Art can become a means to inte­grate mar­gi­na­li­zed voices into the conver­sa­tion. It can voice aspects of the issue not other­wise expres­sed in public docu­ments or poli­cy sta­te­ments. Art helps us to lis­ten bet­ter. How might we har­ness the power of arts to explore issues around ener­gy acces­si­bi­li­ty ? Ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty is an increa­sing concern for many Cana­dians ; howe­ver, spea­king about (un)affordability conti­nues to be pro­ble­ma­tic. In the series of com­mu­ni­ty-enga­ged arts work­shops, Ener­gy Mat­ters, we invol­ved sta­ke­hol­ders to address ques­tions such as : How vital is ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty in deve­lo­ping sus­tai­nable cities ? How do cli­mate change and Canada’s tran­si­tion to Net Zero impact low-income groups strug­gling with ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty ? Why must Affor­dable Hou­sing inte­grate ener­gy affordability ?

I was pri­vi­le­ged to col­la­bo­rate (as the FUTURES/for­ward and Tri­co Chan­ge­ma­kers Studio’s artist-in-resi­dence in co-crea­ting and faci­li­ta­ting the Ener­gy Mat­ters pro­ject) with Alber­ta Eco­trust (SEE the LINKS BELOW for more infor­ma­tion) and their part­ners (ACORN, Kam­bo, Ener­gy Effi­cien­cy, All One Sky, and others) in their Ener­gy Pover­ty and Home Upgrades Pro­gram. Ener­gy Mat­ters was a series of par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry arts work­shops where par­ti­ci­pants (sta­ke­hol­ders who were ener­gy advo­cates within their orga­ni­za­tions, inclu­ding Home Upgrades pro­gram staff at Alber­ta Eco­trust and advo­cates from Ecotrust’s part­ners : ACORN, All One Sky, and Cal­ga­ry Alliance for the Com­mon Good) enga­ged in arts-based dia­logue around ener­gy pover­ty using crea­tive acti­vi­ties to reflect on the ways ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty is connec­ted with cli­mate change and the pro-poor poli­cies that could gene­rate more equi­ty.  The pro­ject was based on inter­sec­tio­nal ethics of care that loo­ked at the ways ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty impacts various sec­tions of our socie­ty, inclu­ding seniors, people with disa­bi­li­ties, women, and newcomers.

Each work­shop star­ted with an acti­vi­ty that invol­ved embo­died deep lis­te­ning and attu­ning the ear to approach ques­tions about ener­gy unaf­for­da­bi­li­ty from an audi­to­ry approach that faci­li­tates crea­ting sound arts for social change. Refer to Part A in PCM hub to see an example of this acti­vi­ty. Part B will assist you in crea­ting prompts for par­ti­ci­pants to reflect on.

1)    Fol­lo­wing a gui­ded medi­ta­tion, involve the par­ti­ci­pants in an audi­to­ry reflec­tion acti­vi­ty that per­tains to their eve­ry­day rea­li­ties and their expe­rience of them. See below for examples :

Example 1 : What is the one sound that you heard this mor­ning that brought you here today. [See the atta­ched video]

Example 2 : What are the sounds that you find agreeable and calming ?

Example 3 : What are the sounds that you find unplea­sant and dis­rup­ting your comfort ?

2)    Next, engage the par­ti­ci­pants in a reflec­tion that per­tains to their work on ener­gy accessibility.

See the images below as an example of how the par­ti­ci­pants were invol­ved in a cri­ti­cal­ly self-reflexive dia­logue that ensu­red the crea­tion of a space of open­ness and mutual res­pect where they sha­red the biases and pre­ju­dices that they bring to their work on ener­gy acces­si­bi­li­ty. Par­ti­ci­pants were asked to ques­tion the biases and pre­ju­dices they bring to their work addres­sing ener­gy inac­ces­si­bi­li­ty. What are the limi­ta­tions to their lis­te­ning to people expe­rien­cing the cri­sis of ener­gy affor­da­bi­li­ty ?  [See the res­ponses of one group in the jam board in the image gal­le­ry below]

3)    Ask par­ti­ci­pants to read other res­ponses on the jam board and share their pers­pec­tives. [See the atta­ched video for an example of this activity].