Team London Bridge’s director of arts, Ellie Beedham, explains how positive change stems from an experiential approach to sustainability. By Anna Turns.

Led by a curious silver orb and its sounds, each member of the ‘audience’ for a roving summer show called Congregation meandered through the streets and parks of London Bridge, past landmark buildings, such as The Shard, and into undiscovered green spaces. At the sonic journey’s end in St. John’s churchyard, 60 orbs combined to create a symphony composed by award-winning artist Ray Lee, where 90 people merged to appreciate the natural beauty on their doorstep.

“Sustainability runs through everything the London Bridge BID does,” explains Ellie Beedham, director of arts at Team London Bridge who has spent the last couple of years meeting people, getting under the skin of the local area to see what is possible and commissioning projects that amplify and enrich what the BID is doing, from circus performances to film screenings.

Nature connection is at the core of much of her current work so although tackling the climate crisis has traditionally belonged in the realm of scientists, she firmly believes that bringing the ecological problems we face into the arts is a powerful way to process our fears, express our concerns and even come up with new solutions. “So much information about the environment is presented as facts in a pamphlet, on a website or a news report on TV. The climate crisis and all the calls to action around clean air, becoming carbon neutral and the circular economy can seem quite overwhelming,” she says. Storytelling and collaborative artworks can help communities to navigate environmental issues in a fresh, dynamic way, as Beedham explains: “Artists and performance makers are interested in the human condition and everything that happens to us. They present issues in alternative ways so that people can connect and engage anew.”

Following the start of the global pandemic, Beedham feels there is an even greater sense of overwhelm: “Everyone is exhausted from Covid and we’ve all been bombarded with negative facts, so I don’t think anyone has the capacity to take in anything numerical right now.” That’s where storytelling can help. “Artists and art projects can present some of that information in bitesize pieces so that we can process it.” Team London Bridge has commissioned a new family show for 2022 called Plot 17 led by hip-hop hero Kenny Baraka who is creating a mobile block party travelling around raising awareness, inspiring action and spreading the message of “making things green” and the importance of looking after the planet.

Beedham has worked as a producer of arts projects for 30 years and loves nothing more than curating an original, interactive and experiential live event that surprises an audience. The results can be transformative: “Through the arts, people can encounter things that can change the way that they think, it can be quite subtle but by getting people engaged and hopeful, they might be more likely to act.”

The cultural events programme at Team London Bridge goes far beyond the limits of traditional theatre spaces. The cityscape becomes the platform, from the green spaces to the riverside, encouraging people who enjoy this area to connect with the environment and all that surrounds them.

SEED by Circumference. Credit Alex Brenner, 2020

“We want people to think about environmental issues such as biodiversity more deeply and then start to give them the tools to change - that will look different for different people depending on their life story,” says Beedham. It all starts with an authentic emotional connection and Team London Bridge is, by its very nature, solutions-focused. “London Bridge is such an interesting neighbourhood and the community cares really deeply about it. Lots of people live here, work here and play here and everyone is really engaged. There’s a big mix of cultures and the area glows because of that.” For Beedham, the key is using the resources, information and intelligence that already exist here to build a better district for the future. “This is our stage for really exciting, world-class culture,” she adds.

Climate and culture: The power of storytelling