Relative Creative

We have worked and studied within the decolonial space for the last decade. We have studied modernity, post-modernity, colonialism, the enlightenment, the second world war, the rise of Hitler...to name a few. Which is to say that we have a very good understanding of the implications of staying silent in the face of great evil. On the other hand, we also understand that speaking out on social media has its limits and needs careful consideration if it is to have any meaning or impact. We are (and always have been) unequivocally against the illegal occupation of Palestine and the oppression of the Palestinian people. We call out the genocide that is occuring before the worlds eyes and call on everyone who has a consience to take a stand, now is not the time to be silent. There are many actions you can take: • Write to your elected representatives and tell them that you call, in the strongest possible terms and with the greatest urgency, on the Australian Government to support an immediate ceasefire. • Follow Palestinian activists and journalists online ( @mohammedelkurd @apan4palestine @mariambarghouti ) as well as other organisations with eyes on the ground such as @doctorswithoutborders • Take to the streets - participate in organised rallies and marches • Talk to your union about what action they can take - unions have often been on the frontline of instigating change • Talk to your family and friends • Stay informed, there are books, movies and podcasts abound - remember to consider critically the validity of the information - who is producing it, why are they producing it, who is involved • Do not stay silent!

We’re still here! But we’ve been taking an extended break from posting on Instagram. Historically, we’ve used this space to share our work and talk about issues that are important to our practice but we’ve also continuously questioned the values and ethics of various social media platforms and whether the benefit of posting on them outweighs any potential negatives. For now we’re opting out. If you’re keen to keep an eye on our work check out our website, which we update with new projects as and when we’re able to share them 🙂

Ready for the experience of a lifetime? Tristan has been busy working alongside Lann Levinge and Libby Harward to design this year’s First Nations Artist Camp, to be hosted on South Stradbroke Island. - 10 selected First Nations artists living on or connected to the Gold Coast region will come together to work with senior practitioners, mentors and industry leaders to learn new skills, critique and immerse in their creative practice and understand more opportunities within the arts industry. Successful participants will receive a stipend to support their participation. - Link to apply in bio #creativegold #firstnations #artistcamp #cityofgoldcoast #goldcoast #southstraddie #southstradbrokeisland #firstnationsartistcamp #goldcoastcreative #artsqld #artsgoldcoast #ourgoldcoast #wearegoldcoast #artist #creative

First Nations drones policy and partnerships: A stakeholder engagement project focussed on future technologies — Strategic design and design-led facilitation supporting First Nations engagement in drones policy — A key objective of the project was to develop sustainable partnerships with First Nations peoples, communities and organisations who are interested in or impacted by drones and drone use. Supporting government departments in this endeavour, via a decolonising and culturally responsive lens aimed to reduce harm and support the development of safe and meaningful engagement. — There were three key parts to this project: research and early conversations; review of outcomes and design of workshop; and the forum and outcomes, including learnings for government. We drew on our extensive research into decolonising practices, techno-colonialiasm and our expertise in designing and facilitating engaging conversations and stakeholder engagements. We provided a series of outcomes to the Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRCA) including recommendations around approaches to partnerships and a series of recommendations relating to drone policy.

Gomeroi Advisory Group for the Gwydir Water Catchment: Supporting Gomeroi voices on water by co-designing and facilitating workshops to develop a Gomeroi advisory group, in collaboration with the Department of Planning and Environment, NSW. — The Murray Darling Basin is a hotly contested area, with over a century of mismanagement, disregard for First Nations peoples and knowledge and water theft colliding with the impacts of climate change to create a series of wicked problems impacting First Nations peoples (the Gwydir is within the lands of the Gomeroi Nation), the environment, landholders and locals. — We approached this project via our extensive experience developing and facilitating co-design projects, supporting the formation and continued functionality of advisory groups (and similar) and our extensive work with First Nations across the country. We developed a range of bespoke design tools to support conversation and the building of consensus over the course of multiple two-day workshops. This included spending time on Country and facilitating big mapping processes. Partners: NSW DPE

Long-Term Strategy with the Republic of Kiribati: Using strategic design to support long-term visions by strategic engagement and a long term strategy action plan for mitigating and adapting to Climate Change — Between November 2023 and March 2024, we travelled to Kiribati on 2 missions for the purpose of developing a Long Term Strategy (LTS) Action Plan for Kiribati. — LTSs are officially submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by nations, in accordance with the Paris Agreement to ‘strive to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. — We worked closely with stakeholders there; listening, learning and providing our expert contributions of strategic engagement and critical design. Flying internationally comes at a cost. We can only hope we provide warranted benefit to Kiribati, a small island Pacific atoll nation under imminent threat from rising sea levels, as we continue our work with them through 2024 helping to develop their long term strategy for adapting to climate change over the coming decades. Partners: Asia Development Bank Republic of Kiribati 🇰🇮

Incorporating First Nations Knowledge into Water Modelling: A multi-year project to spotlight Indigenous Knowledge within the water space. — Strategic design and stakeholder engagement focussed on celebrating First Nations land management practices. — This project was funded through the Queensland Water Modelling Network (QWMN), with aims to improve the state’s capacity to model its surface water and groundwater resources and their quality. It showcases, through research and application, the benefits of engaging First Nations peoples and knowledges into projects focussed on waterways based landscape rehabilitation. — Working collaboratively and across multiple disciplines Relative Creative (First Nations-led strategic designers and communication designers), Water Technology (water, engineering and environmental consultants) and the QMDCL St George Aboriginal Rangers progressed the project under the cultural guidance and authority of Mandandanji Traditional Owner, Aunty Kay Blades. The intention has been to create, and test, a methodology of collaborative project work between First Nations knowledge holders and technical specialists for an applied landscape restoration project focused on Munga Lake (Munya Lake) and its catchment (Condamine and Balonne). Partners: Aunty Kay @water.tech

Designing transformational approaches to transformational Adaptation in the Bellarine. — The Bellarine Peninsula is poised to experience the impacts of climate change, which will bring about significant transformations in its landscape. We were engaged for our ability to design and facilitate meaningful stakeholder engagement and then analyse this for strategic outcomes. The exploration of how to create conditions that enable transformational adaptation for a resilient future is a significant opportunity many governments will take on over the coming years. — A critical part of this project is helping people engage with the trade-off’s between different values, the environment, the needs of future generations and people today. As specialists in critical engagement design and systems thinking, we have facilitated a means for stakeholders to see the big picture and understand how varied factors interact to create vulnerabilities and opportunities for adaptation. We contributed a variety of systemic mapping tools and structures to present information, to make relationships and interdependencies visible. Partnered with @arupgroup

Part 4/4 The final part of our series ‘How to critically analyse a piece of media’. Designed to help people consider the type of media and content they’re engaging with online. Each slide is transcribed below. - How to critically analyse a piece of media: Part 4 - Sharing - Questions to ask before you share or repost 1) Who does this information come �from and what are their goals? 2) Do I have skin in the game or am I�just expressing my opinion? 3)Who benefits from me sharing� or reposting? 4) Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind? - Let’s take the recent social media hysteria about a female boxer as the example. - 1) Who does this information come �from and what are their goals? JK Rowling, a known transphobe, was quick to have an opinion. The story helped further her prejudice that trans women are a danger to cis women. The likes of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, historically a neo-facist, JD Vance and Charlie Kirk, both obsessed with controlling women’s bodies, quickly jumped on the bandwagon. - 2) Do I have skin in the game or am I�just expressing my opinion? We are confronted with many social and political issues everyday. Some impact us directly, some we just have opinions about. Often this impacts how we discuss particular issues AND in the rush to have our voice heard we leave out important voices. It can be worth asking: Do I have a clear understanding of what has happened here? e.g. the history of the (corrupt) IBF, histories of debunked gender testing science. Is my opinion relevant right now? - 3)Who benefits from me sharing� or reposting? In this case: Transphobes, The far-(and not so far) right whose anti-trans agenda is well documented, The people in power who benefit from social division. Facists and bullies. - 4) Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind? No. No, concern about trans-women in sport is a political furphy. Not only does transphobia emphasise narrow views of womanhood that reinforce both misogyny and racism, the people who seem to care most seem to have very little interest in women’s sport generally. No, a woman was bullied on the global stage.

Part 3/4 We’ve put together a four part series ‘How to critically analyse a piece of media’. This is designed to help people consider the type of media and content they’re engaging with online and whether it is truthful or whether it’s perpetuating misinformation. Each slide is transcribed below. - How to critically analyse a piece of media: Part 3 - “Research” - Questions to ask before you “do your research” - 1) What am I trying to learn or �understand? 2) What knowledge or experience of �the topic do I have? 3) Am I just looking for validation �to support a position I already hold? 4) Who agrees/disagrees with the �position I have, and why? - 1) What am I trying to learn or �understand? “I want to find out more about climate change and if it’s something I should worry about.” - 2) What knowledge or experience of �the topic do I have? In the case of climate change: I have read a range of pieces (articles and peer reviewed papers) on this topic, including for university I am competent at understanding mathematical and scientific concepts I was taught how to critically analyse different sources and apply this to the media I engage in I have had conversations with respected experts in this field (not always possible) - 3) Am I just looking for validation �to support a position I already hold?
I do not only rely on news from �social media I read and engage with a wide range of media, including independent media I regularly talk to people with different views to better understand what informs their perspective I ask questions when I need to understand how particular perspectives have been formed I read outside the algorithm (or my social media bubble) - 4) Who agrees/disagrees with the �position I have, and why? Who agrees? A 2021 review of thousands of climate science papers and conference proceedings concluded that over 99% of studies have found that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. Who disagrees? The fossil fuel industry has funded disinformation campaigns for years to create this kind of doubt about climate change, despite knowing that their products cause it and the consequences.

Part 2/4 We’ve put together a four part series ‘How to critically analyse a piece of media’. This is designed to help people consider the type of media and content they’re engaging with online and whether it is truthful or whether it’s perpetuating misinformation. Each slide is transcribed below. - How to critically analyse a piece of media: Part 2 - Credibility - How to decide if a piece of media is credible 1) Who made the claim? 2) What’s the evidence to support the claim? 3) What do trusted sources say? - Let’s use youth crime as an example. Three newspaper headlines, including one from last century are used as a visual example. - In QLD claims of a “youth crime wave” have been hounding the Labor government in the lead up to the 2024 state election. Claims come from: Media Community groups (especially online ones) and opposition and incumbent politicians. - What’s the evidence to support the claim? Mainly in traditional and social media, with quotes from victims. Both Labor & LNP have perpetuated the idea of a “youth crime wave” using it as an opportunity to appear “tough on crime” and in Labor’s case suspend the state’s Human Rights Act to implement punitive policies. - The number of young people committing crime has fallen. A graph from the ABC is used to indicate this. Why can we trust the ABC? It’s independent from political business or other interests, reducing potential bias. This particular news article is also supported by data. - Conclusion? 1) Youth crime is less of an issue than we’re led to believe and is being used for political point scoring
2) False claims about crime rates makes everyone feel less safe
3) The consequences of this are wide reaching and include the suspending of our Human Rights Act, which should concern us all.

Part 1/4 We’ve put together a four part series ‘How to critically analyse a piece of media’. This is designed to help people consider the type of media and content they’re engaging with online and whether it is truthful or whether it’s perpetuating misinformation. Each slide is transcribed below. - How to critically analyse a piece of media: Part 1 - Source type - There are three types of sources: Primary sources Secondary sources Tertiary sources (Picture of a bottle of sauce) - this is sauce, not a source! - Primary sources Original material, typically from the time period, that has not been: Interpreted, Condensed or Evaluated by others. Examples include (but aren’t limited to) photographs and works of art, original documents, diaries, sets of data, interviews. - Secondary sources Tend to: Describe, interpret, analyse and evaluate primary sources and Comment and discuss evidence provided by primary sources. Be one or more steps removed from an event or information Examples include (but aren’t limited to) history, commentaries, newspaper articles, textbooks, criticism of literature, art works or music. - Tertiary sources Works that: List primary and secondary resources in a specific subject area “Digest”, reformat or condense secondary sources in an easy to read format Examples include (but aren’t limited to) factbooks, guidebooks, some textbooks, chronologies. - Why is it useful? Knowing whether your source is primary, secondary or tertiary can help you consider how valid it might be, whether it’s been interpreted through another lens or further research. One type of source is not necessarily more truthful than the other but it can be interesting to return to primary sources to see how they might have been interpreted and what might have been missed - References: high school history and the library resources of UNSW and James Cook University. - Note: the background graphic on the first slide and the sauce bottle image were created using the AI functionality in Illustrator.