Listening to Courage: Women of the Energy Transition

During my climate fieldwork across Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Australia, one pattern kept appearing: the courage of women speaking truth to power. 

On International Women’s Day, I want to honour these women. 

Whether in Copenhagen, Nuuk, Kulusuk, Karratha, Sydney or Canberra, one thing kept standing out to me:

Time and again, it was women who were willing to confront the climate crisis – its causes, its consequences and its challenges.

Teenagers and grandmothers alike. Women who were prepared to be uncomfortable.

Women who said things others did not want to say.

Women who:

– question power

– voice dissent

– reveal hidden connections

– open new perspectives

– take to the streets

– risk arrest

– actively fight for change

Women like Hannah and Isabell of Fridays for Future Denmark, Ida Dalsgaard Nicolaisen, Julie Edel Hardenberg, Jessie Kleeman, Pauline Motzfeld Lumholt, Anna Kiutse Thastum, Jacqi Katona, Raelene Cooper, Janet Salisbury and Glenda Cloughley of A Chorus of Women, Danielle Celermajer, Violet Coco, the Knitting Nannas of Sydney and the Mothers Rebellion in Copenhagen. 

Their names are not as widely known as they should be. Their voices are not always loud. But through their conversations, their courage and their persistence they expand our sense of what is possible — and in doing so they shape communities and sometimes even political decisions.

This collage brings together some of the women who inspired me most during my research. They stand for many others – of all genders – who are contributing to the social transformation toward a healthier and more sustainable world. Many of their voices continue to accompany my work as I develop my project Sounding Crisis, which explores culture, communication and the energy transition.

Today I simply want to say thank you.

For your courage.

 For your clarity.

 And for raising your voices. 💚