e17 piro – creative facilitators in the age of climate change

What does it mean to be creative facilitators in the age of climate change in the midst of a disaster? Some learnings: self-care is community care, good solutions scale up and the need to work with those who have been disproportionately targeted.Em Piro, Creative Climate Leadership USA, March, 2020(episode 10 of 10 in Creative Climate Leadership USA Series)Creative Climate Leadership USA  was developed by Julie’s Bicycle, an international  leader in arts, culture and climate change based in London (led by Alison Tickell) and brought together 25 arts and culture leaders from the US and Canada to Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona from March 8-14, 2020 thanks to a collaboration of EcoArts Connections, the University of Arizona and the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence  (CEUCE) based at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Em Piro has been called a change agent, disruptor, artist, counselor, sparkplug, + community architect.Her practice is in performance, urbanism, futurism, + environmental economics.She is currently rooted in Seattle + St Louis, with tendrils in Toronto, Denver, and on the road.She’s ‘arted’ + ideated across Turtle Island (US/Canada), South America, Europe/Scandanavia, UK + in the expansive virtual landscape.Her work’s been highlighted in NYTimes, CNN, Riverfront Times, a history textbook, + the Kickass Awards. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026