Climate Story Lab
In 2023, Climate Story Lab Lagos convened a diverse group of stakeholders for a dynamic two-day gathering designed to explore one central question: What stories must we tell now to catalyze climate action and advance environmental justice across our region?
Utilizing The Power Of Storytelling And Ideation To Drive Narrative Change
This Lab brings together creatives, storytellers, civil society actors, policymakers, scholars, journalists, movement builders, and community organizers to engage with emerging issues at the intersection of climate change, human security, and technology.
Participants examined how digital innovation is reshaping the ways we connect, communicate, and craft narratives that can mobilize communities and drive meaningful social impact.
Beyond dialogue, the Lab served as a collaborative space for advocates to reflect on how strategic communication, media, and storytelling can be deployed as powerful tools for narrative change; strengthening advocacy, inspiring public engagement, and supporting movement building for climate justice.
Convene, Collaborate & Take Action
The Lab examined key issues surrounding environmental justice, climate and human security, climate finance, and just energy transition. Addressing root causes while centering community led solutions at the heart of our agency to devise change.
Climate Story Lab
18 - 19 October 2023 | Lagos, Nigeria
The Climate Story Lab Lagos cultivated a space for practitioners in the creative industry, especially filmmakers and producers, to explore new ways of incorporating social change into narrative works. Lagos, as one of the biggest cultural hubs in West Africa, housing Nollywood and other industry and cultural enterprises, presents a groundbreaking opportunity for the lab to take root
Impact in Numbers
Gaps We Identified
When we began planning for the Climate Story Lab Lagos, we could not have imagined the many inspiring challenges we would face or the individuals who would profoundly influence the scope of the programme. We had the impression that, in Lagos at least, compared to other parts of the country—the creative community was brimming with individuals who had demonstrated impactful and thought-provoking storytelling and documentation on the climate crisis. However, this was not the case. Although Lagos boasts a thriving, world-renowned film industry, the non-fiction sector struggles with visibility, financial investment, and distribution, particularly when it comes to storytelling about climate change. This was evident when we issued a call for submissions for our “Impact Lab” and were unable to secure compelling projects for the training and funding we were offering.
This experience and our detailed conversations with creative partners in Lagos made us revisit our initial program design, and we began to restructure it based on the gaps already identified and the ones we intend to bridge during the 2-day immersive lab. What this led to was a very thought-provoking process of “what ifs” and “how much can we do now and in the future.’
For us at CSL Lagos, the space has opened up avenues for us to bring many creative advocates onto our platform and strategically scale our work, exploring models and approaches that will work in the long-term. In this sense, the Climate Story Lab continues.
The Space We Created
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