Radical Ecology was born out of a need to connect the dots between climate breakdown, racial justice, and cultural transformation. Founded in 2021 by filmmaker and activist Ashish Ghadiali, we set out to challenge the root causes of environmental crisis—not just carbon emissions, but the deeper legacies of colonialism, capitalism, and disconnection.
Working from the South West of England with a global network of collaborators, we bring together artists, scientists, activists, and policymakers to imagine and shape a just ecological future. Our projects live at the intersection of culture and policy—using public art, research, and radical storytelling to catalyse systemic change.
Highlights include:
2022: Foundations and Frameworks
• Equilibrium: Launched as a creative initiative exploring balance and interconnection in ecological and social systems.
• Black Atlantic Innovation Network: Co-convened with UCL’s Sarah Parker Remond Centre, this pioneering network laid the groundwork for policy frameworks that align climate justice with decolonial cultural practice.
2023: Expanding the Vision
• Quantifying the Human Cost of Global Warming: Engaged in research and advocacy to make the climate crisis more legible in human terms.
• Migrant Futurism: A cultural initiative reimagining the future from the perspective of displaced peoples.
• Musical Passage: An exploration of sound, history, and resistance across the Black Atlantic.
• Against Apartheid: A major public exhibition and program in Plymouth, linking climate apartheid with histories of colonialism and resistance.
• Black Atlantic: A multimodal celebration over 3 days in Plymouth of 30 years of Paul Gilroy’s seminal decolonial text. Global Tipping Points Report: Contributed editorial leadership to this landmark scientific publication highlighting ecological thresholds and systems change.
2024: Deepening Cultural and Ecological Inquiry
• Diversity in Gardens: Interrogating botanical spaces as sites of colonial legacy and ecological resistance.
• Invasion Ecology: A research and public program examining the entanglements between migration, ecology, and empire.
• Dream Ecologies: Experimental research into dream-life as a resource for ecological and political transformation.
• A Framework for Environmental Justice: Published to guide cultural and heritage institutions in integrating climate justice, decolonization, and sustainability.
• Survival is a Promise: A public series featuring figures including Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Ingrid Pollard, reflecting on the life and legacy of black feminist trailblazer Audre Lorde.
2025: Radical Perception and Planetary Justice
• Sensing the Planet: Ashish Ghadiali’s debut solo exhibition at Thelma Hulbert Gallery explored racial and ecological justice through film, sound, and personal narrative.
• Land, Art & Justice: A day-long public program of talks and participatory sessions featuring Françoise Vergès and the Dream Ecologies collective, reflecting on land, liberation, and the role of art in systems change.
• Time of the Rivers: An international artist fellowship focused on the ecological and cultural impacts of damming and displacement in Borneo and the UK.
Explore our programme and research strands.
Dive into our theory of change.\