We Make Tomorrow 2022

It has been two transformational years since We Make Tomorrow 2020, two years where the cultural community mobilised on climate action, and connections between environmental, social, and cultural justices were exposed.

With performance, conversation and workshops this day will delve into themes beyond operational action, and, through the voices of many pioneers, celebrate creative climate leadership, and appreciate what more we can learn.

This one-day summit will look at political, demographic, economic and social changes driven by our changing climate, and explore how working with shared purpose can generate social, economic and creative value that helps us all to imagine, and craft a better tomorrow.

Join us for a day of valuable knowledge-sharing on Thursday 13 October at the Birmingham Rep & Library or online to spark ideas and inspire you to lead on the climate agenda.

Our creative partners providing artistic, musical, practical and theatrical interventions throughout the day include: social justice creatives MAIA, neighbourhood economics lab Civic Square, cross-cultural folk music curators, Nest Collective, and critically acclaimed dramaturg, Anthony Simpson-Pike. Climate activist and school climate strike coordinator Noga Levy-Rapoport will MC the day.

Timings for the day are as follows:

09:15 - 10:00 Registration

10:00 - 11:20 Morning content sessions

11:20 - 11:50 Morning break

11:50 - 13:15 Morning content sessions

13:15 - 14:15 Lunch

14:15 - 15:55 Afternoon content sessions

15:55 - 16:25 Afternoon break

16:25 - 17:15 Final content session

17:30 - 18:30 Optional networking drinks

The We Make Tomorrow 2022 programme will include sessions on the following topics:

We need one another

What is needed now? A conversation about leading climate action with care, honesty, and respect.

Making it work

What can be learnt from those who’ve stepped up against the odds to take action on climate, changing the conditions around them?

Funding climate justice

What are the principles and frameworks for funding climate justice in our work? Does financial decision-making reflect values that integrate justice?

Our place in the world

Learning from local placemaking that tackles creative climate action, leveraging our role as cultural catalysts in local climate policy and civic activism: when to step up and when to step aside?

We don’t care when your net zero target is!

How do we challenge the ‘net zero’ tag without losing the critical 1.5 degrees limit on warming? What are effective interventions for meaningful decarbonisation locally, nationally and globally?

Adaptation and upheavals

Cultural organisations becoming more resilient to climate impacts and responding to social and physical upheavals

Seeing the big picture: creative climate justice

How do we practice solidarity and connect injustices to build equitable, healthy, and regenerative systems for our planet, here and internationally?

Making space for wellbeing

What does personal resilience mean, and what makes a caring, healthy environment in which we can thrive?

A legacy that matters

Creating legacies now: which frameworks and relationships can support ongoing change?

Full programme to be announced soon.

Ahdaf Soueif, novelist and political and cultural commentator

Alistair Gentry, artist, activist and researcher

Amahra Spence, Co-Founder and Creative Director, MAIA

Edouard Morena, lecturer and researcher, University of London Institute in Paris

Emma Blake Morsi, Multi-Disciplinary Producer, and Director of Rising Arts Agency

Eric Njuguna, youth climate justice and human rights organizer

Fanny-Pierre Galarneau, visual artist, muralist and social innovator

Fehinti Balogun, actor and writer

Feimatta Conteh, Environmental Sustainability Manager, Manchester International Festival

Gigsta, academic researcher, DJ, producer, promoter, radio host and zine maker

Hannah Entwisle Chapuisat, Co-founder and Curator of DISPLACEMENT: Uncertain Journeys

Harpreet Kaur Paul, researcher and lawyer

Helen Starr, world-building curator

Ian Solomon Kawall, CEO of May Project Gardens

Immy Kaur, Co-Founder and Director, CIVIC SQUARE

Islam Elbeiti, musician, cultural curator and radio presenter

Janet Vaughan, Co-Artistic Director of Talking Birds

Jessica Sim, Co-Founder of Nadas Istanbul

Lou Byng, Creative Director, CIVIC SQUARE

Magid Magid, race and climate justice activist and author

Nathan Thanki, human ecologist and writer

Noga Levy-Rapoport, youth climate activist, organiser, and speaker

Nonhlanhla Makuyana, Co-Founder of Decolonising Economics

Papa Omotayo, architect, designer, writer and film maker

Pravali Vangeti, Co-convenor of the Climate Heritage Network Youth Forum

Raj Pal, curator/historian and activist

Rob van Wegen, sustainability coordinator, ESNS Festival

Saleemul Huq, Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development

Sarah Corbett, activist, author and professional campaigner, Craftivist Collective

Taiwo Afolabi, theatre-maker, scholar, theatre manager and entrepreneur

Zahra Davidson, Chief Exec and Design Director, Huddlecraft

Further speakers and performers will be announced in the coming weeks. Full speaker bios can be found via this page.

The venue is wheelchair accessible, and there will be live subtitling and BSL available (for those who need it) throughout the summit. Guide dogs are also welcome.

Please let us know of any additional accessibility requirements via the registration form or by sending an email to [email protected] to ensure we can best accommodate you.

We Make Tomorrow will take place in the lead up to COP 27. In an effort to increase international participation and engagement, yet avoid the increased carbon footprint for attendee travel, We Make Tomorrow will be a hybrid event.

For those that are unable to attend in person in Birmingham, we are offering the opportunity to join us via our digital platform.

Attendees can use the digital platform to network and engage with fellow participants during the summit, with an interactive and flexible experience.

Digital ticket-holders will be able to access content for up to 30 days following the event to catch-up on any sessions they may have missed. On-demand content will be made available to digital ticket-holders from Monday 17th October.

If you are applying from within an organisation where the ticket price is being covered, please choose the relevant organisation size ticket band. If you are applying as an individual, you are eligible for either the freelancer, concessionary or complimentary ticket rates. In the interest of fairness, we reserve the right to challenge any tickets purchased at a lower rate if you are eligible for the larger organisational rate.

There are only a limited number of early bird tickets on offer. As soon as the early bird allocation is fully booked, standard rate tickets will become available. Please note there are only 300 in-person tickets available for this event in total, so we expect to sell out and advise booking your ticket early to avoid disappointment.

We have complementary and concessionary places available to apply for, and opportunities for volunteers to help us facilitate both our in person and online events.

Please complete the relevant form below:

Concessions - Ticket Application Form

Complimentary - Ticket Application Form

For those that have purchased tickets to attend the event in person, we would like to offer a 10% discount on additional digital-only tickets purchased. You will receive a promo code to redeem this offer upon purchase of your in-person ticket.

For anyone looking to purchase digital-only tickets, we would like to offer a 25% discount on any group bookings of 6 or more using the code: SAVE25

We would also like to offer the opportunity to buy a Solidarity Ticket for someone who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend the summit - this can be added via choosing to add the 'Solidarity Ticket' under Donations when purchasing your ticket. Solidarity tickets will fund concession and complimentary tickets which are open to all and available to apply for via the links above. Your generosity is much appreciated.

Please fill in this application form to register your interest in volunteering in-person or remotely for this event.

Please fill in this application form to apply for a press pass to attend the event in-person or remotely.

Digital tickets will be hosted on our dedicated event platform, with live-streamed recordings from the majority of sessions, including creative performances, and options for networking and live translation. This content will also be available to access for one month after the event.

The below video can also be accessed as an audio-described version here.

This event is run in partnership with the Arts Council England as part of the environmental programme.

is a director, dramaturg and writer whose work has been staged in theatres including The Bush, The Gate, The Young Vic and The Royal Court. He is currently Associate Director at The Yard Theatre, was previously Resident Director at Theatre Peckham and Associate Director at The Gate Theatre. Anthony is also a facilitator, having worked with young people and communities at The Gate, The Royal Court, The Young Vic, The Globe, and National Theatre.

Recent directorial work includes Lava by Benedict Lombe (Bush Theatre), Living Newspaper (Royal Court), The Electric by Vickie Donoghue (Paines Plough/RWCMD), and The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz (Gate Theatre).

Together with many people and partners, are visioning, building and investing in social and civic infrastructure for neighbourhoods of the future, rooted in the heart of Birmingham; their home city.

CIVIC SQUARE builds upon a decade of research, discovery, and practice as Impact Hub Birmingham and as part of the 00 family around systems change, land, housing and what 21st Century civic spaces might need, looking at how they are participated in, funded and maintained.

Alongside an ecosystem of local and global neighbours, CIVIC SQUARE are discovering and developing civic and social infrastructure to collectively respond to our growing societal challenges. They are working collaboratively and imaginatively at the scale of the neighbourhood through many different ways of organising, within the following three mission areas:

1 / Public Square - A vibrant home to collectively owned and built 21st Century civic and social infrastructure. A place to gather, make, create, grow, organise, play and connect.

2 / Regenerative Neighbourhood Economics Lab - An experimental social neighbourhood economics lab, focused on exploring, experimenting and testing and building resilient, regenerative neighbourhoods. Rooted locally and connected globally through partners and projects.

3 / Creative Resistance - A connected, collaborative, and open creative and participatory ecosystem, shaping our everyday experiences by placing creativity and participation at their heart.

has helped change laws, policies, hearts and minds around the world through their slower, quieter and more intimate form of activism rooted in neuroscience and positive psychology that uses handicrafts as catalysts for critical thinking and compassionate correspondence with power-holders. Set up in 2009 by award-winning activist, author and Ashoka Fellow Sarah P Corbett after demand from individuals, groups and organisations around the world wanted to take part in her unique methodology to craftivism (craft+activism) she coined as ‘Gentle Protest’ in 2014. Craftivist Collective prioritises engaging audiences that are nervous of and not already involved in activism.

is an artist-led social justice organisation, working globally from our home city, Birmingham, UK. Their work explores, supports and prototypes connections between artists, imagination and liberation, through developing cultural programmes, artworks, resources and spaces to practice alternative paradigms, where culture and Black thought are catalysts.

is a leading force in contemporary and cross-cultural folk music. We bring people together to experience extraordinary music, rekindling connections with nature, tradition and community. Founded in 2005 by Mercury-nominated artist Sam Lee, the Nest Collective began as a small gathering of music and folk lovers.

Today, our vibrant annual programme includes a diverse range of music events in locations across the UK, featuring outstanding emerging and established folk, world and roots artists from across the globe. Because we embrace and encourage connection with nature, many of our events take place outdoors in beautiful green spaces, both in cities and rural areas.

We welcome an ever-growing community to our events in London and around the country. “Tradition is tending the flame, it’s not worshipping the ashes.”–Gustav Mahler The Nest Collective is proud to collaborate with a host of leading venues including Southbank Centre, The Roundhouse, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern and Tate Britain. We also curate stages at a number of major UK music festivals, including Shambala and Cambridge Folk Festival.

first opened in 1885 and has been through many changes during this time. It is housed in a Grade II* listed city centre landmark building which is currently going through a number of essential infrastructure works to improve the visitor experience and safeguard the collection for generations to come.

It is the first time since October 2020 that visitors will be able to return to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and to mark the occasion the galleries are being handed over to some of the city’s most exciting creatives who have responded to the theme of ‘This Is Birmingham’.

The Edwardian Tearooms, Round Room, Industrial Gallery, Gallery 10, Bridge Gallery and the Shop will reopen seven days a week, 10am - 5pm.

The five displays in the Round Room and Industrial Gallery will bring together themes such as culture identity, community, and media, with new objects on display and live events as well as space for visitors to join in and contribute. See the page for full details of exhibitions and events.

is a global network whose members are committed to mobilising arts, culture and heritage to address climate change and support communities in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. The Network seeks to scale up culture-based climate action and to foreground the cultural dimensions of climate policy through coordination and cooperation among its members.

CHN members work with all types of culture including arts and creative industries; museums and libraries; landscapes, heritage sites and archaeology; and intangible heritage, traditional knowledge and Indigenous ways of knowing.

are a growing movement of people in arts and culture declaring a climate and ecological emergency. We pledge to tell truths, take action and seek justice. Arts and culture can lead in creating a regenerative future that protects the planet and sustains everyone, everywhere. If you would like to join the movement, please follow this

Since 2011 the has invited people to think afresh about the role of museums, stimulating and supporting change towards its vision: To re-imagine museums for a sustainable future by fostering the wellbeing of people, place and planet. It supports museum practice that places wellbeing within an environmental and future-facing frame, rethinking the role that museums can play in creating more resilient people, places and planet. Through action research, academic research, peer networking and training it supports institutional and community wellbeing and resilience in the face of global challenges.

At LIVE we recognise the global climate and biodiversity crisis as the greatest threat to humanity and understand the importance of collaboration and community in building a sustainable society. We want to enable all in the live music industry to commit to climate action by providing the necessary support, resources and advice.

aims to collate and provide research, expertise and cross-industry innovation that is informed by the best science and supports the transition to a regenerative future. Alongside this work, LIVE Green has developed a Vision; a voluntary Declaration that individual businesses may sign up to; and a Purpose statement, that will help shape the group’s work, and define how companies and individuals across the live industry can act and take the lead on this crisis.

All 13 association members of LIVE have ratified the Beyond Zero Declaration to deliver measurable and targeted action on climate change, with the ultimate aim of reaching net zero emissions by 2030.

May Project Gardens is an award-winning CIC, working across South London to address poverty, disempowerment, access to resources and influence. They work with marginalised groups, young people and people of colour, using what they consider universally connecting tools like nature, food and creative arts for social change.

May Project Gardens aims to create personal, social and economic transformation for marginalised people by reconnecting with nature and finding community solutions to economic hardship.

Formed by a group of UK based artists and music industry professionals in London in 2019, works with over 6000 declarers from all sectors and areas of the global music industry, placing music at the heart of conversation and action in relation to the climate emergency. Our slogan, ‘No Music On A Dead Planet’, has been seen by millions on screens and stages across the world and our groups and affiliates across Europe, North America, and Australasia continue to place concern for the climate at the heart of music culture.

(NMDC) represents the leaders of the UK's national collections and major regional museums. Our members are the national and major regional museums in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the British Film Institute. In 2019/20, NMDC’s member institutions received over 85 million visitors.

NMDC acts as an advocate on behalf of members and their collective priorities and provides them with a valuable forum for discussion and debate and an opportunity to share information and work collaboratively. While our members are funded by government, the NMDC is an independent, non-governmental organisation.

is an initiative by theatre-makers to move theatre towards sustainability, in response to the climate emergency. It has been developed by theatre-makers of all kinds, working at all scales to provide a shared pathway towards zero carbon.

It has three volumes; Sustainable Productions provides guidance on making shows more sustainably. Sustainably Buildings demonstrates how to improve theatre buildings. Sustainable Operations covers everything from foyers and catering through to rehearsals and construction workshops.

Led by theatre architect Paddy Dillon, the Theatre Green Book is a partnership of all the UK’s leading organisations for performance and sustainability, including the Theatres Trust, ABTT, UK Theatre, Federation of Scottish Theatres, and Julie’s Bicycle. Its guidance unites bestpractice from across the world and gives theatre-makers clear, shared standards for the journey to zero carbon.

is a pioneering, clean energy company whose purpose is to power the choice of a cleaner, greener future for everyone. Having led the way in clean energy since 1999, Good Energy is making it easier for people and businesses to make renewable energy part of their lives. Its mission is to help one million homes and businesses cut their carbon by 2025. It supplies customers with electricity from a community of over 1700 renewable generators, helps tens of thousands more generate their own clean power and is accelerating clean transport too as a major investor in Zap-Map, the UK’s go-to electric vehicle charging app. The company has a long history of working with the arts and cultural sector.

began its journey in 2002 as Borough Wines in the world famous Borough Market with its I WILL REFILL wine on tap concept.

Today Sustainable Wine Solutions are the true champions of sustainability within the drinks industry, with their fully circular business model supplying zero waste wines in the most sustainable and convenient formats for the trade with Uk's only refill Kegs for wine-on-tap and the first Bottle Return Scheme,directly invested in tackling packaging and transport of wine (the biggest source of emissions in the wine industry), as well as working with sustainably led winemakers passionate about quality wines with provenance.

Host or Publisher Julie's Bicycle