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Listen "Episode 48 - Bridget McKenzie (Director of Climate Museum UK & Culture Declares Emergency)"
Episode Synopsis
This episode is a chat with Bridget McKenzie, the founding director of Climate Museums UK.
In our chat we talk about Bridget’s career, which includes working at as an education officer at Tate, and as the Head of Learning at the British Library, and we explore how a value driven approach to work drove her to leave a senior role in a major culture institution to cofound her own company, Flow Associates in 2006.
Bridget is also the co-founder of Culture Declares Emergency, a growing movement of individuals and organisations who recognise that the cultural sector can be a leading contributor in the transformation of social and economic systems to create a regenerative world in which biodiverse life is protected and the livelihoods of people are sustained with equality.
We also chat about Bridget’s Possitopia Norwich project and her Earth Talk project, which is a course, a community of practice and a playbook that offers a set of tools to hold effective conversations and creative activities about the Earth Crisis.
This chat was recorded in August 2024 and is an edited version of a longer conversation.
Links:
Bridget McKenzie (CV): https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/
Climate Museum UK: https://climatemuseumuk.org/
Culture Declares Emergency: https://www.culturedeclares.org/
Flow Associates: https://flowassociates.com/
BP to end Tate Sponsorship: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/mar/11/bp-to-end-tate-sponsorship-climate-protests
Robert Janes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lRTBuPSeUg
Tony Butler (Director of Derby Museums): https://derbymuseums.org/news/tony-butler-executive-director-of-derby-museums-trust-awarded-obe-in-new-years-honours-2025
Happy Museum Project: https://happymuseumproject.org/
Creative Climate Leadership: https://www.creativeclimateleadership.com/
Julie’s Bicycle: https://juliesbicycle.com/
Miranda Massie: https://www.mirandamassie.com/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Massie
British Library: https://www.bl.uk/
Possitopian Norwich: https://possitopianorwich.me/
Norwich Eco Hub Podcast (Bridget McKenzie episode): https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3vjNV2ys7Rl0gUkFYR9Eyy?utm_source=generator
Explaining Possitopia: https://climatemuseumuk.org/2020/10/15/explaining-possitopia/
Imagination Activism: https://www.moralimaginations.com/imaginationactivism
Imagination + Activism for life (Article): https://bridgetmck.medium.com/imagination-activism-for-life-3cc8041ec60a
Earth Talk - book and course on engaging people with the Earth Crisis: https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/earth-talk
The Roles of Culture in Response to an Earth Crisis: https://tinyurl.com/y2eatehx
Some Climate Museum UK projects that have generated resources : https://climatemuseumuk.org/other-sites/
Earth Talk - book and course on engaging people with the Earth Crisis: https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/earth-talk
In our chat we talk about Bridget’s career, which includes working at as an education officer at Tate, and as the Head of Learning at the British Library, and we explore how a value driven approach to work drove her to leave a senior role in a major culture institution to cofound her own company, Flow Associates in 2006.
Bridget is also the co-founder of Culture Declares Emergency, a growing movement of individuals and organisations who recognise that the cultural sector can be a leading contributor in the transformation of social and economic systems to create a regenerative world in which biodiverse life is protected and the livelihoods of people are sustained with equality.
We also chat about Bridget’s Possitopia Norwich project and her Earth Talk project, which is a course, a community of practice and a playbook that offers a set of tools to hold effective conversations and creative activities about the Earth Crisis.
This chat was recorded in August 2024 and is an edited version of a longer conversation.
Links:
Bridget McKenzie (CV): https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/
Climate Museum UK: https://climatemuseumuk.org/
Culture Declares Emergency: https://www.culturedeclares.org/
Flow Associates: https://flowassociates.com/
BP to end Tate Sponsorship: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/mar/11/bp-to-end-tate-sponsorship-climate-protests
Robert Janes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lRTBuPSeUg
Tony Butler (Director of Derby Museums): https://derbymuseums.org/news/tony-butler-executive-director-of-derby-museums-trust-awarded-obe-in-new-years-honours-2025
Happy Museum Project: https://happymuseumproject.org/
Creative Climate Leadership: https://www.creativeclimateleadership.com/
Julie’s Bicycle: https://juliesbicycle.com/
Miranda Massie: https://www.mirandamassie.com/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Massie
British Library: https://www.bl.uk/
Possitopian Norwich: https://possitopianorwich.me/
Norwich Eco Hub Podcast (Bridget McKenzie episode): https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3vjNV2ys7Rl0gUkFYR9Eyy?utm_source=generator
Explaining Possitopia: https://climatemuseumuk.org/2020/10/15/explaining-possitopia/
Imagination Activism: https://www.moralimaginations.com/imaginationactivism
Imagination + Activism for life (Article): https://bridgetmck.medium.com/imagination-activism-for-life-3cc8041ec60a
Earth Talk - book and course on engaging people with the Earth Crisis: https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/earth-talk
The Roles of Culture in Response to an Earth Crisis: https://tinyurl.com/y2eatehx
Some Climate Museum UK projects that have generated resources : https://climatemuseumuk.org/other-sites/
Earth Talk - book and course on engaging people with the Earth Crisis: https://bridgetmckenzie.uk/earth-talk
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