Local creative Euella Jackson to explore just transition
Bristol Green Capital Partnership is delighted to announce our collaboration with local creative Euella Jackson on a just transition-themed creative commission as part of the Community Climate Action project.
Euella Jackson is a young black film-maker, writer, presenter and producer based in Bristol. Her work sits at the intersection of art activism, social change, education and storytelling. Euella is also co-director of Rising Arts Agency, a commissioner on Bristol’s Commission for Race Equality as the chair of the One City Health and Wellbeing board, and she sits on the One City Culture Board. Euella’s practice explores how environmental and social justice can be anchored in real people’s lives through creativity and community building. In 2022 she presented a 3-part BBC series called The Audacious, an uplifting take on the change that’s already happening to build a more climate just world. She also presented the WWF UK Wildlife restoration series, spotlighting the people and places who are making a difference to our natural world.
Through the commission Euella plans to use novel community events (supper clubs and games nights) to bring together different members of the community (from decision-makers to community members) to collectively explore themes around just transition in safe and informal spaces that feel intentionally different and ‘low-stakes’.
Greg Armfield
Euella will combine these events with public opinion shared through vox pops in different Bristol neighbourhoods to create a short 3-part video series. Her aim is to humanise just transition work and explore Bristol’s dreams for a just transition by centring the lives and voices of real people in our community. The films will be shared digitally through a social media campaign.
Euella said “I’m excited by this commission because it highlights the role of creativity in influencing policy, systems change and radically re-imagining the world. We urgently need a just transition that doesn’t leave anyone behind and for me, creativity is an under-utilised tool for addressing the apathy many feel towards the climate crisis. I’m interested in how we can use storytelling to sincerely excite, incite, prod and provoke from the grassroots up”.
The aims of the creative commission are to help make the theme of just transition more accessible and relatable to a broad audience. The commission forms part of the Community Climate Project which believes creativity has an important role in helping make conversations around climate more relevant to people and their lives.
Amy Harrison, Head of Community Partnerships at the Partnership said: “Artists and creatives have an ability to engage the public with climate and societal issues in new and different ways. By meeting people where they are at; responding to the issues affecting communities directly and using creative processes that are accessible and connect both with people’s hearts and their heads, creativity has the power to inspire more, and more diverse, people with climate and nature action and climate justice.
“We’re delighted to be collaborating with Euella on this commission. We firmly believe the transition to net zero is a unique opportunity to improve the lives of local people and we excited about how Euella will catalyse discussion and debate around what a just transition for Bristol looks and feels like”.
We’ll be sharing more on the creative commission as it evolves between now and May 2024, so keep a look out in our newsletter and comms channels. In the meantime, you can watch the just transition spoken word poem performed by City Poet Kat Lyons as part of our just transition Partnership gathering in June.
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