Encountering the Earth: How Ecological Creativity Changes Us and the World
Free Webinar

Encountering the Earth: How Ecological Creativity Changes Us and the World

April 1, 2025 5:00 PM UTC

Hannah Close Picture

Hannah Close is a writer, photographer and cultural curator working with islands and oceans.

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Robert Macfarlane Picture

Robert Macfarlane is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place.

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Lucy Neal Picture

Lucy Neal is a theatre maker, writer and educator.

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Join bestselling author Robert Macfarlane, collaborative theatre maker Lucy Neal, and filmmaker-curator Hannah Close for a conversation about our creative connection with the Earth, ahead of the launch of our innovative new course, The Wild Imagination: Exploring Creative Ecology.

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About this webinar

Join bestselling author Robert Macfarlane, collaborative theatre maker Lucy Neal, and filmmaker-curator Hannah Close for a conversation about our creative connection with the Earth, ahead of the launch of our innovative new course, The Wild Imagination: Exploring Creative Ecology.

In this webinar, we’ll explore how paying imaginative attention to our other-than-human kin, the living landscapes around and within us, and the web of relations that connect us all can foster care for the Earth and deepen our sense of belonging to this wild and intelligent planet we call home.

In a time of widespread alienation from the rest of nature, the ongoing machining of our creativity in service to capital, and the systematic destruction of our biosphere, cultivating and defending our creative relationships with the Earth has never been more critical, or more affirming – when the going gets tough, we turn to art to help us make sense of the world, ourselves, and each other.

With that in mind, we invite you to join us as we delve into the creative heart of life itself. Topics we’ll cover include the role of art in challenging times, creativity as a lifeforce, rewilding the imagination, and much more.

Join us at the turn of spring for a deep dive into the imagination of life!

What You'll Learn

  • How creativity nurtures a reciprocal relationship with the Earth
  • How ecological storytelling emerges from the interplay between inner and outer landscapes
  • How viewing creativity as a lifeform in and of itself can reshape our environmental behaviours and values
  • How creative work can be a source of personal healing as well as have an impact on global issues

About your teachers

Hannah Close Picture

Hannah Close is a writer, photographer and cultural curator working with islands and oceans.

Learn more

Hannah Close is a writer, photographer and cultural curator working with islands and oceans. She is part of the Dark Mountain Project team and has published creative nonfiction both there and with the Centre for Humans and Nature, and her photography has been published in the Guardian, Telegraph and Times. Hannah is currently making a documentary called Islandness, and also co-convenes sailing residencies for artists. She lives between a wild Hebridean island and the salty southwest coast of the UK with her dog Rune.

Robert Macfarlane Picture

Robert Macfarlane is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place.

Learn more

Robert Macfarlane is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place. His bestselling books include Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind, as well as a book-length prose-poem, Ness. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, won prizes around the world, and been widely adapted for film, music, theatre, radio and dance. He has also written operas, plays, and films including River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe. He has collaborated closely with artists including Olafur Eliasson and Stanley Donwood, and with the artist Jackie Morris he co-created the internationally bestselling books of nature-poetry and art, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells.

Lucy Neal Picture

Lucy Neal is a theatre maker, writer and educator.

Learn more

Lucy Neal is a theatre maker, writer and educator. Co-founder of the London International Festival of Theatre, she is interested in celebratory events as a catalyst for change: from the gifting of a small seed in a six-minute ritual to the staging of a theatre of fire for 20,000 in Victoria Park. Her handbook Playing for Time – Making Art As If the World Mattered maps collaborative arts practices emerging in response to planetary challenges. She is a founder ‘declarer’ of Culture Declares, a global movement of artists and cultural organisations declaring a climate and ecological emergency.