PUBLISHED14 Aug 2025
CSLA: Where are we now? The state of strategic climate communications
Introducing the speakers on one of the Climate Story Lab Australia panels.
Where are we now? The state of strategic climate communications
Date: Tuesday 26 August
Time: 3.45-4.55pm
Venue: Artspace, Gadigal Lands, Sydney
In this panel on the first day of Climate Story Lab Australia, the expert speakers will discuss the narrative challenges facing the climate movement and the strategic communications priorities and opportunities following the federal election. The group will also explore the latest research and insights into audience attitudes, beliefs and behaviours around climate change.
Note: this lab is by invitation only.
Moderator: Mithra Cox, Australia Desk Lead, Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC)
Mithra is the Australia Desk lead at the Global Strategic Communications Council, and has worked for 20 years in politics, climate change advocacy and communications. She was a Greens Councillor on Wollongong City Council for 7 years, has worked in the NSW Parliament, in environmental education, in the NGO sector, and in a previous life played the banjo in a hillbilly punk band.
Speaker: Byron Fay – Executive Director, Climate 200
Byron is a climate strategist, former Paris Agreement negotiator and adviser to the Independent Senator Tim Storer. Byron worked for a Biden-aligned Political Action Committee during the 2020 US presidential election, holds a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Oxford, and is a proud descendant of the Dharug nation.
Speaker: Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira – CEO, 350 Australia
Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira (they/them) is Māori and Irish with whakapapa (ancestral lineage) to Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whakaue and Contae Chiarraí. They are the CEO of 350 Australia and currently live and organise on sacred and unceded Wurundjeri whenua (land). They have previously held governance or director roles at the Foundation for Young Australians, ActionStation Aotearoa, Youth Movement Fund Aotearoa, Tauiwi Tautoko, JustSpeak and The Workshop.
Speaker: Kirsten Tidswell – Director of Strategic Communications, Climate Council
Kirsten is a senior communications leader with 15 years’ experience leading high-impact campaigns in Australia and the USA. After kicking off her career in advertising, Kirsten shifted to the non-profit sector, leading digital campaigns and video storytelling for CHOICE and the Climate Council in Australia, and later Khan Academy and Lean In in the USA.
Her work has produced several high-profile and viral social media videos, including a profile of Broken Hill’s shift to solar, an investigation into coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, a rapid-response video on South Australia’s statewide blackout, and an Equal Pay Day PSA with Eva Longoria.
Returning to Sydney in late 2020, Kirsten turned her attention to electing more progressive governments. As Digital Director for the Australian Labor Party, she led the digital campaigns that helped elect Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister in 2022 and Chris Minns as NSW Premier in 2023.
Since re-joining the Climate Council as Strategic Communications Director in 2024, Kirsten has overseen strategic communications across all channels, creating persuasive, cut-through messaging for key audiences – including a recent national TV ad campaign urging voters to put climate first at the ballot box.
The 3-day lab aims to strengthen climate storytelling and impact campaigns, spur partnerships to mobilise strategic audiences and funding opportunities, and grow confidence in the power of social impact storytelling.
Climate Story Lab Australia is co-hosted by Documentary Australia and Doc Society, and proudly supported by Shark Island Institute, Screen Australia, Screen NSW, Screen Queensland and Screenwest.