The City as Commons: New Stories of Climate Justice

Gathering 1 of 3 | Global Rise: Stories for the Future & Climate Film Festival
The Multidimensional Challenges of Climate Justice
Global Rise: Stories for the Future and Climate Film Festival, hosted by Anew, invite you to a series of three gatherings to imagine new stories that illuminate climate justice in New York City.
Whether you're a seasoned climate storyteller or ready to start your creative journey, join us for this first interactive workshop. We’ll open with conversation among policy advocates, community organizers and experts about the new climate justice narratives we need for our city. Then, through guided prompts and collaborative exercises, we’ll begin mapping a creative narrative response, in the medium of your choice – film, creative writing, journalism and more all welcome. Please bring a notebook and pen.
Participants who want to take their project further are invited to submit a one-page story proposal to Global Rise by June 30. Three to four submitted projects will be selected to be workshopped in the next gathering.
This 3-hour gathering includes time for mingling and conversation.
Part 1 of 3. Our next gathering will be on July 14. More details on Part 2 soon.
As space is limited, please register to attend.
Photo by King of Hearts CC BY-SA 4.0

Global Rise Co-Founders & Facilitators:
Global Rise: Stories for the Future creates innovative strategies for new narratives. We work with creatives and community leaders to examine the interdisciplinary role of science, humanities, and imagination in crafting rich climate stories across media. We believe climate storytelling is most powerful when rooted in the landscapes, communities, systems, and cultures where climate change is lived.
Jessie Keyt — Writer, film scholar, and international script consultant. Co-author of Alternative Scriptwriting: Contemporary Storytelling for the Screen. Head of Screenwriting and Associate Arts Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she teaches the graduate-level master class Writing the Climate Change Script.
Lydia Dean Pilcher — Filmmaker, cultural strategist, educator, and two-time Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated producer. Pilcher has an extensive track record creating multi-stakeholder collaborations across entertainment studios, unions, and guilds. She works with UN Climate Change and designed and teaches Climatic Change: Storytelling Arts, Zeitgeist, and Our Future at the Columbia Climate School.
Abby Rabinowitz — Climate journalist, STEM expert, and Director of the Writing Program at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, where she teaches the advanced seminar Climate Fiction and the City. Her writing on climate policy, technology, and narrative has appeared in Wired, The New York Times, The Guardian, Grist, The New Republic, and Columbia Journalism Review.
The Climate Film Festival is a cultural organization with an annual festival, year-round programming, and educational resources in New York City. CFF rewrites the narrative on climate change by harnessing the power of motion pictures, showcasing new and established voices, classic climate films, and human, energizing stories. Its annual 2026 festival will be held from September 18-21.
Anew is a gathering space and discovery center for the social impact community.