Chapter 19 - Perspectives from Creative Spaces

Summary

This chapter discusses the role of creativity, narrative inquiry and meaning-making in making sense of systemic global crises and affirms their important role to play in helping young people deal with climate distress. Drawing on field work with the Dark Mountain Project, a cultural movement that grew out of the Dark Mountain manifesto published in 2009, it also describes how narrative repositioning can offer possibilities for opening up new ways of thinking and being. Using human–nature relationships as the focus for creative practice and inquiry into the narratives that frame each of our lives, participants in this project have broadened their experience of reality and worked through the difficult emotional states that arise with a growing awareness of the crisis occurring in the natural world. This kind of transformation of the ontological and epistemological foundation which frames a person’s lifeworld has the potential to engender a greater sense of belonging, especially if it is undertaken in a larger community of inquiry. By attending to processes of meaning-making in the way we address social and environmental problems, we may open up new avenues for thinking and acting, which help young people to become whole, healthy and resilient human beings in a time of global crises.