Big Heart has been a key part of the Cape Farewell initiative since its inception in 2003, when the company was chosen to document the maiden voyage of the ‘cultural response to climate change’. A voyage which took physical form in the shape of the 100 foot Dutch schooner the Noorderlicht’s journey to the Svalbard archipelago. Crewed by a team of artists, scientists and journalists the expedition aimed to inaugurate an integrated assessment of how our lifestyle affected the distant but crucial ecosystem of the Arctic and what could be done to raise awareness and change our practices.

Since that first expedition the project has gone from strength to strength with participants as high profile as Ian McEwan and Antony Gormley taking part in more recent voyages (an experience McEwan used as the basis for his recent book Solar.) Big Heart has become particularly involved with the initiative’s focus on youth and education, which came to the fore during the 2007 and 2008 expeditions that brought kids from diverse backgrounds to see the effects of climate change first hand and report back to their contemporaries. Producing programmes, interactive media and literature that linked to both the science and arts curriculum Big Heart spearheaded Cape Farewell‘s education initiatives, which continue today with the Speak Green project.

www.capefarewell.com

Speakgreen is a Cape Farewell Education project which helps young people explore the human demand on the earth’s ecosystem, focusing on the effects of climate change in the East Midlands and in particular in Lincolnshire. The project supports young people to take challenging and creative action in their local environment now and for the future.

The first phase of the project focuses on the effects of climate change in Lincolnshire, with Cape Farewell Education working in partnership with The Mighty Creatives in Leicester setting up Green Teams in a linked network of Lincolnshire schools. Green Teams investigate aspects of climate change in the region, initiate creative and scientific projects, and build links to local artists, scientists and journalists.

The primary goal of speakgreen is to provide opportunities for leadership and participation in issues of climate change among young people. The project involves the whole school and its immediate community, working closely with participating schools to deliver core educational goals inside and outside the curriculum, within the focus on climate change. Find out more about the project and how you can get involved on the website.

www.speakgreen.info