Online professional development for performing arts centres and cultural organisations ready to lead on climate solutions.

This session explores climate risk governance, and outlines the responsibilities board, directors and executive have in managing climate-related risks within their organisation.

Led by climate change experts Pangolin, this session will host a live role-play exercise exploring climate related risks and opportunities, with a range of board and executive level managers from venues across Australia. Participants will contribute to a collaborative Whiteboard, which you will receive at the end of the session.

Whilst the process may highlight the physical risk of big weather events, it will focus on the business risk that broader climate change effects will play on delivering artistic programs.

Outcomes:

• Develop board and executive climate competency in climate risk management.
• Gain perspective on climate change effects on artistic program delivery.
• Embed climate risk mitigation and planning at executive level. Mitigation will include emissions reduction plans.
• Support middle-management to effectively advocate up for change through the risk analysis process.

Matthew Coleman 

Matthew is a Client Solutions Manager at Pangolin, with an environmental science degree from the University of New England in Armidale, NSW.

Matthew advocates for a sustainable future that recognises all cultures and worldviews and can be adapted for any business. His primary role at Pangolin Associates is to help clients understand the risk and opportunities of decarbonisation, tackling the complex world of climate-related issues and breaking them down to deliver tangible outcomes.

Penny Miles

Penny is an arts professional with over 25 years’ experience in senior roles in performing arts, executive leadership, strategic planning, change management and governance.

Penny has worked across all tiers of government including the Australia Council for the Arts and a range of NSW Government departments managing major performing arts portfolio, sport infrastructure programs, gambling regulation and health services and the Chair of City of Melbourne’s Nighttime Economy Taskforce.

Penny is recognised as an expert in change-management and governance, with this includes a great respect for organisational risk management.

Penny is currently part of the Executive for the Betty Amsden Foundation, and the Senior Associate for the arts consultancy firm Tony Grybowski and Associates.

Kim Bluett

Kim manages and oversees the enterprise risk management framework and GRC programs of the Sydney Opera House, with a focus on improving risk culture, business ownership and active management of risk.

The role is also focused on: increasing organisational capability in project and change management and the application of the Opera House project management framework; and driving project success via project support, improved transparency and strong governance.

Criena Gehrke

Criena is the Chair of PAC Australia, and the Executive Director of Queensland Theatre. Criena previously worked with Circa, Australia’s Contemporary Circus Company as Group Executive – Strategy and Impact, and spent five years as the inaugural CEO of HOTA Gold Coast where she led the development of the cultural precinct including 140 million dollars of infrastructure projects and welcoming 700,000 visitors each year.

Criena has also held the role of Executive Co-ordinator, Arts and Culture, City of Gold Coast, and worked in the youth arts and disability sectors in Victoria. She was instrumental in developing the Gold Coast’s culture strategy and helped oversee the Arts and Cultural Program of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Elena Kirschbaum 

Elena is co-Director of Gluttony, an Adelaide based events company behind major festivals including Gluttony at Adelaide Fringe, Lucky Dumpling Market, Glenelg Winter Arts Festival, and Melbourne’s Downtown Dumpling Market. She specialises in outdoor event delivery in Australian summer conditions. She is also a creative producer and director, specialising in circus and multi-artform shows through her company Highwire Entertainment.

Elena was the recipient of the the inspiring Female Leader award at InDaily’s 40 under 40 (2023), Force Forty member for SA Department of the Premier & Cabinet (2023), and a 2025 nominee for the International Women’s Day Arts Leadership Award.

Watch Auslan interpretation for Session 1 of Adaptive Futures back now.

Reducing climate risk begins with mitigating your emissions.

This session will delve into the key emissions sources within live event and venue operations, while showcasing real-world examples of venues taking meaningful climate action, and sharing insights from participants of Green Music Australia’s Green Venue Program.

From simple, impactful changes to more ambitious decarbonisation strategies, participants will gain practical insights and inspiration. The session will include discussion time, offering space to explore ideas. 

Outcomes: 

• Where emissions come from in a venue setting.

• Simple and more advanced ways to reduce emissions.

• A snapshot calculation of your emissions.

Emma Bosworth

Emma Bosworth is a singer-songwriter based on Kabi Kabi Country and a core member of the Green Music Australia team. She leads key initiatives like the Green Action Program, collaborating with industry partners such as ABC Music, Live Nation, and MusicNSW to tackle the environmental challenges facing the music sector.

Emma also co-created Amidesi, a platform designed to measure and manage the industry’s social and environmental impact.

Before joining Green Music Australia, she held roles across the Australian music and not-for-profit sectors, including positions at APRA AMCOS, QMusic, and Beyond Zero Emissions.

Jess Zickar

As ICC Sydney’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager, Jess Zickar draws on over 13 years’ experience in environmental management to drive ICC Sydney’s CSR Strategy and Legacy Program – delivering positive environmental and social impact in line with the venue’s strong commitments.

Jess is passionate in supporting event organisers to reach their CSR objectives and leveraging the wide-reaching influence of events to create a more sustainable and equitable future.

Melissa Twells

Melissa Twells is Manager of Community and Recreation Venues at Waverley Council, leading the strategic and operational management of diverse venues. With a background in arts and cultural venue leadership, she specialises in driving audience engagement, delivering award-nominated programs, and creating inclusive spaces that connect communities and artists.

Sam McGuinness

Sam McGuinness manages Environmental Sustainability at Waverley Council. He has significant experience in sustainability in urban environments in the areas of transport.

Biodiversity, water and climate change and the interaction of the community in both public and private areas. At Waverley he has assisted in Council moving ambitiously towards achieving their net zero by 2030 target and facilitating the community to achieve net zero with urgency.

Watch the Auslan interpretation of Session 2 of Adaptive Futures now.

Climate change calls on us to think in new and courageous ways—and the arts have a powerful role to play. 

In this session, we’ll explore how embracing adaptability can lead to innovative approaches in how we host, gather, and engage with our audiences. Together, we’ll consider how the stories we choose to tell can ignite meaningful dialogue, deepen connection, shift perspectives, and explore the unique and powerful role the arts have in supporting climate solutions. The session will include time for questions and discussion. 

Outcomes: 

• Consider the unique role programming plays in supporting climate solutions
• Consider how we gather our audiences and engage our communities in new ways
• Embed climate action into your programming priorities (Homework) 

Angharad Wynne-Jones

Angharad Wynne-Jones (she/her) is Cymry (Welsh) Australian and lives on the unceded lands of Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung in Naarm (Melbourne). She is Facilitator of Creative Climate, the culture and arts climate action peak body, delivering sector support, engagement, participation and systemic transformation, funded by Creative Australia 2025-2029.

She is an independent curator and creative consultant following her leadership roles as Head of Audience Engagement at State Library Victoria (2021-2024) and Head of Creative Engagement at Arts Centre Melbourne (2018-2021). From 2011- 2017 she was Artistic Director at Arts House Melbourne where she initiated Refuge – a six year publicly engaged investigation into the role of cultural institutions in climate catastrophes.

She was co founder of Chunky Move, Associate Director of Adelaide Festival, Artistic Director and CEO of London International Festival of Theatre and Founder Director of TippingPoint Australia – energising the cultural response to climate change. She designed and delivered the Cultural Leadership MFA course at NIDA and leadership programs with Creative Australia. She is Chair of Aphids, and a member of the Centre for Reworlding collective.

Aimee Smith

Aimee is an award-winning choreographer and dance artist with a Masters in Sustainability and Climate Policy who brings her decade of creative practice into the heart of her climate and sustainability work.

Aimee supports organisations and governments to develop and implement sustainability and climate action plans – looking at both how they reduce emissions and adapt and build resilience in the face of climate change.

She also teaches, practices and advocates for creative leadership for climate action and the vital role of arts and creativity in accelerating our sustainable future.

Aimee is a Creative Climate Leadership Fellow and sits on the board of The Last Great Hunt and WA Climate Leaders.

Courtney Stewart

Courtney Stewart is an acclaimed director, dramaturg, actor and teaching artist with a deep passion for intercultural works and multicultural dramaturgies. She is the current Artistic Director and CEO of La Boite Theatre.

A proud Queenslander, Courtney started her professional career as an actor before honing her talents as an artistic leader, diversity advocate and change maker for some of the country’s most prolific companies and organisations including Sydney Theatre Company (as Directing Associate and Richard Wherrett Fellow), Belvoir and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (as Artistic Associate).

Courtney was previously Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee, a delegate to the National Performers Committee, and a former board member for Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.

Courtney has worked on acclaimed productions such as Maxine Beneba Clarke’s The Hate Race, The Poison of Polygamy by Anchuli Felicia King, Miss Peony, Top Coat and Single Asian Female by Michelle Law.

Sustainability efforts often focus on achieving “net-zero” or “carbon neutrality,” primarily aim to minimise harm. As the climate crisis deepens, there is a growing need to shift from sustaining to actively regenerating the culture, ecosystems and communities in which we operate. 

By embedding First Nations principles of our interconnectedness with nature, this session will explore the importance of nature and how performing arts centres can evolve into active contributors to ecological and social regeneration, with time for questions & discussion   

Outcome:  

• Understand First Nations perspectives on our interconnectedness with nature 
• Recognise nature’s critical role in the climate crisis, and ours in supporting it 
• Learn about regenerative infrastructure 

Claire G.Coleman

Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonded to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. Born in Perth, she has lived away from her ancestral country most of her life in and around Melbourne, Victoria.

Claire is a Co-founded and lead writer at the Centre for Reworlding and has been a member of the cultural advisory committee for Agency, a Not-for-profit Indigenous arts Consultancy since mid-2020.

Claire writes fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, art reviews and undertook a commissioned play for the Malthouse Theatre.

Her debut novel Terra Nullius (2017), published in Australia and in the US, won a Norma K. Hemming Award and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award.

Her second novel The Old Lie (2019), followed by non-fiction book Lies Damned Lines: A personal exploration of the impact of colonisation (2021), and Enclave (2022).

Her essays, poetry, short fiction, and art criticism has been published in The Saturday Paper, The Guardian, Spectrum, Meanjin, Australian Poetry, Griffith Review and many others.

Amanda Sturgeon

A voice for nature through Regenerative Design, Amanda Sturgeon is an Architect, CEO, Author, Speaker and Consultant. Whatever the role Amanda’s mission is the same: to connect people and nature.

Amanda’s mission is grounded in the belief that climate change and biodiversity loss are the two critical issues of our time. Only by repairing the relationship that people have with the natural world can we shift from a ‘take, make, waste’ society towards a regenerative one.

Amanda is currently the CEO of the Biomimicry Institute Australia, and a non-executive director on the Climate Action Network Australia. She was previously the CEO of Built by Nature, Regenerative Design Lead at at global consultancy firm Mott MacDonald. As the former CEO of the International Living Future Institute, she spent a decade creating regenerative frameworks such as the Living Building and Community Challenge programs, scaled the organization globally and created a global movement around Biophilic Design.

Amanda is an award-winning architect, author of Creating Biophilic Buildings, a TED Speaker on Bringing Biophilic Design to Life and has an essay in the recently released anthology All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions to Climate Change (September 2020).

Watch the Auslan interpretation of Session 4 of Adaptive Futures now.

The 2024 Act Green Report (UK) shows us that audiences care about climate change, want our cultural institutions to lead the way, and are willing to help them do it!  

This session will explore how messages of action and hope are critical to your climate leadership work, and how a climate narrative in your communications will create a new relationship with audiences, and signal to young people you are acting responsibly for their future. There will then be time for questions & discussion.   

Outcome: 

• Understand how a climate narrative creates a deeper dialogue with your audiences 
• Maintain relevance with young people and audiences  
• Embed climate narrative into your marketing plans (Homework) 

Jaime Laird

Jaime has a decade of experience in sustainability communications strategy and copywriting. She holds a bachelor degree in commerce (economics and marketing) and a masters degree in environment and climate. Fun fact: her first paid gig was singing in the children’s chorus of La Bohème. 

Andy Packer

Andy is an award-winning director of theatre, music theatre and opera. He has also worked as creative producer of multidisciplinary arts programs, creative director of large-scale events and festival director. In 2007 Andy co-founded theatre company Slingsby. Based on Kaurna Meyunna Yerta, Adelaide Plains, Slingsby is internationally renowned for emotionally powerful storytelling for audiences aged 8 and up, creating a shared experience of wonder, tailored simultaneously for young people, adults and elders. The company’s productions have toured across all states and territories of Australia alongside international touring in New Zealand, USA, Canada, Singapore, China, India, Spain, Norway, UK, Scotland and Ireland, with repeat invitations to New Victory Theatre – New York, Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Dublin Theatre Festival, Baboró International Arts Festival for Children and Sydney Opera House. 

Watch the Auslan interpretation of Session 5 of Adaptive Futures now.

This session will help us project far into the future to explore the world we hope it to be, and bring us back to the present to walk through what we need to start doing to create it.

We will then have an open discussion with all participants to collaborate with peers and colleagues on specific actions for your organisations.

Pippa Bailey 

Pippa’s skills are forged in arts and culture, grounded in the performing arts and live events. She has led festivals, built a multi-arts centre, curated galleries and talks, flown to the Moon, conjured a museum, supported many amazing artists and played with fire and fireworks. She’s also been a TV reporter, made 2 documentaries and wrangled a comedy venue.  

Pippa is deeply committed to rehearsing liveable futures and advocating for the role of arts and culture in the earth crisis. She co-convenes the Cultural Gardeners – Australian Cultural Alliance for Climate Justice and member of Collaborative Futures peer to peer learning circle. She is Creative Climate Leadership alumni with Julie’s Bicycle and vice president of IETM – International Network for the Performing Arts.  

In 2024 and 2025 Pippa slow travelled from Sydney to Europe to save 42%+ of the equivalent flight emissions to meet Australian Government 2030 carbon reduction targets.  

Dr Jen Rae

Dr Jen Rae (she/they) is an award-winning artist and researcher of Canadian Scottish-Métis (Indigenous) descent living on unceded Djaara Country (Castlemaine) Australia. She is recognised for her practice and expertise situated at the intersections of art, speculative futures and climate emergency disaster adaptation + resilience – predominantly articulated through transdisciplinary collaborations, multi-platform projects, community alliances and public pedagogies. In 2022, Jen co-designed and co-facilitated the City of Melbourne’s emergency drill exercise and was a keynote speaker at the 2022 National Summit: From Risk to Resilience – an event informing the national framework on disaster risk reduction and resilience. She is a Co-founder and the Creative Research Lead at the Centre for Reworlding, a member of the National Task Force for Creative Recovery, and was awarded a prestigious 2023 Creative Australia Fellowship for Emerging and Experimental Art. In 2024, Jen was awarded Australian National University’s H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship and the 2024/25 University of Wisconsin’s International Visiting Artist Residency.

Watch the Auslan interpretation of Session 6 of Adaptive Futures now.