Inspired by this bold provocation, Learning for Sustainability Scotland (LfSS) launched an exciting collaboration with Hamishibai Cardboard Theatre from Argentina, YouthLink Scotland, and the University of Edinburgh to celebrate Scotland’s Climate Week.

The annual national celebration that is Scotland’s Climate Week brings together communities, schools, businesses, and individuals across Scotland – all united by one goal: to inspire action on climate change.

To mark the occasion, we invited Hamishibai to run two in-person workshops — one at YouthLink Scotland and another at the Outdoor and Environmental Learning Unit at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. These sessions brought together a rich mix of participants – from Postgraduate Diploma in Education, and Masters in Outdoor and Environment Education students; to youth workers, practitioners, academics, and our own LfSS team

The story behind the stories

Through storytelling, games, cardboard theatre, and humour, Hamishibai opened new possibilities for dialogue, connection, and collaboration; helping participants to break barriers, challenge perspectives, and to ‘think outside the box’ about issues of climate change and sustainability. The experience sparked not just bold imaginative and courageous ideas, but new ways of being together to unleash new imaginings for our complex and often absurd world.

Liz Green, Workforce and Practice Manager, YouthLink Scotland believes that ‘Using creativity and absurdity to explore challenging topics around the climate emergency are fantastic tools for youth workers to employ with young people to open up conversations, tackle climate anxiety and explore climate action. We were delighted to host Hamishibai and LfSS to share this methodology through experiential learning with practitioners.’

Weaving creative practices into the education of future educators and students of outdoor and environmental learning at Edinburgh’s Moray School of Education and Sport is also integral for (re)imagining and educating for sustainable futures.

In the words of Gavin Mackenzie, Teaching Fellow in Outdoor and Environmental Education: ‘There is something beautiful about the creativity that is unleashed when students across disciplines are afforded the space to confront difficult and complex issues in collaborative and disruptive ways. The Hamishibai workshop afforded such an opportunity.

Creative pedagogies – disruptive, telling untold stories, creating new stories that act as a catalyst for action towards more sustainable and equitable futures – are threads that weave through our work in outdoor, environmental and sustainability education at our school. May we grasp more of these opportunities for cross programme and transdisciplinary imaginings!’

A lasting impact

Through storytelling, games, cardboard theatre, and humour, Hamishibai:

  • Invited us to cross boundaries, connect across disciplines, cultures and generations to explore new possibilities for dialogue, connection, collaboration, and friendships
  • Reminded us that being uncomfortable is part of who we are – we are living in unsettling/complex times and we need to create more spaces to be creative, to unlearn, learn, and (re) imagine our relationship with our planet and people in new ways
  • As one of the participants highlighted ‘Thinking about these complex issues in a fun way is liberating – makes us more receptive to new ideas and ways of seeing and being’
  • Planted the seeds for new ideas and a growing desire to collaborate going forward.

Our warmest thanks goes to Ham, Eugenia and Emilia from Hamishibai; Liz Green from YouthLink Scotland; and Gavin Mackenzie, University of Edinburgh, for making these wonderful events possible.

Image credit: Emilia Khan/Learning for Sustainability Scotland