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CLİMATE CHANGE AND ART

2025-1-DE04-KA152-YOU-0002988672025Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: DE|EL|TR|HU|MK|RO · Grant: €42,534
Creativity, arts and cultureGreen skillsEnvironment and climate change

Objectives

Art provided people with an emotional and mental internal experience. By drawing in the audience or participants, it assisted them in individually experiencing events or situations. It could be used as an effective tool in addressing specific issues by inspiring action, drawing attention, and inspiring change in the face of a particular problem. Climate change, which was increasingly becoming a critical issue, was directly linked to global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect involved gases accumulating in the atmosphere, trapping solar radiation, and causing the warming of the Earth's surface. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for faster emission cuts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The latest data from the World Meteorological Organization showed that global temperatures continued to rise, with the hottest eight years recorded between 2015 and 2022 since records began in 1850. This rise in temperature led to changes in ecosystems and deviations from normal climate patterns. For instance, in Japan, cherry blossoms had been observed since the ninth century, but the blossoming seen in 2021 was recorded as the earliest in the last 1,200 years. Climate change resulted in various problems like rising sea levels, extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, melting glaciers, and changes in biodiversity. For example, during severe rainfall in Pakistan in July and August 2022, more than 1,700 people lost their lives due to resulting floods. Climate change posed a serious threat to ecosystems, human health, and the economy. Measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting sustainable energy use, and adopting environmentally friendly policies were essential to combat this issue. Art was an immensely powerful tool for drawing attention to social issues. Particularly concerning climate change, aesthetic and various artistic disciplines allowed individuals to engage in deep reflection, establish emotional connections, and spur young people to action. Art was a highly effective method for creating climate change awareness. Through creativity and its potential to reach wider audiences, it encouraged young people, artists, and other segments of society to actively engage in combating climate change. Paula Winokur, one of the artists expressing climate change through art, stated that the environment could not return to its former state in her work titled “Tar Ice Interruptions.” Winokur used black porcelain to represent oil seeping from the cracks of a white porcelain plate, confronting us with tar that was nearly impossible to purify. Another example was artist Nele Avezedo’s work “Melting Men.” In 2009, she created an installation of a thousand 20 cm tall ice sculptures. Her work, melting into water before everyone’s eyes, highlighted the melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica due to global warming and human-induced environmental disasters. This project aimed to provide young people with an opportunity to express their ideas about climate change through art. It was important for young people to develop their knowledge and skills in climate change and art to contribute to society. In our project, the focus was on the potential of art to increase climate change awareness and mobilize people into action. Young people learned how to convey environmental and climate messages through artistic projects and developed in this regard. Moreover, this project encouraged young people to promote environmentally friendly behaviors and inspired them to develop different projects using art in combating climate change in the future. Among the specific objectives of this project were raising awareness among young people aged between 18 and 30 about the seriousness of climate change, increasing their awareness about this issue, and actively encouraging their participation in finding solutions. Art was used as a fundamental tool to achieve these objectives Our specific goals were: To enable young people to better understand the problems of climate change, adopt more sustainable lifestyles, and guide their communities in this regard. To demonstrate to participants how different artistic disciplines and creative expressions can be used as tools to raise social awareness about climate change. To develop solutions for climate change issues and enhance dialogue with policymakers.

Project partners (6)