Engaging society in the search for Utopia via a musical project

Baden, D. (2015) Engaging society in the search for Utopia via a musical project. 16th Annual International Conference of the European Utopian Studies Society. 30 Jun - 03 Jul 2015.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

While the media, the news and most discourse adopts a problem-based view of the world, those attempting to motivate more sustainable mindsets increasingly acknowledge that positive visions are more effective than doom-laden facts and figures. As a result organisations such as the Climate Coalition are working to engage people on positively framed narratives about sustainability that are meaningful to them (COIN 2014). Art and culture can shape values, trigger reflection, enable creative visioning of alternative possibilities, build democratic dialogues and challenge the power dynamics of vested interests (MMMCC 2013). This project aims to build on the positive psychology tradition to engage people in the task of considering the question of what a sustainable/Utopian society might look like and how we might get there. In phase 1 insights from an initial stage of research into what makes people happy and what constitutes Utopia across societies will be gathered. We will develop a website where individuals/organisations can upload blogs, stories, ideas which will provide the basis for the second phase. In phase 2 the website content will then be made available to schools, colleges and universities and promoted as a free educational project that involves collaboration between music, and other students to develop songs, poems, short stories and lyrics for a caberet musical called Utopia.

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