Ellie Harrison

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Get Glasgow Moving

  • 2020 Lecture

    Just Transition: a fairer, greener Scotland

    25 Nov 2020
    Just Transition Commission, Scottish Government

  • 2020 Lecture

    How can we build a green recovery?

    23 Nov 2020
    Glasgow Covid-19 Action Group

  • 2020 Lecture

    Spotlight on Glasgow

    14 Nov 2020
    From the Ground Up, COP26 Coalition (0:37:00-0:39:10)

  • 2020 Lecture

    Building Back Better Public Transport

    19 Oct 2020
    People Before Profit Scotland launch event (0:55:40-0:58:43)

  • 2020 Lecture

    A Green Recovery: the Future of Transport in Glasgow

    14 Oct 2020
    Greenpeace Glasgow

  • 2020 Lecture

    Imagine if buses were free…

    19 Sep 2020
    Free Our City launch event (0:41:08-0:54:15)

  • 2020 Media

    Building back better in the ‘Dear Green Place’ with free buses and trains

    1 Sep 2020
    Scottish Left Review (Issue 119 p.8)

  • 2020 Lecture

    Scotland’s Response to the Climate Emergency

    10 Jun 2020
    Friends of the Earth Scotland (0:18:29-0:28:49)

  • 2020 Writing

    Artist as Active Citizen

    Harrison reflects on The Glasgow Effect for this new text commissioned to launch a-n‘s year-long research project with AirSpace Gallery: Artists Make Change (May 2020 – May 2021). It is published alongside a new text by Dave Beech reflecting on the history of political art, to provoke discussion about artists’ roles in affecting social change. (Word count: 1,540)

  • 2020 Lecture

    Free Public Transport

    1 May 2020
    Glasgow May Day, Glasgow Trades Council (1:38:32-1:46:22)

  • 2020 Media

    Bus Regulation feature

    4 Mar 2020
    You & Yours, BBC Radio 4

  • 2020 Lecture

    Chair’s Report

    1 Feb 2020
    Get Glasgow Moving AGM, Unison, Glasgow

  • 2019 Media

    Public Transport Discussion

    7 Nov 2019
    The Nine, BBC Scotland

  • 2019 Lecture

    How Glasgow Can Buy Back The Buses

    12 Oct 2019
    Glasgow's Debt - Glasgow's Promise, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

  • 2019 Lecture

    Transport Poverty: Problems & Solutions

    10 Oct 2019
    Challenge Poverty Week, Kinning Park Complex

  • 2019 Lecture

    Privatisation & Outsourcing

    31 Aug 2019
    The Ferret Summer Gathering, University of Stirling

  • 2019 Lecture

    Transforming Transport to address the Climate Emergency

    25 Jun 2019
    Climate Emergency Working Group, Glasgow City Council

  • 2019 Lecture

    World-class Transport for Glasgow

    Speaking on behalf of the Get Glasgow Moving campaign, Harrison presents a petition signed by 10,727 people calling for ‘World-class Transport for Glasgow‘ to Glasgow City Council’s Wellbeing, Empowerment, Community & Citizen Engagement Committee.

  • 2019 Lecture

    Chair’s Report

    8 Jan 2019
    Get Glasgow Moving AGM, Unite, Glasgow

  • 2018 Lecture

    Roundtable Discussion on Transport Bill

    Speaking on behalf of the Get Glasgow Moving campaign, Harrison makes the case for publicly-owned buses and for a properly regulated and integrated public transport network, at the Rural Economy & Connectivity Committee’s Roundtable Discussion on the Transport Bill at the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.

  • 2017 Lecture

    Air Pollution & Better Buses

    15 Jul 2017
    Friends of the Earth Scotland Summer Weekender, Wiston Lodge

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News

Ellie Harrison is an artist & activist based in Glasgow (UK). In 2023 she won the Stephen Fry Public Engagement Award for her ‘Bus Regulation: The Musical’ Trilogy in Greater Manchester, Strathclyde & Merseyside (2019 – 2023).
In 2021 the Second Edition of Harrison’s book The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint was launched at the UN Habitat’s Innovate4Cities conference to mark the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, and chosen by the Ecologist for the Resurgence Book Club. Her Early Warning Signs were also exhibited at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library during COP26 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project.
Harrison’s Vending Machine continues to feature in the 😹 LMAO exhibition exploring humour in data visualisation at the Open Data Institute in London.

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Ellie Harrison

Ellie Harrison

Artist, activist & author of 'The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint' 📚

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It was great to meet Paul from PalFox Photography last month when he visited me at Wasps Studios Hanson Street to take these fab pictures 📷

My studio has always been more like an office than anything else, going back to my very first one in Glasgow in the Barnes Building at The Glasgow School of Art from 2008-2010. I bought ‘The Boss’ mug back then as I was interested in the aesthetics of the corporate world and exploring what it meant to be self-employed worker, making pieces like ‘The History of Financial Crises’ (2009), ‘Desk Chair Parade’ (2009) and ‘Desk Chair Disco’ (2011), and the ‘Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed’ (2011).

I’m not making much art these days as nearly all my time goes into local community activism, particularly with the Glasgow Community Energy co-operative which I helped get up-and-running during the pandemic, and with the Get Glasgow Moving public transport campaign which I co-founded in 2016.

Over the summer I’m preparing for Get Glasgow Moving’s 10th Anniversary Exhibition at the New Glasgow Society, which opens on Thurs 17 September as part of Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival 2026.

I love using my creative skills to further causes that I’m passionate about. Over the years I've designed many campaign materials – including this ‘Trans-Clyde Links You Clyde-Wide’ T-Shirt, which is based on the original marketing for the Trans-Clyde integrated public transport network launched by the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive in 1979, the year that I was born.

The integrated public transport networks which most big city-regions had were wilfully destroyed in 1986 with the deregulation (and later privatisation) of buses. This was one of the most destructive of all Margaret Thatcher’s policies, and it is shameful that The Scottish Government has continued to maintain it for more than quarter of a century of devolution. With the Better Buses for Strathclyde campaign, we are doing all we can to get our region’s buses back in public control.

If you like the T-Shirt, come down to the exhibition in September and you’ll be able to get one there! And, if you'd like to have a nosey round my studio, I'm also planning to take part in the Open Studios at Wasps Artists' Studios - Hanson Street, Glasgow on Sat 3 October 😊 See you there! @followers
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3 weeks ago
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This 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟱 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 in Glasgow! 📢 I'm delighted to be talking about my work with Get Glasgow Moving & Glasgow Community Energy at the 𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘨𝘰𝘸? conference at the University of Glasgow 🎟️ Tickets are free, so come join us 👇 @followers ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago
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Don't miss our Better Buses National Hustings tonight! 👇 You can catch me on the livestream at 7pm:
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rFh2CjP_Xs @followers
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3 months ago
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"We need The Scottish Government to support our transport authority, SPT, to bring the bus network back into public control, so they can deliver a fully-integrated, accessible and affordable public transport network across the region like Greater Manchester’s new ‘Bee Network’, or the recently released plans for South Yorkshire’s ‘People’s Network’" — Ellie Harrison

I was delighted to contribute to Gerry Hassan's article for Bella Caledonia about 𝘈 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘨𝘰𝘸 👏 Read online here 👇
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/03/31/time-for-a-new-deal-and-vision-for-glasgow @followers
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4 months ago
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Calling all A-N members! Don't miss this online artist's talk and workshop on '𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲' which I'm co-hosting this Thursday 2 April, 11am-1pm 🌍 Find out more 👇 @followers ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago
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Are you in Glasgow t

Are you in Glasgow this evening? Come along to this free screening of the brilliant POWER Film at The Glasgow School of Art 👇 I'll be introducing the event, talking about my work with Glasgow Community Energy and chairing a Q&A with artist and filmmaker Hilary Powell 😊 @followersSave the date! 🌞 We're delighted to be collaborating with Friends of the Earth Scotland to bring you Turning homes into renewable Power Stations: film screening & Discussion 👇
🗓️ Thurs 12 March 2026, 5:30pm
📍 Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art
🎟️ Book free tickets: powerstationGSA.eventbrite.com @followers
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5 months ago
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It’s this blatant injustice that motivates all my campaigning 😡 Why should people in the poorest parts of Glasgow have to pay 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 for an essential public service as bankers in the City of London? Shame on The Scottish Government for presiding over this system for more than 25 years! @followers ... See MoreSee Less

7 months ago
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Ten years ago today, I was just beginning my year-long durational performance #TheGlasgowEffect which was to become one of the most controversial publicly-funded artworks that Scotland had ever seen.

Part psychological experiment, part protest, part strike, for the whole of 2016, I vowed not to travel beyond Glasgow’s city limits, or use any vehicles except my bike.

I described my experience of starting #TheGlasgowEffect, including being at the centre of the social media stooshie it provoked, in ‘When the Chips Hit the Fan’ – Chapter 5 of my book ‘The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint’ published by Luath Press 📚

We have just printed a newly updated version of the Second Edition, so do have a read if you’d like to be transported back to that moment in January 2016... Find out more at: ellieharrison.com/book @followers
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7 months ago
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Commodities

  • 4 Live Broadcasts DVD 4 LIVE Broadcasts DVD £20.00
  • The Glasgow Effect (First Edition) The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint £10.00 – £12.00Price range: £10.00 through £12.00
  • Bring Back British Rail Sticker Bring Back British Rail Sticker £3.00
  • Hen Weekend Badge Hen Weekend Badge £2.00
  • Gold Card Adventures Poster Gold Card Adventures Poster £5.00
  • National Museum of Roller Derby T-Shirt National Museum of Roller Derby T-Shirt £25.00
  • Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund Sticker Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund Sticker £3.00
  • Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt £15.00
  • Part-time Book Part-time Book £10.00

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  • ellie@ellieharrison.com

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