't feel it . . . [Artists] reach into your head, into your heart, they dig in and then they motivate you to action. And of course if you can also motivate the artist in every single child in South Australia, then we really have a force to change the world.” - Ruth Mackenzie, Former Artistic Director, Adelaide Festival
“The science doesn't seem to be making an impact no matter how precise. Maybe the hard facts of science do not ring a bell as much as the emotional language of the arts . . . Maybe the arts can put it in a way that it touches the hearts of your political leadership.” - President Anoté Tong
GUESTS:
Rob Brookman: Co-Founder, WOMADelaide; Director, WOMADelaide Foundation
Susan Close: Deputy Premier, South Australia
Cassandre Joseph: Streb Co-Artistic Director & Action Hero
Ruth Mackenzie: Former Artistic Director, Adelaide Festival; Program Director Arts, Culture & Creative Industries Policy, South Australia Government
Caitlin Moore: Director of Create4Adelaide, Adelaide Festival
Elizabeth Streb: STREB Founder, Co-Artistic Director & Choreographer
Anoté Tong: Former President, Republic of Kiribati
Bart Van Peel: Chief Navigating Officer, Captain Boomer Collective
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CREDITS:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Producer: Jeremiah Cothren
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