Back With A Bang: 200 Industry Leaders come Together To Drive Creativity For Good

One week ago we returned to in-person events with a bang with our third-ever summit - and the first since our formation as an NGO. 

To mark this growth from a project into a global non-profit foundation, and introduce our focus on action, collaboration and learning, we brought over 200 creative industry leaders from across Europe together at equals.amsterdam to collectively explore and answer: How can we use our creativity, for good? (for real…)

As spaces to this event SOLD OUT within days, a full recording is available FREE for anyone to view here, and we’re sharing a recap of the key takeaways below.

We left the event with four concluding actions to take forward:

Divest

The best way to use your creativity for good is to join the growing movement to divest from fossil fuels. The growing call to #banfossilfuelads is gaining momentum, in large part by action groups such as Clean Creatives, Comms Declare, Greenpeace, Badvertisers, and many others. We heard from three initiatives offering tangible ways to take action NOW - Duncan Meisel from Clean Creatives, Samuel Gosschalk from Greenpeace and Andrew Simms from Badvertising - who demonstrated that if you want to use your creativity for good, saying no to fossil fuel clients is the first and most urgent step.

Include

The event started with a reminder that this movement must include ALL voices, and the Creatives for Climate audience expressed a desire to hear (and see) more of this with ongoing calls for diversity to be a high priority in terms of driving change. Angelo Bromet from Amaru/PlusPlusOne started the night calling on industry folk to make accessibility and inclusion a high priority, and Creatives for Climate initiator Lucy von Sturmer echoed that we must start to tie together the links between (neo)colonialism, capitalism and where we are today.

Reimagine

Running parallel to COP27, with conversations around whether it’s “too late” for 1.5 degrees front and centre, calls for storytellers to use their creativity to  'imagine' and 'story-tell' the new beyond apocalyptic notions of doom and gloom, were loud and clear.

Art Director Lizzie Reid helped to set the scene for the evening by using storytelling to reflect and reimagine the industry. Impact media foundation 5 Media's Anne-Marie Hoeve shared her views on positive storytelling and behavior change, before Maria Correa from BLab Europe reflected on evolving notions of 'business - and creativity - for good.'

Two youth activists and students then took the mic to highlight the paralysing nature of climate anxiety and the need for hopeful stories to counter apathy. In conclusion, it is clear storytelling is key to both countering the bad AND highlighting climate solutions to galvanize people to act.

Participate

IT’S TAKING ACTION THAT COUNTS. The summit provided the backdrop for the launch of our new commitment - four principles for members to sign up to that guide the movement as it grows and scales - as well as an open source Creatives for Climate Climate Initiatives List, a collaborative resource offering an overview of actors in this growing movement, and direct ways for people to take action.

The second half of the night was open mic, and the audience also called for participation from those not yet “on the right path” and to provide space for everyone to join the movement. Striving to be the perfect activist can prevent action - if we come together with empathy and compassion, we can collectively spur change while acknowledging our own blind spots and misgivings. 

Underlining that we are ALL learners in this evolving landscape,Alessandro Tomasishared insights into how industry bodies such as theADCN | Club for Creativityare reflecting on the work they award. Referencing the KLM “Fly Responsibly” campaign - which received an award from ADCN for “not greenwashing” but today isbeing sued for doing precisely thatby ClientEarth and Fossilvrij NL - he reminded us that even experts get it wrong sometimes.

What’s next…

As the creative activism movement grows exponentially, and as the newly launched foundation of Creatives for Climate looks to scale and become self-sustaining, six tangible ways to “join us to support us” were launched at The Summit, and are here below for anyone to take up:

1. Become a member: Sign your team up for a Creatives for Climate membership to gain full access to the community hub; promote news, search for talent, join events, issue a call to action and much more...

2. Upskill through our training programmes: join a group cohort, or book your team, to up-skill for the climate by taking our Greenwash Watch or Positioning for Purpose training courses

3. Book a workshop for your team: Inspire and educate your team, or students, to join the movement of using knowledge and creativity as a force for good.

4. Partner with us on our programming: Partner with us on our in-person monthly learning events and annual summits.

5. Issue a collaborative call to action: Issue a call to action to our creative community to amplify your initiative or cause.

6. Sign the Creatives for Climate Commitment: Commit to the four principles outlined in the Creatives for Climate Commitment that guide the movement going forward.

A huge thank you to all of the speakers who joined us at the summit and a special thank you to our partners who helped to bring the summit to life Equals Amsterdam, Avallen Spirits and 5 Media.

Watch the recording

You can now watch the summit recording on our YouTube channel or in the video library on our community hub.