This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The arts, cultural and creative sectors can act as powerful catalysts for climate action, changing how people understand, engage with and act on climate change, new research from University College Cork (UCC) has found. Researchers found that creative approaches can strengthen people's capacity and motivation to take climate action, build social connections and support a fair and inclusive transition to a net-zero future.
The three-year study, led by professor Marguerite Nyhan and researchers at the UCC Sustainability Institute, evaluated Creative Ireland's Creative Climate Action Fund II, a national program of 42 artistic, cultural and creative projects that engaged people with climate change and climate action. The projects brought together a range of artistic and creative approaches spanning visual and performing arts, film and photography, music and sound, design and architecture, community-based arts, storytelling and poetry, as well as workshops and participatory learning. The study found that artistic and creative approaches provided an accessible way for people to connect with climate change on a personal and emotional level.
Creative projects also generated new spaces for dialogue, learning and collaboration, bringing together communities, businesses, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations and other organizations around climate action. Nyhan, a professor of engineering for sustainability at UCC and the UCC Sustainability Institute, said, "Our research demonstrates that the arts, cultural and creative sectors can provide powerful and innovative ways of engaging people with climate action. By creating inclusive spaces for dialogue, participation and co-creation, these projects enabled people to connect climate change with their own lives, communities and values, while building the knowledge and collective capacity needed to act." "The findings demonstrate the important role that the arts and cultural sector can play in delivering a fair and inclusive transition to a climate-neutral Ireland that leaves no one behind," Nyhan said.
The research found that Creative Climate Action Fund II supported key objectives of Ireland's Climate Action Plan by enabling collective action at community, regional and national levels. Researchers attended 46 events across six selected "deep-dive" projects and gathered evidence through more than 200 project and participant surveys, more than 50 interviews, participant observations and focus groups. Across the projects, participants engaged with issues including biodiversity loss, energy use, agriculture and land use, the circular economy, climate mitigation and climate adaptation.
The program also strengthened collaboration and knowledge-sharing between communities, organizations, industry, local authorities and nongovernmental organizations, including through Shared Island cooperation. Projects were particularly effective in supporting a just transition by tailoring engagement to different needs, abilities and levels of climate awareness. This helped marginalized and underrepresented groups participate in climate action while building trust, community ownership and capacity.
The research also found evidence of deeper cultural change and impacts across a wide range of settings. Creative and cultural experiences influenced participants' values, perspectives and sense of agency, with impacts extending into their wider communities, workplaces and professional networks. Nyhan said, "The scale of the climate challenge requires more than technological solutions; it also requires deep cultural change.
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