_{Using The Creative Arts for Resolution of Environmental and Climate Change-Related Disputes}

Important: to view this article with the images, please access the PDF at https://euclid.egnyte.com/dl/idOTVqqINb

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Author: Charalee Graydon

Charalee Graydon – Assistant Professor, EUCLID Euclid University, Ph.D., JD, BCL (Oxon), LLB.

Author: Suzanna Anstine Norbeck – JD.                Ambassador, MBBI. Mediator & Mediator Trainer.

 

1.     Name and address of the corresponding authors:

Charalee Graydon

Email: graydonc@euclid.int

 

Keywords: Mediation, Asian Pacific, Regional, Global Outcomes, Transboundary Conflict, Mediation UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, United Nations, Memorandum of Understanding, Environment, Climate Change, Climate Conflict, UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, communication, creative arts, mediation, collaboration, Council of Parties (COP)

IGOs: United Nations, Environment Program,  Intergovernmental, UNESCO, UNFCCC.

Submitted: June 15, 2024

ABSTRACT This article shows how the creative arts can be used to resolve environmental and climate disputes in communities and regions to promote the global goals of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and, the Paris Agreement. It focuses on how communities, regions, and countries can collaborate with artists in fashioning solutions to address climate change impacts. As the Asian Pacific Mediation Conference will be attended by professional mediators seeking to expand their knowledge and use of mediation for climate and environmental issues, I present material that asks them to put a new tool in their mediation toolbox. They are asked to shift their thinking to seek novel, creative solutions outside the norm. They shift their mindset from linear to lateral thinking. The overall objective is for Mediators to encourage parties to transform their conflict to reach the best available response to the climate issue that has been raised. The article seeks to expand mediators’ knowledge of methods for communicating information using the creative arts. It shares articles, books, and exercises to offer mediators the option of employing an art lens to raise awareness and transform environmental or climate change conflicts for parties who seek their assistance. Future research will follow up as to what creative arts areas mediators are using for their environmental and climate change mediations.

 

 

Part 1: Introduction

The book, Creating a Masterpiece: The Arts and Climate Change Conflict, covers the topic of using the creative arts to assist conflict professionals in bringing awareness to issues and seeking methods of managing conflicts arising from environmental and climate change.[1]  The issues set out in the book were summarized in an article, A New Story for the Talanoa Call for Action: Contributions by Non-State Actors – The Creative Arts and Mediation and Collaboration Professionals. [2] Both canvas the role the creative arts can play in promoting the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, two important Treaty instruments for responding to the impacts of climate change. They cover how conflict service providers, including mediators, can use the creative arts to assist in the resolution of environmental conflicts arising from climate change impacts. The concept of conflict transformation is reviewed and the importance of communication of disputes that arise due to climate change is highlighted. The material provides examples of how the creative arts can be used to draw attention to the conflicts and provide insight and a better understanding of the conflicts. This article focuses specifically on the perspective of mediators and how they can use the creative arts in their conflict resolution work. It provides information, and examples to explain methods mediators can use to bring creative art tools into the mediation process. Exercises for mediation are provided and ideas for future research and activities outlined.

Part 2: Review of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement Global Goals

          2.1 The Treaties

The treaties for climate change put in place by the United Nations and the international community assist in understanding how the arts can be used to handle problems arising due to climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) outlines objectives for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.[3]  The Paris Agreement, 2015, strengthens the global response to climate change set out in the UNFCCC, by seeking to hold the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. [4]

2.2 The Talanoa Dialogue

The Talanoa Dialogue extended the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement to Non-Party Actors who are called to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement.[5] The storytelling approach to addressing conflict fits well with the concept of mediation. Mediators understand each party must have the ability to tell his or her story. Some of the questions posed by countries when discussing climate change issues during the Talanoa Dialogue are like those in a Mediation: where are we, where do we want to go, and how can we get there? The process is also similar, involving participatory, inclusive, and transparent dialogue.

In the Talanoa Dialogue, parties use several methods to share their stories. Words are not always the best method to communicate the complexity of situations. Showing emotion and visual communication may be more effective. This reveals an opportunity for the Mediator to allow the parties to reach peaceful solutions by adding elements of the creative arts to their presentations, elements with which the mediator, like an artist, can help the parties consider alternatives that they had not previously thought. Thus, the mediator has new tools to work with to help build or negotiate agreements. Poetry, dance, literature, and theatre are some of the creative arts used by mediators in resolving climate change conflicts. It is also important that Mediators do not adopt a narrow approach to the terminology that they use. Mediation and collaboration are neighbors for handling disputes. One example is projects of the organization, Cape Farewell, in England, which has worked with local communities, to address problems caused by environmental change and climate change. One project, River Run, deals with a situation where scientists, local farmers, and water specialists collaborate to transform issues occurring due to climate change by creating workable solutions for those affected. [6]  This collaboration requires mediation between the stakeholders, even though not employ a mediator or use a traditional mediation process.

2.3 Mediation for Environmental and Climate Change Matters for community, regional, and global Paris Agreement goals

2.31 – Examples from the North American Region

Numerous authorities show how mediation is being used to handle environmental and climate change impact issues. While they show mediation does not fit all situations its broad scope provides an avenue for parties to resolve their conflicts without resorting to litigation. From two-party to multi, -stakeholder disputes, mediation offers a useful dispute resolution method to handle the complexity of environmental and climate change disputes.

An article from California shows this broad scope of cases where mediation can be used and provides case examples. [7] Matters such as disputes over air quality standards, timber harvesting, species protection, and ecosystem restoration, are examples.

2.32 – Examples from India.

An example of storytelling in India is communicated using the technology of YouTube. This technology allows people from different areas to gather to provide information relevant to the type of environmental or climate change dispute to be resolved. This is shown in a presentation made for using mediation for environmental and infrastructure disputes.[8]

2.32 Examples from Africa

Mediations in Africa have embraced art as part of the mediation process. Using dance, visual art, poetry, and photography, it has been shown that art can benefit conflict resolution by allowing people to tell their stories and express their feelings which helps them to find methods to work toward managing disagreements and resolve their problems. In the climate change and environmental area there is also a recognition that climate change is affecting everyone. One article expresses how African artists are addressing climate change challenges through art.[9] Dance and theatre are being used to raise awareness of climate change’s existing impacts and explore solutions for dealing with them.[10] The importance of shifting from a top-down approach to one that includes the communities that have been impacted is important.

Another example is a dispute in South Africa. [11] This conflict involved the land and fishing rights of the community of Kosi Bay, A film was created for COP26 to show this dispute and how it was handled. The film ‘Mapping for Justice’ shows how the Hub organization, together with its partners in South Africa supported the people of Kosi Bay to claim recognition of their customary rights. The film illustrated how community calls for the recognition of customary rights in the ocean and conservation governance bore fruit. [12]

When mediation is chosen by parties, this article looks at how the creative arts can provide value. In the words of academic, John Paul Lederman, art can not only draw attention to the problem, but it also allows parties to seek insight and understanding of the conflict. [13]

2.33 Examples from the Asia Pacific

2.33i Papua New Guinea (PNG)

                    This article does not review the PNG land regime but notes information about a United Nations Development project showing mediation to be a conflict resolution method used in PNG to deal with land disputes. [14] PNG has well-developed Alternative Dispute Resolution, rules in place for dealing with disputes. [15]

Information about PNG’s land holding and the form of its customary law is reviewed in an article, Mobilising Papua New Guinea’s Conservation Humanities: Research, Teaching, Capacity Building, Future Directions.[16] This article provides valuable information for mediators handling environmental and climate change issues. Recognizing the importance of biodiversity and conservation of resources in PNG is important for mediators. As has been the case in other countries, this may open the door for parties and stakeholders to use forms of the creative arts to share their stories.[17]

Artists are responding to environmental and climate change in the country. Research shows that, in the context of mediation, their work is not extensive. The lack of data may be a result of the work not being shared outside the mediation or publicly. Information obtained does, however, show that artists have raised concerns about environmental destruction in the country.[18]  Climate change is considered a driving factor for environmental conflicts in PNG with research making it clear that it exacerbates economic and social problems. [19] Research also shows that performance art is being used to show the problem of rising sea levels, and how people are responding.[20] While this article encourages mediators involved in climate change and environmental matters to use the creative arts to assist them with their work, it does not suggest mediators should stop using their current mediation methods.

Part 3: The Mediator’s Mindset

The issues of the environment and climate change are multi-faceted. Therefore, to help gain insight and understanding of the conflicts, it is useful to expand the mediation approach. Words may not be the only way that parties can best describe the issues they are facing. We do not all speak the same language, and we do not all use words to explain situations. Parties may be more comfortable with telling a story, singing a song, using a photograph, or dancing to explain the problem. Using mediation approaches that are “tried and true” or “comfortable” may need to be shaken up to create new vantage points for the situations that the parties are facing.

In an article on Mediate.com, mediator, Robert Benjamin, provides information that explains this and shows how creative arts can assist mediators in learning about the complexity of the conflict. [21]  Benjamin does this by telling an art story.[22]  His story is about an artwork he did not intend to engage with when visiting an art gallery given it was from a period of art, in which he had little interest. Titian’s painting, The Flailing of Marsyas,[23] showed the hanging and flailing of a man who challenged the God Apollo to a flute-playing contest. The painting depicted an early Greek myth that metaphorically displayed what happens when one challenges a supreme power.

Benjamin found the painting disturbing but left the museum without thinking about how it might relate to his work as a mediator. Returning to his work, he writes that he had been mediating a parenting dispute that involved allegations of sexual abuse by the father. The man stated that the process he was undergoing felt like “death by a thousand cuts.”  This comment brought the image of the Titian painting to Benjamin’s mind. He envisaged the legal process the family was part of, a lengthy, and unfamiliar process filled with court officials, social workers, and counselors.

Responding to this vision, he switched his mind from mediation to art. He saw himself standing before a canvas with the parenting problem as his subject. Thinking about the color, the hues, and the intersecting lines from the perspective of an artist, brought insight and a better understanding of the conflict. He writes that what is considered ugly may be transformed or beautified by working with its complexities. With these insights, he considered how he could work with the family to rearrange the situation to normalize the horror and determine if there was something constructive that might allow this family to move forward.

Benjamin writes that this experience was heightened by a news report he had seen involving the publication of photographs of Iraqi prisoners who had been taken by American guards to Abu Gharib Prison in Iraq. One photograph of a hooded Iraqi prisoner sitting on a pedestal with wires dangling from his arms, was considered by Benjamin to have similarities with the Titian painting.

Benjamin’s article provides information about the blurring that can occur between art and reality. To explain this, he writes about Picasso’s Guernica (1937) which he indicates to be the quintessential example of the blurring of art and reality, indicating the painting to be “… of such power and relevance that its mere presence can alter events in real-time.”[24]

He also writes that… [t]the work of both artists and mediators often engage and reveal, each in their own way, the forbidden truths that expose the core of conflict.” [25] Illustrating the similarity of the artist and mediator, he indicates that an artist can be a social mediator of conflict, and a mediator can be an artist. He concludes that both reflect alternative realities to parties involved in conflict, and both can provide alternatives for the future. I suggest this is the eureka moment, showing the mediator as an artist.

Benjamin reiterates that the objective of a mediator is to help the parties think differently about a situation. It is about helping them to escape their self-imposed limits. It is about allowing them to negotiate alternative futures and seek a solution that they can agree to. If the use of the creative arts can benefit this result, it should be employed.

Part 4: Shifting the Mediator’s Mindset

4.1 Awareness and Education of Mediation and the Creative Arts

Mediators are aware of the need to be flexible in receiving information from the parties to the conflict, and in active listening and responding to the histories to show being heard. They also know that flexibility needs to be communicated to parties and, that parties deserve to share their information in a manner with which they are comfortable. To achieve this, parties must understand they can show emotion and present material in a manner they believe explains the situation. They also need to be assured the mediator is respecting their stories and their cultures.

For environmental and climate change matters, there are several resources the mediator and parties can rely on. Programs of climate education, mitigation, and adaptation may be relevant. Government programs for these matters may be useful. Such material can help mediators and the parties, understand the conflicts being addressed, their relationship with one another, and with the ecosystem.

When mediators address an environmental or climate change matter, using an arts lens gives them a new way to communicate with parties involved in the mediation. Artists in PNG have used the visual arts and poetry to explain the situation people are experiencing.[26] The United Nations Development Group has recognized the problems and has initiated peacekeeper groups. As indicated the issues are complex and require a variety of methods to deal with violence and conflict that has occurred in the country. [27]

One example has previously been provided, the mediation in South Africa involving the Kosi Bay community.[28] Art education about climate change is being promoted in schools, one example being UNESCO’s publication for teachers.[29]

4.2 Reshaping the Mediator’s Role; Literal to Lateral

Edward de Bono’s works on lateral thinking and creativity provide the key to why Mediators can benefit from using the creative arts in their work. Summarizing the concept of lateral thinking involves looking at problems from different angles and making nexpected connections, as opposed to literal thinking. [30] This type of thinking is more likely to result in creative ideas for resolving disputes. Linear thinking, in contrast, is vertical. It moves from one logical step to the next, to reach toward the correct solution. Our education systems often follow a vertical learning, logical thinking path rather than being educated to be creative. De Bono indicates there may be an intellectual arrogance associated with logical thinking that can stifle creative thinking. He challenges this and asks people to rethink their approach to handling difficult issues.

In the Mediate.com article by Benjamin, it is written that linear thinking can lead to a “flatland,” a linear and positional frame of mind. It follows that few alternative views are presented. The article mentions that our culture favours the use of words and language as the principal way we describe and define a problem. He indicates that mediators must take caution not to adopt legalized words such as such as, “win-lose,” and “fault-no-fault, which contribute to the problem.

We are educated to think vertically, to go from one logical step to the next, moving all the time towards the correct solution to our problem. We are not usually educated to be creative, to generate idea after idea. Benjamin’s article indicates that:

[w] hile analytical thinking and skills are essential for conflict management practice, of equal importance is the third party’s intuitive sensibility. The mediator’s instinct and gut feel for what a dispute is about is frequently at odds with how the parties describe the matter. (Benjamin R.D. (2000).” [31]

He recognizes the difficulty in adopting this approach given we have been professionally trained to use a literal approach and address matters vertically. This is limiting the mediator’s experience as most conflicts involve an emotional element at their core, which element, needs to be explored.

DeBono does not dismiss the value of linear thinking but indicates it needs to be supplemented with creative lateral thinking. To show the value of this comment, Benjamin’s mediate.com article returns to a review of art. He indicates that Jackson Pollack`s ‘drip paintings’ which have been criticized as being little more than random squiggles, were the result of carefully studied and rehearsed technique. Benjamin also indicates that mediators need to check their thinking styles. They need to be aware that they can easily slip into set patterns with which they have become familiar. He refers to popular sayings such as “…don´t argue with success,” and “if it isn´t broken, don’t fix it.”  He refers to biologist, Robert Sapolsky, who observed that most animal species, including humans, tend to stay with familiar behaviour patterns. He comments that mediators find it easy to tell when parties are stuck, but the third party may find it difficult to push himself or herself out of their comfort zone to encourage parties to explore alternatives to resolve the problem. He indicates there is a possibility the third party may become part of the problem in the mediation. He writes that mediation requires more than indicating one is being creative or “thinking outside the box” a phrase Benjamin considers as a hackneyed expression.

Again, Benjamin looks to the words of an artist to explain the complexity of handling conflicts. Modern artist, Paul Klee, “…observed that our language, spoken through words – lacks the capacity to communicate a sense of dimensional complexity.”[32]

An area that may help the mediator expand his or her mediation tools is that of artificial intelligence. Programs such as Google or ChatGPT can provide ideas for the parties in conflict to consider. The objectivity artificial intelligence brings to the question may be able to supplement the mediation process.

Part 5: Examples of Mediation Using the Creative Arts

My book, Creating a Masterpiece: The Arts and Climate Change Conflict, covers a broad range of the Creative Arts and provides examples of how artists use their work to illustrate aspects of environmental problems and climate change impact.

The mediaite.com article mentions that conflict managers have developed new mediative techniques to move toward meditative and lateral thinking methods. They incorporate aspects of visual arts, music, dance, and theatre known as improvisational theatre.

This article will provide examples of the creative arts used by Mediators and for the mediation process. Given space restrictions for this short article, only six examples will be provided. There are, however, other examples of how mediators and other conflict resolution providers can use the creative arts for conflict resolution of environmental and climate change disputes. Many of these are covered in my book and the article mentioned in Part 1 of this article. One area, dance, was not covered in the book or article and will be introduced in this article.

5.1 Storytelling by Parties in Countries Facing Climate Problems

Storytelling provides a method of sharing climate change problems and seeking ways to handle them and transform them into something people can live with. [33] This article reviews the change of how stories are told in the time of climate change.

This holds in mediation situations, where parties in conflict seek to arrive at a solution that recognizes the problem but seeks to transform it for the parties by building a common solution.

The United Nations Development Committee has produced storytelling material to tell important stories of mediation and adaptation for Papua New Guinea.[34] These stories and videos show how education is being used to learn about, adopt, and install renewable resources, manage waste, and develop recycling programs.

Mediation techniques for storytelling also include using virtual environments.[35] Research shows that virtual reality can bring the issue closer to the parties, both raising awareness and allowing them to explore their feelings and develop ideas about how to address the situation. [36] Also interesting was a mediation team that engaged in a Moot, “Navigating Mediation Challenges in a Warming World, which took place in Berlin in 2024.[37]

5.2 Poetry

An example of using poetry for mediation is provided by Canadian mediator, Kathy Porter. Her work is engaging and provides a new perspective on how to consider environmental challenges. [38] Kathy has considerable experience working with multi-stakeholder groups. Her work, using the creative arts, shows how poetry can be used to help people relax preconceived ideas to reach solutions.

Her work is reinforced by an article written for the Australian Dispute Resolution Network for a national mediation conference in 2019. The article sets out an interesting question, “Can Poetry Teach Us About Mediation?”[39]

5.3 Dance and Theatre

Examples are provided about how dance and theatre are being used to mediate environmental and climate change issues. Traditional forms of mediation are expanded by groups and communities who explore methods to resolve environmental disputes and situations of climate impact.

One article focuses on the value of dance, indicating that dance can create environmental awareness. The article suggests that a “dancing body,” is alive and vibrant, and in dialogue with the environment. It is indicated that African-inspired dance, or Afro dance, participates in the construction of self. It is an ode to death and birth, to drought and rain, to cultivation and the harvest, to suffering and joy, to slavery and liberation, to hostility and love. The dancing body provides a rhythmic presence for human existence in the world, synchronizing the human body with other living beings. There is, therefore, a need to focus on the dancing body’s relationship with the environment. The article emphasizes the links between dance and the environment. The aim is to explore the relationship to the environment with Afro dance.[40]

The second deals with an artist who combines cultural mediation and dance. Part of her work deals with ecological problems and focuses on how climate change messages can be communicated. [41]

A final article explores how communities can use art and theatre to convey knowledge about the degradation caused to the earth by activities such as oil and gas exploration. The article indicates that dance, using emotion can drive action to bring healing to societies and parts of the earth that have been damaged.[42]

5.4 Photography

          Using photography in mediation can allow parties to share information related to the conflict, however, the mediator must take care to ensure that there is sufficient information about how and when the photograph was taken, how it has been stored, and that it has not been altered. [43] Books that write about the use of photography for mediation are those of academic, Julie Doyle, Mediating Climate Change, [44]and Seeing The Climate[45]

A story to share how photographs can go wrong was shared in an article, Confronting Climate Change in the Age of Denial.[46] Communication of environmental and climate change information using photography can be beneficial, but, when not properly monitored, may give rise to false and damaging narratives. This article provides an example of when this occurred. The photograph in question was of a polar bear, but, because insufficient information was provided to readers, created a false narrative. The situation:

[a] perfect case study of people’s tendency to create their own narratives in the face of incomplete information is the recent viral response     to a photo of a starving polar bear. The            photographers intended to show what the future      of climate change might look like: polar bears     depend on sea ice to hunt seals, walruses, and           other prey. As more sea ice melts, bears will        lose their hunting platforms and likely starve to        death, placing the species’ survival at risk. But          people interpreted the image through their own           personal lens. Some recognized the effort to              illuminate the costs of climate change while          others seized on the photo to deny climate change   by pointing to healthy bears as evidence that the    species is doing fine. The photographers recently    said they were shocked by the response and               realized they’d “lost control of the narrative.[47]

Research provides information about how photography can be used in mediation to resolve disputes. Boundary disputes are an example. [48] As well, an article suggests photography can be used to address the climate crisis as a social issue using storytelling.[49]

Photography can also be used as evidence for parties in the mediation to show how places are changing because of climate change. It provides static evidence, for example, of the state of a melting glacier at a given time.

Other articles raise concerns about the use of photography for mediation and alerting people of biodiversity issues. One author notes the damage caused to the habitats of birds and animals that occur when photographs are taken. [50] This must be taken seriously, and attempts made to minimize our impact on vulnerable ecosystems. But we also need to determine when photography can benefit the larger good of people in resolving environmental and climate change conflicts.

5.5. Music

Music can be important for a mediator before and during a mediation. First, it can be valuable for a mediator to listen to happy music before the mediation to place his or her mind in a positive space. It was argued this helps the mediator listen and work with difficult conversations. The article goes on to indicate that playing calming music can be advantageous during the mediation. It will be up to the mediator and parties to determine whether music is beneficial to the conflict. [51]

One climate music project provides material that supports that music is an important method of communicating climate change messages. It indicates that music provides a way to share messages about climate change using a universal language, the sound of music. This research indicates that scientific facts lack the emotion required to move people to act to address the problem, an emotion that music can provide.[52]

Part 6: Mediation Exercises and Practice

6.1.  Art Mediation

I provide art mediation exercises to allow you to use lateral thinking, in combination with literal thinking, using creative art methods to amplify the mediation process. The first role-play provides two-party conflict. The first objective is to create an art mediation mindset using lateral thinking to handle climate and environmental conflicts. The second role-play extends this to a multi-party situation to ask a second question, whether the visual can provide a focus for understanding the issues in conflict.

6.2. Art Mediation Exercises

The exercises invite you to explore art mediation by practice. They provide you with a safe space to think, develop new insights about handling meditation, play, and have fun. You are provided some basic art material to work with, but the exercises are open for you to build your existing mediation skills to create new ways to resolve environmental, climate change, and human justice problems.

                    6.3 Art Mediation:

Where a neutral third party assists parties in conflict, using traditional mediation methods and where valuable, the creative arts, to engage parties in the mediation. The overall objective is to reach, with the parties’ consent, a mutually acceptable resolution, through constructive discussion and negotiation, or to identify and better communicate the issues in conflict. The parties are invited to use creative art to present their opening statements and their presentation of issues.

The role-play exercises deal with conflicts involving a two-party neighbourhood dispute, and a multi-party dispute that involves political, economic, religious, environmental, environmental justice, and climate change issues. The mediations involve disputants in a community, regional, and or global context.

                    6.4 Art Mediation Objectives and Methods:

Mediators are trained to actively listen, help those in conflict understand their issues, and explore mutual interests. The objective of the mediator is to try to help the parties manage their conflict. While the resolution of the issues is an objective, the mediators may determine that the parties want only to raise prominent issues to be managed by others outside the mediation, such as legislators, regulators, or community groups.

Resolution of conflicts, disputes, arguments, and unequal bargaining power between parties are also objectives. For this, mediators may use the creative arts to develop these objectives.

Using the creative arts for mediation has been shown to facilitate the problem-solving process. It allows parties to use new styles for communication and employ critical thinking skills to transform the conflict or reach mutually acceptable solutions.

                    6.5 Suggested Rules for Mediation Exercises (Appendix A)

                    6.6 Two-Party Neighbor Environmental Mediation Exercise (Appendix B).

                    A dispute has arisen between two neighbors Chris and Drew, residents of Coron, a small town in Goma, an island in the Asian Pacific. You are asked to review and create a mediation structure to handle this art mediation. It is important to recognize there are no right and wrong mediation structures. This invites you to use your skills to develop innovative approaches.

          6.7 A Multistakeholder Mining Dispute Exercise (Appendix C).

Disputes have arisen about a mining project in GOMA. You are asked to review and create a mediation structure to handle this multi-party mediation. It is important to recognize there are no right and wrong mediation structures. Again, you are invited to use your skills to develop innovative approaches.

Part 7: Future Research

7.1 Esoteric Research

Given the breadth of creative art possibilities for mediators to use for environmental and climate change matters, it is proposed that future research determine what creative arts are used by mediators for environmental and climate change disputes. To limit the scope of the research this will be limited to mediations in the town of CORON.

This research will use an eclectic approach, meaning it will draw on different forms of art and the techniques mediators use to carry out their work. Similar to the approach adopted in this article, examples can be provided.

7.2 Preparing a Databank of Mediations Using the Creative Arts as part of the Mediation Process

          It is proposed that a database be created that can be consulted by mediators and academics on the number of mediations that took place over two years recording what creative arts were used in the mediations- It is believed this work will be valuable for better understanding ways of handling and resolving environmental and climate change disputes.

Part 8: Conclusion

This article has provided examples of how mediation has used the creative arts in environmental and climate change disputes in community, regional, and global contexts. It confirms that the creative arts play a part in the mediation process. The material reviewed illustrates that mediators may need to leave their comfort zone of tried-and-true methods employed for past mediations. This does not mean that basic mediation skills are not to be used, but that on some occasions, it can be useful to approach the meditation from a different vantage point or perspective. This allows the mediator to become more effective in working with the parties to resolve or raise awareness of important issues to be addressed.

This will allow the mediator and parties experiencing environmental or climate change problems to further the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

This article has shown that melding traditional mediation methods with art techniques allows parties to understand better the problems to be resolved in environmental and climate change problems. While the parties may have come to the mediation with positions, the art mediation process can help move them from positions to exploring interests compatible with those of others. It allows the mediator to guide the parties to achieve a result acceptable to all.

I conclude this article with a quotation from Edward de Bono’s book, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step where his writing encapsulates the message, I bring to mediators for handling environmental and climate change disputes:

The difference between lateral, and vertical thinking are very fundamental. The    processes are quite distinct. It is not a matter of one process being more effective than the other for both are necessary. It is a matter of realizing the differences in order to be able to    use both effectively.[53]

De Bono’s words provide mediators with the tools required for their toolbox for working with parties in transforming and, where possible, resolving environmental and climate change problems in the twenty-first century.

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix A:

Steps to Follow in the Art Mediation Process

1. Consent of Parties to mediate.
2. Choice of medium, words or visual, or both, for each party.
3. Ground Rules:

• Discussions are confidential,
• Each party will have a chance to speak and to present material he or she considers relevant to the dispute including, photography, poetry, a story, dance, or other creative art form.
• Encourage dialogue.
• One person at a time.
• Importance of “I “statements rather than “you” statements.
• Parties to accept responsibility for their feelings.
• Seeking solutions.

4. Statement of Issues – each party (mediator recap).
5. Defining the Issues.
6. Looking at alternatives, realistic, attainable, and acceptable.
7. Solution Based Discussion.
8. Compromise/ resolution/ agreement/ conclusion.
9. Formalize mediation result.
10. Follow up,
11. Peer mediator to complete Mediation Report Form- Modify to Reflect the Climate Change Conflict
12. The Process for the Mediation

• Choose a quiet place for the activity.
• Ensure the parties consent to the mediation process.
• Have the parties commit to the process.
• Set the Ground Rules:
• No vulgar words.
• Avoid Dysfunctional communications.
• Ask for, “I” statements not “you” or blaming.
• Determine which mediator will speak first.
• Each party sets out his/her version of the facts, with no interruptions, or presents an artwork to set out the facts (if the authenticity of the artwork has been shown to the mediator.)
• Each party will explain his/her version of the problem.
• The parties will do the talking.
• The mediator actively listens.
• Listen to what each party has to say or show and repeat for clarification.
• Each party is to provide 2 or 3 appropriate solutions.
• The mediator will help parties work through the solutions. Explore the pros and cons, or both.
• Discussion of follow-up of the resolution reached or issues identified.
• Formalize the result.
• Thank you and closure.

 

You can use these steps for the two role-play exercises introduced in this article. These steps are provided for you for convenience; however, you are free to create your own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix B: Roleplay

Prepared by Suzanna Anstine Norbeck, J.D.

Hurricane Damages Trees, Fence, and Neighbor Relationships!

 

BACKGROUND:

 

Chris Brown and Drew North have been neighbors for twenty-five years. Chris

works out of town and rarely sees his neighbor, Drew. Chris has a dog, Rusty, who spends time in his backyard and has never been a problem. Chris has always had a good relationship with his neighbor.

 

Drew North is a Master Gardener and has a nursery/flower Shop in the city. She has a large garden in her backyard where she grows rare trees and prize roses which she enters annually in juried garden shows. She frequently wins significant cash prizes for her entries. Drew works long hours at her business and in her yard. She has always had a good relationship with her neighbor, Chris.

 

Chris and Drew’s city has been experiencing increasingly stronger storms in recent years. Last month a hurricane slammed the city where Drew and Chris live causing huge damage. Chris’s large specially designed fence which he had built to keep the dog inside his property was blown down. Part of the fence was downed by two of Drew North’s rare Palm trees which continue to hang on the fence.

 

When the fence blew down, Rusty escaped and did excessive damage to Drew’s prize roses which in past years she had always entered in the local juried flower show. Most years Drew won first place price amounting to $500.00.

 

Because the hurricane is considered an “act of God” insurance will not pay for the damage done to the fence or the two rare trees. Drew is hoping to save the trees, but it is imperative that the trees not be moved until they have been properly re-rooted which may take many months. In the meantime, the trees hang on Chris’s fence, so he is not able to repair the fence. Rusty has to be tethered to a tree and cannot have the run of the yard as before.

 

Drew has estimates of $500.00 to replace her rose bushes. Because they were destroyed by Rusty, and not the hurricane, she thinks that Chris should pay for the replacement of the rose bushes.

 

Drew also thinks that if she were to win the juried flower show as she has for the past three years, she would receive the award which in the past has been $500.00. She would consider asking Chris to pay her the $500.00 that she might have won with her prize roses.

 

Chris has estimates of $1,000.00 to repair his fence. Chris thinks that it was Drew’s two trees that caused the damage and that therefore Drew should pay for the fence repair. Drew thinks the hurricane was exclusively responsible for the downed trees. Chris asks for mediation/facilitation.

 

 

 

========= Private Information ==========

 

CHRIS:  information only Chris knows:

You have decided to retire and finally realize your dream of planting the garden you have so often dreamed about. You grew up on your grandfather’s farm and have never stopped dreaming of having a garden with vegetables and flowers just like you had growing up. Your one concern has been that the shade from your large fence casts a shadow on the area that is best suited for planting your garden and thus will limit what you can grow. You have been seriously thinking of replacing the large fence with an underground electric fence which would restrain Rusty from roaming and at the same time allow you to grow the large garden of your dreams. Finally, although you do not know Drew well, you are aware that she is a Master Gardener and you have been thinking about asking her to help you with plans and growing techniques for your garden and you are expecting to pay her for her time and knowledge.

 

Drew:  Private information only Drew knows:

 

You have been especially concerned about your prize roses because the many more days of rain as well as the excessive rainfall in recent years have had a detrimental effect on all of your flowers and plants, especially your roses. As a result, you are not as certain to win the juried flower show as you have been in the past. Which means you may not win the $500.00 price. You have been considering replacing your prize roses, which do not do well in excessive rainstorms, with a hardier type of rose that will withstand the increased rainfall and you hope that these new roses will maximize your chances of winning for certain in the future juried flower shows. Also, although you have never had a dog because of the time you spend away from home, you have always loved dogs and hope that one day when you retire you can have a dog like Rusty.

 

 

 

 

You are asked to prepare a multi-stakeholder plan for this mediation. Consider how the creative arts may be used for the mediation.

Information that Parties Chris and Drew bring to the Mediation.

This is the information they provide to the mediator about the photographs:

Chris indicates he took this photograph of Rusty. He can provide the date and the time the photograph was taken. He indicated he kept the photograph in his photograph album, and it has not been tampered with in any way. He indicates the photo was taken with his Samsung Galaxy A10 mobile phone.

During a caucus with the mediator, Chris had an idea to propose to Drew, being, that he can seek her help to start his garden. For this, he thought he could offer her items from the garden such as garlic and zucchini from the garden. He is willing to discuss this with her during the mediation to soften the tone.

Drew indicates her friends who had visited her took the photograph and gave it to her as a gift. She says they were pleased to see her roses were blooming so well. She does not know the type of camera used to take the photograph.

She does not remember the exact day the photo was taken but knows it was. Taken before the damage occurred when the fence was knocked down. She indicates she has not tampered with the photograph in any way. [54]

 

 

 

Appendix C:

Rare Earth Mining – Roleplay

 

 

The mining project is for rare earths located in the State of GOMA.

Proponent for Mining Development License

Vector Corporation, industrial mining developer,

Stakeholders:

CORON Residents Organization (CRC)

NGO – Greenshields Org.

Goma Poplar Bank -,”

Government agencies:

GOMA Ministry of the Environment

GOMA Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation

GOMA Mining Advisory Council

BACKGROUND:

 

Veta Corp, an international company with offices in Sydney, London, and New York, is interested in opening a new mine for mining rare earths.

The government held public hearings in 2013 for the exploration of the proposed region by Veta Corp. No opposition by the CORON community was voiced at that time.

Veta Corp has developed mines in GOMA in the past, mining for nickel, and cobalt in 2013. Communities of GOMA have not been happy with the benefits of infrastructure, health, and education of the communities where Veta Corp has established its mines.

Veta Corp completed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2015 for the area where it proposes to open the new mine.

The Veta Corp’s EIA has been provided to all stakeholders as set out in this document.

The proposed rare earth plant is located seven km from CORON, a rural community in GOMA. It is difficult to access the community due to the rugged terrain. CORON has a population of 7000 people.

The location of the proposed plant is in a mountainous region of GOMA and near a river that runs to EP Ocean

EP Ocean is home to blue whales, an endangered species. EP Ocean is an international vacation site. Goma and regions near CORON are known for their historical artifacts of gold, silver, and ancient ceramic items.

Since, 2015, concerns have arisen in the CORON area, based on information provided by NGOs and social media about the safety of the mining operation for rare earth minerals and waste discharges that can reach the AP Ocean. Concerns have been expressed about damage to the blue whale habitat from waste discharges that reach the AP Ocean.

Stakeholders CORON and Greenshields Org. are opposed to Rare Earth Mining in GOMA.

Stakeholders from CORON and Greenshields Org. take the position that the EIA needs to be redone before any decisions are made to license the plant should the Department of Environment allow Rare Earth mining in GOMA.

Following that assessment scientific studies showed that blue whales in the Coman Ocean were increasing in number due to preservation but remain under threat.[55]

Information provided by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation showed that there is an increasing need for rare earths in the Asian Pacific area and Goma was one of several places in the Asian Pacific containing rare earths.

Legislation and Regulations

Mining Act, 1992

This act requires the proponents of an exploration or mining development license to first satisfy the requirements of the Environment Act, 2000 before any favorable consideration of their lease application and allows the Mining Advisory Council to ensure adequate protection of the environment.

The Environment Act, of 2000 requires an environmental impact assessment to be completed for all exploration and mining activities.

The Director of the Environment can set conditions to protect the environment and items shown in the EIA. These conditions are placed on the proponent of the project in question.

Goma legislation provides that the government of Goma may require an equity interest in the mining development project. From this equity, 5 percent is held for the provincial and local governments of the region where the mining occurs.

MEDIATION PROCESS

READINESS FOR DISCUSSION

 

Review of Confidential Interviews with Stakeholders to ascertain willingness to engage in discussion has been conducted and the company, government representatives, and stakeholders are ready to mediate the matter of whether the mining for rare earth should be granted a license to proceed.

 

Evidence Provided by Government Agencies and Stakeholders.

 

Representative for CORON Residents Organization (CRC)– indicates rare earth exploration will cause irreversible environmental damage.

 

Representative from NFO Greenshields Org.

 

Our research shows:

 

For every ton of rare earth produced, the mining process causes the production of 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000

cubic meters of waste gas, 75 cubic meters of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue. This stems from the fact that rare earth element ores contain metals that, when mixed with leaching pond chemicals, contaminate air, water, and soil. Most worrying is that rare earth ores are often combined with radioactive thorium and uranium, which results in especially detrimental health effects. Overall, for every ton of rare earth, 2,000 tons or more of toxic waste are produced.^[56]

 

Goma Popular Bank -Representative indicates. “We need rare earth elements which can help us transition to a climate-safe future.” That is the objective of Goma Popular Bank.

 

GOMA Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation – Represented by Geologist Andrew

Rare earths are mined by digging vast open               pits in the ground, which can contaminate the environment and disrupt ecosystems. When poorly regulated, mining can produce wastewater ponds filled with acids, heavy metals, and radioactive material that might leak into groundwater. Processing the raw ore into a form useful to make magnets and other tech is a lengthy effort that takes large amounts of water and potentially toxic chemicals and produces voluminous waste.

 

GOMA Ministry of Tourism representative:

Our Ministry is optimistic that the rare earth mining industry can become less polluting and more sustainable. Basic hardware upgrades can improve insulation and reduce the fuel required to reach the high temperatures required for mining processes.

 

GOMA Ministry of the Environment representative:

Everything we do in mining has an impact on the environment. The Proponent for mining must satisfy us and the people of GOMA that it meets the requirements of the Environment Act, of 2000.

 

GOMA Mining Advisory Council – representative listens but does not comment.

Material provided by Parties sought to be used in their opening statements.

Representative from NFO Greenshields Org.

 

Rare earth manufacturing by the same company in another location on a neighboring island.[57]

 

 

 

 

 

Your Mediation Plan:

You are asked to prepare a multi-stakeholder plan for this mediation. Consider how the creative arts may be used for the mediation.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography and References

“African Artists Combatting Climate Change Through Art -.” Accessed June 8, 2024. https://momaa.org/african-artists-combatting-climate-change-through-art/.

Anonymous. “Paris Agreement.” Text. Climate Action – European Commission, November 23, 2016. https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris_en.

“Arts for Transformative Education: A Guide for Teachers from the UNESCO Associated Schools Network – UNESCO Digital Library.” Accessed June 14, 2024. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388701.

B, Sarah, Ilda Ladeira, Cara Winterbottom, and Edwin Blake. An Investigation on the Effects of Mediation in a Storytelling Virtual Environment. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 2897, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40014-1_13.

Bergh, Arild, and John Sloboda. “Music and Art in Conflict Transformation: A Review.” Music and Arts in Action 2, no. 2 (2010): 2–18.

Bono, Edward De. Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step. New York: Harper Colophon, 2015.

Brown, Sarah, Ilda Ladeira, Cara Winterbottom, and Edwin Blake. “The Effects of Mediation in a Storytelling Virtual Environment.” In Virtual Storytelling. Using Virtual RealityTechnologies for Storytelling, edited by Olivier Balet, Gérard Subsol, and Patrice Torguet, 102–11. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40014-1_13.

Carvalho, Ines. “Cultural Mediation In Dance – Interview with Elena Medina Gil – Diagonal Dance,” June 8, 2020. https://diagonaldance.com/cultural-mediation-in-dance/, https://diagonaldance.com/cultural-mediation-in-dance/.

CLIMATE-RELATED CONFLICT: ARTS-BASED MEDIATION AND RECOURSE TO REDRESS, 2021. Https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?app=desktop&v=pufOGgRoPrM&t=1435s., n.d.

Cox, John, and Almah Tararia. Climate Change as a Driver of Conflict in Papua New Guinea, 2023.

Dixon, Catherine, Laurie Goldman, Stephan Crawford, and Phoebe Lease. “Music as a Vehicle for Climate Change Communication: The ClimateMusic Project,” 265–93, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54790-4_12.

Doyle, Julie. Mediating Climate Change. 1 edition. Farnham, Surrey: Routledge, 2011.

Fund, Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate. “The IRM at COP26: Discussing Accountability and Dispute Resolution in Climate Projects.” Text. Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate Fund. Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate Fund, December 22, 2021. https://irm.greenclimate.fund/news/irm-cop26-discussing-accountability-and-dispute-resolution-climate-projects.

Gross, Liza. “Confronting Climate Change in the Age of Denial.” PLOS Biology 16, no. 10 (October 9, 2018): e3000033. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000033.

Harvard International Review. “Not So ‘Green’ Technology: The Complicated Legacy of Rare Earth Mining,” August 12, 2021. https://hir.harvard.edu/not-so-green-technology-the-complicated-legacy-of-rare-earth-mining/.

“Https://Adrnetwork.Blog/2019/04/26/Can-Poetry-Teach-Us-about-Mediation/,” n.d.

“Https://Create.Microsoft.Com/En-Us/Features/Ai-Image-Generator,” n.d.

“‘Https://Mediate.Com/the-Beauty-of-Conflict-Art-Lessons-Lateral-Thinking-and-Creative-Problem-Solving/,’ n.d.,” n.d.

Https://Www.Amazon.Es/Creating-Masterpiece-Climate-Change-Conflict/Dp/B09M5LB4KR, n.d., n.d.

“Https://Www.Pngjudiciary.Gov.Pg/Index.Php/National-Court/Civil-Cases/Adr/Adr-Acts-Rules,” n.d.

Knaster, Alana. “Resolving Conflicts Over Climate Change Solutions: Making the Case for Mediation” 10 (2010): 59.

Lederach, John Paul. 2003. The Little Book of Conflict Transformation. New York: Good Books, an Imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., n.d.

Meyer, Kris De, Emily Coren, Mark McCaffrey, and Cheryl Slean. “Transforming the Stories We Tell about Climate Change: From ‘Issue’ to ‘Action.’” Environmental Research Letters 16, no. 1 (December 2020): 015002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abcd5a.

Mishra, Ashutosh, and Prakash Tripathi. “MEDIATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL DISPUTES: AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE,” November 30, 2022.

“Navigating Mediation Challenges in a Warming World.” Accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.berlinmoot.org/articles/climate-compass-navigating-mediation-challenges-in-a-warming-world.

“Papua New Guinea | United Nations Development Programme.” Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.undp.org/papua-new-guinea.

Rackham, Ivor. “The Damage We Inadvertently Do in Photography.” Fstoppers, April 13, 2023. https://fstoppers.com/landscapes/damage-inadvertently-photography-630066.

Sky, Per. Mediation in Boundary Disputes, 2009.

Stevens, Lara. “Sink or Swim: Performing the Iniquities of the Climate Crisis.” Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques (blog), December 2, 2022. https://www.critical-stages.org/26/sink-or-swim-performing-the-iniquities-of-the-climate-crisis/.

Stockdale, Jessica A., Jo Middleton, Regina Aina, Gabriel Cherake, Francesca Dem, William Ferea, Arthur Hane-Nou, et al. “Mobilising Papua New Guinea’s Conservation Humanities: Research, Teaching, Capacity Building, Future Directions.” Conservation and Society 22, no. 2 (June 2024): 86. https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_48_23.

Struck-Garbe, Marion. “Artists Concern: Visualising Environmental Destruction in Papua New Guinea.” Pacific Arts 20, no. 1 (May 20, 2021). https://doi.org/10.5070/PC220153307.

“Talanoa Dialogue – Everything You Need to Know – Cop23,” November 24, 2019. https://cop23.com.fj/talanoa-dialogue/.

The Flailing of Marsyas. n.d.

The VII Foundation. “How Photography Can Address the Climate Crisis as a Social Justice Issue.” Accessed June 11, 2024. https://theviifoundation.org/resource/how-photography-can-address-the-climate-crisis-as-a-social-justice-issue/.

Theatre Arts Programme, Bowen University, Iwo Osun State, Nigeria, Princewill Chukwuma Abakporo, and Stanley Timeyin Ohenhen. “Indigenous Environmentalism through Dance: The Ohaji-Egbema Experiment in South-Eastern Nigeria.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 16, no. 1 (February 10, 2024). https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v16n1.06.

Thésée, Gina. “Le corps dansant Afro et l’environnement : contributions des danses africaines aux rapports à l’environnement.” Éducation relative à l’environnement : regards – Recherches – Réflexions 14, no. 1 (2017). https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ere/2017-v14-n1-ere04638/1060254ar/abstract/.

UNDP. “The Peacemakers of Papua New Guinea.” Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.undp.org/stories/peacemakers-papua-new-guinea.

“UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE,” n.d., 33.

weADAPT. “Challenging Predominant Views on Climate Change with Theatre of the Oppressed,” July 29, 2019. https://weadapt.org/knowledge-base/assar/challenging-predominant-views-with-theatre-of-the-oppressed/.

 

 

‘

[1] Graydon, Charalee. 2021. Creating A Masterpiece: The Arts and Climate Change Conflict, Euclid University.

[2] Charalee Graydon, https//IRPJ, Euclid Int/Articles/a New Story -for-the Talanoa-Call for-Action-contributions -by -Nono-State-Actors-the -Creative -Arts-and- Mediation-md-Collaboration- Professionals/.

 

[3] “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” n.d., 33.

[4] Anonymous, “Paris Agreement,” Text, Climate Action – European Commission, November 23, 2016, https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris_en.

[5] “Talanoa Dialogue – Everything You Need to Know – Cop23,” November 24, 2019, https://cop23.com.fj/talanoa-dialogue/.

[6] Cape Farewell, Riverrun Project in Dorset, England, https://capefarewell.com/latest/972-riverrun-2.html,n.d.

[7] Alana Knaster, “Resolving Conflicts Over Climate Change Solutions: Making the Case for Mediation” 10 (2010): 59.

[8] Ashutosh Mishra and Prakash Tripathi, “MEDIATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL DISPUTES: AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE,” November 30, 2022.

[9] “African Artists Combatting Climate Change Through Art -,” accessed June 8, 2024, https://momaa.org/african-artists-combatting-climate-change-through-art/.

[10] “Challenging Predominant Views on Climate Change with Theatre of the Oppressed,” weADAPT, July 29, 2019, https://weadapt.org/knowledge-base/assar/challenging-predominant-views-with-theatre-of-the-oppressed/.

[11] CLIMATE-RELATED CONFLICT: ARTS-BASED MEDIATION AND RECOURSE TO REDRESS, 2021. Https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?app=desktop&v=pufOGgRoPrM&t=1435s., n.d.

[12] Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate Fund, “The IRM at COP26: Discussing Accountability and Dispute Resolution in Climate Projects,” Text, Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate Fund (Independent Redress Mechanism | Green Climate Fund, December 22, 2021), https://irm.greenclimate.fund/news/irm-cop26-discussing-accountability-and-dispute-resolution-climate-projects.

[13] Lederach, John Paul. 2003. The Little Book of Conflict Transformation. New York: Good Books, an Imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., n.d.

[14] “The Peacemakers of Papua New Guinea,” UNDP, accessed June 7, 2024, https://www.undp.org/stories/peacemakers-papua-new-guinea.

[15] “Https://Www.Pngjudiciary.Gov.Pg/Index.Php/National-Court/Civil-Cases/Adr/Adr-Acts-Rules,” n.d.

[16] Jessica A. Stockdale et al., “Mobilising Papua New Guinea’s Conservation Humanities: Research, Teaching, Capacity Building, Future Directions,” Conservation and Society 22, no. 2 (June 2024): 86, https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_48_23.

[17] “The Peacemakers of Papua New Guinea.”

[18] Marion Struck-Garbe, “Artists Concern: Visualising Environmental Destruction in Papua New Guinea,” Pacific Arts 20, no. 1 (May 20, 2021), https://doi.org/10.5070/PC220153307.

[19] John Cox and Almah Tararia, Climate Change as a Driver of Conflict in Papua New Guinea, 2023.

[20] Lara Stevens, “Sink or Swim: Performing the Iniquities of the Climate Crisis,” Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques (blog), December 2, 2022, https://www.critical-stages.org/26/sink-or-swim-performing-the-iniquities-of-the-climate-crisis/.

[21] Robert Benjamin, “‘Https://Mediate.Com/the-Beauty-of-Conflict-Art-Lessons-Lateral-Thinking-and-Creative-Problem-Solving/,’ n.d.,” n.d.

[22] Robert Benjamin, “‘Https://Mediate.Com/the-Beauty-of-Conflict-Art-Lessons-Lateral-Thinking-and-Creative-Problem-Solving/,’ n.d.”

[23] The Flailing of Marsyas, n.d.

[24]Ibid.

[25] “‘Https://Mediate.Com/the-Beauty-of-Conflict-Art-Lessons-Lateral-Thinking-and-Creative-Problem-Solving/,’ n.d.”

[26] Struck-Garbe, “Artists Concern.”

[27] “The Peacemakers of Papua New Guinea.”

[28] Mediation South Africa, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=pufOGgRoPrM&t=1435s.

[29] “Arts for Transformative Education: A Guide for Teachers from the UNESCO Associated Schools Network – UNESCO Digital Library,” accessed June 14, 2024, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388701.

[30] Edward De Bono, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step (New York: Harper Colophon, 2015).

[31] “‘Https://Mediate.Com/the-Beauty-of-Conflict-Art-Lessons-Lateral-Thinking-and-Creative-Problem-Solving/,’ n.d.”

[32] Ibid.

[33] Kris De Meyer et al., “Transforming the Stories We Tell about Climate Change: From ‘Issue’ to ‘Action,’” Environmental Research Letters 16, no. 1 (December 2020): 015002, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abcd5a.

[34] “Papua New Guinea | United Nations Development Programme,” accessed June 7, 2024, https://www.undp.org/papua-new-guinea.

[35] Sarah B et al., An Investigation on the Effects of Mediation in a Storytelling Virtual Environment, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2897, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40014-1_13.

[36] Sarah Brown et al., “The Effects of Mediation in a Storytelling Virtual Environment,” in Virtual Storytelling. Using Virtual RealityTechnologies for Storytelling, ed. Olivier Balet, Gérard Subsol, and Patrice Torguet (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2003), 102–11, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-40014-1_13.

[37] “Navigating Mediation Challenges in a Warming World,” accessed June 10, 2024, https://www.berlinmoot.org/articles/climate-compass-navigating-mediation-challenges-in-a-warming-world.

[38] Kathy Porter, On Ice, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z1XV3nYCqM.

[39] “Https://Adrnetwork.Blog/2019/04/26/Can-Poetry-Teach-Us-about-Mediation/,” n.d.

[40] Gina Thésée, “Le corps dansant Afro et l’environnement : contributions des danses africaines aux rapports à l’environnement,” Éducation relative à l’environnement : regards – Recherches – Réflexions 14, no. 1 (2017), https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ere/2017-v14-n1-ere04638/1060254ar/abstract/.

[41] Ines Carvalho, “Cultural Mediation In Dance – Interview with Elena Medina Gil – Diagonal Dance,” June 8, 2020, https://diagonaldance.com/cultural-mediation-in-dance/.

[42] Theatre Arts Programme, Bowen University, Iwo Osun State, Nigeria, Princewill Chukwuma Abakporo, and Stanley Timeyin Ohenhen, “Indigenous Environmentalism through Dance: The Ohaji-Egbema Experiment in South-Eastern Nigeria,” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 16, no. 1 (February 10, 2024), https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v16n1.06.

[43] Graydon C. Euclid, Washington, 2000, hHttps://Www.Amazon.Es/Creating-Masterpiece-Climate-Change-Conflict/Dp/B09M5LB4KR, n.d..

[44] Julie Doyle, Mediating Climate Change, 1 edition (Farnham, Surrey: Routledge, 2011).

[45]   Julie Doyle, “Seeing the Climate? The Problematic Status of Visual Evidence in Climate Change Campaigning,” in Ecosee, ed. Sidney I. Dobrin and Sean Morey (SUNY Press, 2009), 279–98, https://doi.org/10.1515/9781438425955-017.

[46] Liza Gross, “Confronting Climate Change in the Age of Denial,” PLOS Biology 16, no. 10 (October 9, 2018): e3000033, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000033.

[47] Gross.

[48] Per Sky, Mediation in Boundary Disputes, 2009.

[49] “How Photography Can Address the Climate Crisis as a Social Justice Issue,” The VII Foundation (blog), accessed June 11, 2024, https://theviifoundation.org/resource/how-photography-can-address-the-climate-crisis-as-a-social-justice-issue/.

[50] Ivor Rackham, “The Damage We Inadvertently Do in Photography,” Fstoppers, April 13, 2023, https://fstoppers.com/landscapes/damage-inadvertently-photography-630066.

[51] Arild Bergh and John Sloboda, “Music and Art in Conflict Transformation: A Review,” Music and Arts in Action 2, no. 2 (2010): 2–18.

[52] Catherine Dixon et al., “Music as a Vehicle for Climate Change Communication: The ClimateMusic Project,” 2024, 265–93, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54790-4_12.

[53] Bono, Lateral Thinking, 45.

[54] “Https://Create.Microsoft.Com/En-Us/Features/Ai-Image-Generator,” n.d..and, thank you to friends Joe and Barbara, and Melanie, who have provided the Rose Bush and Dog photos.

[55] “Https://Create.Microsoft.Com/En-Us/Features/Ai-Image-Generator.”

[56] “Not So ‘Green’ Technology: The Complicated Legacy of Rare Earth Mining,” Harvard International Review, August 12, 2021, https://hir.harvard.edu/not-so-green-technology-the-complicated-legacy-of-rare-earth-mining/.

[57] “Https://Create.Microsoft.Com/En-Us/Features/Ai-Image-Generator.”