What is the role of the arts in the face of this? An exploration in the context of systems thinking and the transition to sustainability

To address the role of the arts in the context of sustainability, global warming and climate change, I build on the following ideas: Change for sustainability requires a paradigmatic social-cultural shift toward an ecological worldview based on Whole Systems Thinking. This involves a path to change which is characterised as a learning process whereby the arts are a natural facilitator for many aspects of this process. A movement within the arts has emerged accepting the challenge of issues of sustainability as their "new frontier" and not surprisingly, many of its participants base their theories and practices in Systems Thinking. Outlining some of the processes and outcomes of "Fresh & Salty" within this frame of reference assists in articulating the potential of the arts as another force to advance our transition to sustainability. Various facets of the role of the arts thus emerge: the arts as an agent to reshape relations between people and environments; to re-vision kinds of relationships, kinds of thinking and kinds of futures; to instigate social learning; to practice sustainable actions; to foster cultural diversity and resilience; to promote transdisciplinarity; to unveil hidden paradigms and to practice what we have not yet experienced - thinking, knowing and acting under the new ecological paradigm.