Not a Hero’s Journey (Film)

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“Not a Hero’s Journey” is a new film from Catherine Dunn that follows young climate activist Jessie Stevens on a 600-mile ride across the UK to attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Discover the story of Jessie’s People Pedal Power movement and follow her ride with other climate-concerned cyclists here…

Words by Catherine Dunn, photos by James Robertson

At the start of 2021, Jessie Stevens, a climate-concerned young person from the south coast of the UK, came up with an idea. She wanted to bring youth representation to the COP26 international climate summit that was happening in Glasgow later that year. Climate anxiety is a global problem and largely affects younger generations whose futures could be catastrophically affected by the ongoing climate crisis. The COP climate summits are places where world leaders and diplomats gather to form agreements and strike deals that address climate change on a global scale. To date, these summits have proved largely ineffective in tackling the issue at large. But with the international climate conversation coming to Jessie’s doorstep, she wondered whether this time she may be able to have an impact.

“I’m growing up in a world of climate chaos. It’s also a world in which I cannot vote.”—Jessie Stevens

And so, with a quiet determination, Jessie went about planning her journey to Glasgow. The only problem? How to get there without flying and without breaking the bank. This was going to require some thought. “As a young person concerned about the climate, I wanted to travel to COP26 to highlight the need for more diverse decision-makers at the summit. Ironically, the two easiest and cheapest ways for me to get there was to fly or go by car, with other less polluting modes of transport being far more complex and expensive,” she said.

  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film

One day, Jesse thought about just cycling to it, and from there, a plan began to form. By October 2021, Jessie had developed a 600-mile route from her home to Glasgow, planned engagements with community groups and individuals all the way up the UK, and brought onboard several collaborators to help spread the word and encourage people to join her on the road. She then set about bringing together a group of 21 volunteers at different points along the route to ride a cargo bike (kindly loaned by The Adventure Syndicate) that would carry everything she needed for the two-week climate conference.

Not a Hero's Journey Film

“To me, cycling is a very community-orientated mode of travel. It gives space for as many individuals to join the ride, gathering force and power; the more who join, the louder our voice becomes,” Jessie said.

This ride was not about Jessie, though, but about the power and importance of community. The whole point of the ride was to demonstrate how the bicycle could bring together individuals and organisations and give them a collective voice at COP26. The journey kicked off in the town of Newton Abbot on the south coast of England, and for 600 miles, I followed Jessie’s #RIDE2COP26 movement, capturing the stories and conversations along the way. The journey lasted 10 days, with a few route diversions to accommodate the extreme weather the UK faced that week (the irony was not lost on anyone), and saw hundreds of people join by bike.

  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film

Not a Hero’s Journey focuses on the moments of clarity that often arise on long-distance bike rides; the conversations with strangers and friends alike, from which new understandings are born and alternative perspectives come to light. Jessie’s eloquent presentation of hard-hitting climate issues lays bare the impact of the ongoing climate crisis on younger generations globally. We hear from a breadth of individuals who are largely underrepresented in climate conversations internationally and, importantly, we hear about the solutions that are already out there. Jessie may have led the charge to COP26, but the community that she found along the way was the most powerful thing; after all, this is not a hero’s journey.

  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
  • Not a Hero's Journey Film
Not a Hero's Journey Film

The Route

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