The Australian Dance Party’s Move to Zero films are a fun way to promote behaviour change. Photo: Supplied.
The ACT election may be over but the party isn’t – and the dancing doesn’t stop.
That’s the message from the Australian Dance Party (ADP), which describes itself as “Canberra’s site-specific and change-driven dance company”.
Their new video series – Move to Zero – uses funky, feel-good short films to suggest that Canberrans can change their everyday behaviour to reduce emissions.
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Project director and party leader Alison Plevey thinks that dance is a particularly good fit for social change messages.
“Dance is an embodied physical form that involves action and behaviour to communicate,” she says.
“It’s about literally shifting our actions and behaviours. Those stories are really well told through the body. Dance captures emotions and sensations, and so does film.”
Social and environmental change are key priorities for ADP, who have now produced two series of short advertisement-style videos about climate issues.
Alison says that COVID-19 has encouraged many Canberrans to embrace new levels of physical activity to support their physical and mental health, and the films challenge viewers to project this into a way of caring for the planet.
Over 60 per cent of the ACT’s total carbon emissions are currently attributed to transport, so the new Move to Zero films focus on using electric and active transport.
“The ACT is already a world leader in emissions reduction exporting its ideas, skills and technology to the world. Individual responses and community action have been an essential ingredient in our success so far.
“The Move to Zero films aim to generate individual curiosity around transport choices and stimulate action toward the ACT’s interim target of a 50 to 60 per cent overall emissions reduction (on 1990 levels) by 2025”, Alison says.
The campaign uses the power of social media to share the videos, as well as cinema advertising, and the aim is to reach a large audience and inspire a personal response and action.
The first Move to Zero series of videos promoted zero-emissions behaviours including ‘Dive into a Car Pool’, ‘Use No Plastic’ and ‘Make your home just right’. Over 100,000 people worldwide saw the films, embracing their quirky and offbeat messaging.
The second series has been developed with substantial contributions from individuals and community in the ACT including climate scientists, the Electric Vehicle Association, businesses including Screencraft Media and youth dance organisation QL2 Dance.
The ACT Government also provided a $24,952 Community Zero Emissions Grant from the ACT Government for the production.
“Move to Zero is about the creative and collaborative process as much as the film products. In the development process it has awakened renewed community connection, creativity and environmental stewardship.
“It has empowered those involved with a sense of agency and responsibility in moving to a zero-emissions ACT”, Alison says.
To learn more about ADP, visit Facebook.
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