What do the arts have to do with the Earth’s climate?
To me, sustainability means…
perceiving how my personal decisions affect the climate and biodiversity crisis and then living life such that my children and future generations can enjoy the greatest possible resource abundance on a planet where they can still breathe free and deep. To me, sustainability doesn’t mean doing without; it means redefining what “the good life” is.
The climate crisis is relevant to the cultural realm because…
it’s relevant to all realms of life. We need to rethink cultural work, events, tours, etc. and plan them in new ways—and what’s not okay anymore is flying artists, orchestras, and choirs across the globe for individual concerts.
Art can change the world by…
searching creatively for new solutions and making the most of its fortunate ability to evoke great emotions and great happiness even with very few resources.
Climate change makes itself noticed in my work because…
it’s a theme that directly impacts everyone, no matter what careers they pursue or how or where they live. Every human being makes conscious or unconscious decisions that are relevant to the climate crisis, and I can’t do otherwise than be a climate activist first and a singer and voice teacher: no music on a dead planet!
My personal contribution to climate protection is…
owning neither a car nor a house, eating a primarily plant-based diet, and attempting to lead an urban life in solidarity. I’m not perfect, and that’s okay. After all, nobody has to be perfect in order to be climate activist. I just live a conscious and active life and try to encourage others to do likewise in a way that’s radically confident and stubbornly optimistic—as a multiplier in “real” life and with my Instagram account “elli_macht_mobil”.
For the future, I’d like…
the focus to shift away from sacrifice and privation and for all people to be capable of seeing what we stand to gain if we live in solidarity with the climate.
In our series “What does art have to do with the Earth’s climate?” the “Green mdw” initiative invites concerned individuals to speak out on their personal approaches to this issue.
Elisabeth Sturm is a jurist, singer, vocal pedagogue, and climate activist. Having grown up and earned her Matura in Gmunden (Upper Austria), she moved to Vienna to commence her university studies and soon began teaching voice on the side at the music school Freie Musikschule Wien. She now holds a contract to teach voice at the mdw, works together with the choir Wiener Singverein as a vocal trainer, directs multiple children’s choirs, and sings in several professional vocal ensembles (Company of Music, Vokalakademie Freiburg, et al.). She also works as a social media manager and uses her own Instagram account, “elli_macht_mobil”, to write about her attempt to live life in the most sustainable (and fulfilling) possible way. Elisabeth Sturm is married with two children and lives in Vienna and Gmunden.
