Last Friday we were excited to bring together a budding community of creatives who care about the planet in partnership with Creatives for Climate.
Since August, through their City Lead Program they have brought together 500 people in Europe and Asia-Pacific and this was the event in Africa where over 20 creatives met in Lagos, Nigeria, to connect, brainstorm, and discuss local creative ways to tackle climate issues.
We started with introductions and met many exciting people from fashion designers to photographers, journalists, and content creators in attendance. We began with an introduction to SustyVibes and the C4C community.
We ended with an interesting question from the hub: ‘Why does imagining the end of the world feel better than saving it?’ Someone interestingly mentioned that it’s easier to pay more attention to the activities of the world than to think about saving it. We could be lost in the hustle and bustle of surviving and forget that our planet needs to survive too. It brought a conscious reminder of the importance of climate action.
Following that, we had a Mentimeter poll on ‘What does being a creative for climate mean to you?’. We got a lot of interesting responses. One that caught everyone’s eye was “disruption.” The person who wrote this explained, ‘At the root of creativity is disruption.’ It means changing the status quo and switching things up, and I couldn’t agree more.
Moving on, we dived into our panel session with Strategic Communications Expert Daniel Oladoja and Uche Aladinma, Founder of Azach Ng, an upcycling fashion brand. It was important to get perspectives from both someone working with hands-on art and someone who works more with thinking and creativity.
The session revolved around three major questions:
1. The role of art in shaping public perception and driving awareness.
2. Successful strategies employed by the panelists in leveraging art for advocacy.
3. Real-world examples where art has been a catalyst for meaningful change in social and environmental issues.
Daniel shared how he transitioned from debating and motivational speaking to discovering his purpose, while Uche explained her journey into upcycling. Both speakers emphasized not being afraid to try new things and explore your passion.
After a short break, we moved on to our peer-to-peer session, where we watched the official video of “Whiskey,” a song from renowned Nigerian artist Burna Boy. We chose it for its documentary on the environmental damage caused by oil in his hometown, spotlighting decades of neglect in the Niger Delta.
We were divided into two groups, one examining the video’s relevance and the other analyzing the lyrics. It was a fun debate judged by Daniel and Bunmi Ajakaiye, founder of A Good Story Film. After the arguments, the judges found the argument of Team lyrics best, and with everyone in a high mood, we moved on to a quick session with Bunmi sharing her story on going from an amateur writer to writing the Netflix blockbuster, The Black Book.
In this movie, we saw a lot of societal issues being highlighted, including corruption, police brutality, and injustice and we discussed how documentaries and feature films can shape public perceptions and policy decisions regarding climate change.
One interesting topic that came up was the importance of charging value for work as creatives especially working in sustainability more often than not, you’re asked to work for free or at a low rate. We reminded ourselves that if you’re providing value then you should charge. ‘Na who chop they work’ as we say in Nigeria.
After the session, we talked and networked with each other and had my favorite part of the session a free professional headshot for attendees to help with their personal branding. Everyone is excited for the next meet and I can’t wait either.
Keep an eye out for more updates on the Creatives for Climate and SustyVibes media handles! 😎
Heading: Creatives for Climate Community Launch – Lagos, Nigeria.
Hello everyone, Seyi here, and I am the city lead ambassador for Lagos, Nigeria. When I first saw the call for the City Lead Program, I was excited to bring together a budding community of creatives who care about the planet.
Since August, the City Lead Program has brought together 500 people in Europe and Asia-Pacific through the Creatives for Climate, and last week, we had our first event in Africa – over 30 creatives met in Lagos, Nigeria, to connect, brainstorm, and discuss local creative ways to tackle climate issues.
We started with introductions and met many exciting people from fashion designers to photographers, journalists, and content creators in attendance. We began with an introduction to SustyVibes, our host organization, and the C4C community.
We ended with an interesting question from the hub: ‘Why does imagining the end of the world feel better than saving it?’ Someone interestingly mentioned that it’s easier to pay more attention to the activities of the world than to think about saving it. We could be lost in the hustle and bustle of surviving and forget that our planet needs to survive too. It brought a conscious reminder of the importance of climate action.
Following that, we had a Mentimeter poll on ‘What does being a creative for climate mean to you?’. We got a lot of interesting responses. One that caught everyone’s eye was “disruption.” The person who wrote this explained, ‘At the root of creativity is disruption.’ It means changing the status quo and switching things up, and I couldn’t agree more.
Moving on, we dived into our panel session with Strategic Communications Expert Daniel Oladoja and Uche Aladinma, Founder of Azach Ng, an upcycling fashion brand. It was important to get perspectives from both someone working with hands-on art and someone who works more with thinking and creativity.
The session revolved around three major questions:
1. The role of art in shaping public perception and driving awareness.
2. Successful strategies employed by the panelists in leveraging art for advocacy.
3. Real-world examples where art has been a catalyst for meaningful change in social and environmental issues.
Daniel shared how he transitioned from debating and motivational speaking to discovering his purpose, while Uche explained her journey into upcycling. Both speakers emphasized not being afraid to try new things and explore your passion.
After a short break, we moved on to our peer-to-peer session, where we watched the official video of “Whiskey,” a song from renowned Nigerian artist Burna Boy. We chose it for its documentary on the environmental damage caused by oil in his hometown, spotlighting decades of neglect in the Niger Delta.
We were divided into two groups, one examining the video’s relevance and the other analyzing the lyrics. It was a fun debate judged by Daniel and Bunmi Ajakaiye, founder of A Good Story Film. After the arguments, the judges found the argument of Team lyrics best, and with everyone in a high mood, we moved on to a quick session with Bunmi sharing her story on going from an amateur writer to writing the Netflix blockbuster, The Black Book.
In this movie, we saw a lot of societal issues being highlighted, including corruption, police brutality, and injustice and we discussed how documentaries and feature films can shape public perceptions and policy decisions regarding climate change.
One interesting topic that came up was the importance of charging value for work as creatives especially working in sustainability more often than not, you’re asked to work for free or at a low rate. We reminded ourselves that if you’re providing value then you should charge. ‘Na who chop they work’ as we say in Nigeria.
After the session, we talked and networked with each other and had my favorite part of the session a free professional headshot for attendees to help with their personal branding. Everyone is excited for the next meet and I can’t wait either.
Keep an eye out for more updates on the Creatives for Climate and SustyVibes media handles! 😎