This year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which took place in Edinburgh from 21 to 25 October, has been awarded by the PLACE -Platforms for Creative Excellence Fund- set up jointly by the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh Council. With PLACE’s support, the Festival has created the world’s first Global Storytelling Lab.

The Lab explores how storytelling worldwide can help tackle the Global Climate Emergency and other dimensions of sustainable development, by blending traditional knowledge with new tales of civic engagement.

In addition to Scottish indigenous storytellers, the Lab heard from other indigenous groups such as Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald of Taykwa Tagamou Nation; the Seanachaidh Seoras Macpherson, as well as the Brazilian storyteller Anamaria Lines, who focused on the Amazon Rainforest, and the Spanish activist Grian Cutanda. During the festival, Mr Cutanda launched the world’s first anthology of Earth Stories, aligned with the principles of the Earth Charter, exploring the stories that foster a more sustainable relationship to the planet and motivate real change.