Partner: Lane Cove Council
What makes this project special
The Weaving Climate Stories, funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Social Cohesion Grants, brought together community members from across generations to understand and tell stories about climate change in their own backyard. The result was ten powerful short films, a shared weaving artwork facilitated by Dr. Virginia Keft and a film festival where the stories were shared to a packed amphitheater on a warm summer evening.
The film and community storytelling component of the program was designed and delivered by Digital Storytellers and brought together participants ranging from high school students to retirees to share perspectives, build skills, and contribute to a growing conversation about climate action in Lane Cove. From the outset, what stood out was the breadth of voices and topics. Participants approached the subject of climate change from their unique perspectives and experiences, including from the preservation of local waterways and natural spaces, to navigating heatwaves, supporting wildlife, rethinking consumption, and celebrating creative communities like climate writing groups.
The background – for those who want to dive a little deeper
As climate change continues to shape everyday life, there is an increasing need for local, community-driven storytelling that makes the issue tangible, relevant and grounded in lived experience.
Lane Cove Council initiated Weaving Climate Stories to create space for residents to explore climate through their own perspectives — not just as a global challenge, but as something that affects local environments, daily routines, and future possibilities.
The program recognised that while climate conversations are often led by policy, science or media, community members hold valuable knowledge, insight and lived experience that can deepen understanding and engagement. By equipping participants with storytelling tools, the project aimed to surface these perspectives and share them in ways that resonate locally.
At the same time, Lane Cove is a diverse and evolving inner-northern Sydney community, with more than 50% of residents living in apartments. Lane Cove Council wanted to find new ways to connect apartment dwellers and neighbouring communities and to give residents a genuine platform to speak about the issues that matter most to them.
The journey
Digital Storytellers delivered a series of five workshops, guiding participants through the full storytelling process — from shaping ideas through to filming and editing their own short films.
Participants worked individually and in small groups to develop stories that reflected their interests, concerns and lived experiences. While some focused on environmental themes such as waterways, biodiversity and urban heat, others explored behavioural shifts, creative responses, and community-led initiatives.
Throughout the process, participants built practical filmmaking skills while also developing confidence in articulating their perspectives. The workshops created space for discussion, reflection and exchange, allowing participants to learn from one another while contributing their own voice to the broader conversation.
Why this matters for councils and community organisations
Climate change can feel abstract a global problem, too large for any individual to touch. But when a Lane Cove resident makes a film about the waterways they walk beside every morning, or interviews a service provider about surviving a heatwave, the issue becomes local, personal and real. Storytelling is a uniquely powerful tool for bridging that gap between knowing and feeling and feeling is what leads to action.
This program also showed the particular value of intergenerational dialogue on climate. Older residents carried lived memory of environmental change; younger participants held a sense of future stake. Both needed to be heard, and the program created the conditions for that to happen.
