Shaped Climate Futures

The climate crisis affects people and societies globally, but for many in Sweden, it still feels distant and not personally impactful. Making the climate crisis more concrete and understandable is crucial for engaging people in finding solutions and taking action. One way to achieve this is by sharing climate research in new, creative, and engaging ways. Research on climate communication shows that art, culture, and personal stories create greater engagement than research reports. Through art, new narratives can be staged that create sensory and emotional understanding.

Guided by Nature aims to transform complex climate data into multisensory experiences that make the impacts of climate change concrete, accessible, and emotionally powerful, thereby engaging the public in a dialogue about how they can contribute to a sustainable future they want to live in.

The project is supported with 2 330 000 SEK.

What happens in the project?

Through a unique collaboration between artists and researchers at several universities in Sweden, an experience-based exhibition will be developed to both inform and engage a broad audience about the effects of the climate crisis.

– A large-scale art installation in sculptural greenhouses will depict five climate futures based on the UN’s scenarios for 2100. Visitors will experience future climates with temperature changes, sounds, lights, and vibrations.

– The exhibitions will be shown in well-visited botanical gardens at three locations during spring, summer, and autumn.

– Guided tours with researchers and artists will lead discussions about the different future scenarios and their consequences.

– The exhibitions will include interactive elements where visitors write letters to their future selves. These will be stored in museum archives and reactivated in 2050 and 2100.

– Schoolchildren will be offered guided tours and interactive follow-ups with educational materials.

– A two-week summer art school will be arranged for children aged 7–12. In collaboration with local partners, they will develop their own future sketches and be empowered with the insight that if the future is a sketch, we have the power to influence it.

Why did the project receive support?

Transforming passive spectators into active participants is crucial for building the knowledge and capacity needed to meet the urgent challenges of climate change and drive progress.