Newsletter #10

Hive | Truth | Meta

Hi everyone,

Our thoughts are with all those being harmed by oppression and violence 🖤

—

We’ll be sharing an update on our upcoming Sessions with you soon, in the meantime please see our usual share of work, perspectives and events below.

This week: an introduction to the new Global Narrative Hive effort, a few mediations on truth, and some provocations on the ‘meta-crisis’.

Shared with care, in solidarity.

---

---

Shares

Key: 📋 Report | 📝 Article | ⚙️ Tool | 🎬 Video

---

Conditions to Flourish

Global Narrative Hive

‘Understanding the Ecosystem For Narrative Power’, the first report from Global Narrative Hive: “a new network working to connect and grow the global ecosystem of activists and campaigners, communications workers, researchers, artists, journalists and others who are using narratives to advance their visions of a more just world…facilitating shared learning between actors with different skills and knowledges, and curating spaces for new actors to build connections and experiment with narrative strategies. See an intro to the report here, or join in at narrativehive.org.

#narrativestrategy

📋 Read here

---

Gen Z(ero)

Co-op Foundation, Basis Social, Livity

Research to understand “more about the younger generation’s attitudes towards Net Zero and the concept of a ‘just transition’”, finding that “72% of young people were optimistic that Net Zero presented more of an opportunity than a threat to their generation…(and) wanted to learn more about Net Zero…a virtuous cycle with greater knowledge and awareness leading to a greater interest in finding out more, and more interest and concern in helping to address climate change.”

#insight #issuenarrative

📋 Read here

---

The Truth is Important, but the Truth Needs Help

Abi Knipe, Global Narrative Hive

An excerpt from a conversation with Lucila Sandoval, Āryā Jeipea Karijo and Ishtar Lakhani at GNH’s launch. “Bringing lived experiences and stories from sex workers’ rights movements in South Africa, to student and reproductive justice movements in Mexico, and LGBTQ communities in Kenya, they challenge conventionally held notions of narratives as an area for comms ‘experts’ and broaden our understandings beyond often prioritised Global North perspectives.”

#narrativestrategy

📝 Read here

---

A Noisy Conversation and a Tolling Bell

Kirsty McNeill, Development Compass

“Showing aid works for the poorest, by providing life’s basics, can shift support. The big question is whether and how we can tell a story in a way that centres our shared humanity and equal dignity…we aren’t trying to change values - we are trying to align our cause with people’s existing values…What if we frame our work as a chance to fight for what our neighbours already love about people and planet?”

#narrativestrategy #framing

📝 Read here

---

When Outrage Hides the Truth

Rachel Donald, Planet: Critical

On the ‘spiral of silence’ in our media, and how outrage “masks the reality of collusion, creating the illusion of democracy, the illusion of fair markets, the illusion of an independent press.” “We must not cry the alarm at instances of injustice but cry the alarm at pervasive systemic injustice. Atomising each case as if it is anomalous only protects those in power, bolstering the illusion that something is wrong rather than, frankly, everything being wrong.”

#tactics #framing

📝 Read here

---

A Reformation Proposal To Growth Religion

Sasja Beslik, ESG on a Sunday

“Some people would say, yes but all of it is not so dark, we still have a chance. Yes, we do, but we need to change the belief system, reform the religion at its core. We cannot, as we have done so far, try to manage consequences of the beliefs that have in themselves not changed. So, in honour to that, here is a reformation proposal.”

#deepnarrative #framing

📝 Read here

---

We Find The Stories

Local Storytelling Exchange

A new website for the effort to find and spotlight stories from around the UK that demonstrate “what the transition looks like”, “sharing them widely across local, regional, and national media, digital channels and offline events,” which includes a searchable mapping tool. Also if you’re in Scotland they’re looking for a storyteller.

#stories

⚙️ See here

---

An Introduction to the Metacrisis

Daniel Schmachtenberger, Stockholm Impact/Week

Provocations from the founder of the Consilience Project: “We are at the end of history…what would it take to turn the entire arc of humanity?…what would it mean for our species to be wise enough to steward (our) power safely?…you are in service to a life that is beautiful, a world that is beautiful...and you are at a time when there is a higher possible consequence from your actions than there has ever been for humans, and there is an obligation in that, and a meaningfulness in that, that you don't want to waste." Also see.

#deepnarrative

🎬 Watch here

---

Holy Cruel Engine, Pol Taburet

---

---

Events

Money Talks 2023, Global Results Webinar

Black Sands | Oct 31st

An update on research from 2022, covering “public attitudes on global issues such as climate change, poverty and inequality, and providing insights on how to communicate in order to win support for investment to tackle these issues.” The session will share key findings from the research, and provide “new recommendations and insights for how to communicate about international investment in climate and development in order to drive progress on this agenda.” To learn more, reach out to carrie@blacksands.co.uk.

🗓️ Register here

---

Becoming Resilient (course)

Leonora Oppenheim | Nov 1st for 5 weeks

“A course to cultivate connection and trust in yourself…It can be exhausting working at the frontlines of systems change. I know, I worked as a designer and writer on climate change communications for fifteen years, and became very depleted over that time. That’s why I’m offering a space for people on the edge of burnout to come back into connection with themselves - becoming resilient in the process. This course is a reminder of your sensory intelligence and embodied knowing.”

🗓️ See here

---

Financing Impact

Insights For Action, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship | Nov 3rd

‘The next generation of philanthropic and impact investment capital’ – “in this seminar we will discuss Derek Bardowell’s book Giving Back: How to Do Good, Better, in the context of broader trends in the next generation of philanthropic and impact investment capital.” Speakers: Derek Bardowell, Dr Bridget Kustin, Henry Catchpole; moderated by Professor Marya Besharov.

🗓️ Register here

---

---

Quotes

(This selection of quotes is intended as a resource, in the hope that they may be useful for your own communications.)

“If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief, a dogma, and men will die for it.” – Isa Blagden

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken.” – Carl Sagan

“In nature’s economy the currency is not money, it is life” – Vandana Shiva

“The embedded growth obligation is totally incompatible with planetary boundaries. So do you have to change financial institutions to not have an embedded growth obligation? Absolutely.” – Daniel Schmachtenberger

“The power of technology is immense. The choice is ours — whether we use it to amplify our humanity and connectedness to each other and the planet or we use it to further short-term profits at the cost of humanity and all sentient beings.”  – Sahana Chattopadhyay

---

Thanks for joining us, see you here again in two weeks.

A reminder that if you have something that you’d love to see in these newsletters, or work you’d like to share in the community sessions, or if you have any feedback, please reach out at inter-narratives@greenfunders.org

Very best,

Paddy & Ella