Art is a powerful way to convey messages, elicit emotions and create connections. Original and creative ways to engage, educate, and challenge people are increasingly becoming embedded in climate change activism.
But how creative can you get at a climate conference? That was the question posed by the GLF and Youth in Landscapes Initiative to youth participants at GLF Climate, who were challenged to create their best visual representation of each day of the conference.
From vlogs to memes to PowerPoint presentations, we received an incredibly diverse range of submissions based on the three themes of the conference: forests, food, and finance.Meet our three amazing finalists:
Marissa Dirks, Australia
“I found the GLF Climate conference both inspiring and terrifying! Listening to the diverse panels of people speak about their projects and ideas from across the globe filled me with hope. There were so many learnings to take away, including on topics such as Indigenous protection of biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, crop wild relatives, food waste, and sustainable diets, just to name a few.
Because there were so many facts and facets to take away from the conference, I was inspired to include as much information as possible in my creative challenge. As I love board games, I thought I could design a board game to squash several facts and thoughts into a visual representation.”
Twitter username: @Marissa03849369
Natasha Irene, Indonesia
“It is hard to condense a conference-worth of important information into one paragraph, so I made infographics instead. Each infographic contains four or five key take-aways from the conference day’s topic, which include two or three quotes/powerful messages, a to-do list (a list of actions that we could do regarding the topic), and end up with a universal challenge/encouragement to close. I based the visual design choice for each infographic on the topic of the day.
GLF Climate was an amazing conference! Since the climate crisis knows no borders and we can’t have healthy people on an unhealthy planet, we must ensure that forests, food, and finance are managed sustainably for our resilient future!”
Instagram: @SIN896121
Chimwemwe Kadzuwa, Malawi and England
“I wanted something that captured my personal journey of learning that I would undergo over the three days of the conference.
In my spare time, I’ve taught myself graphics editing, so I opted to go for a visual depiction of key phrases and concepts that resonated with, or impacted, me.
I was impressed by the range of speakers throughout all the sessions. It was so refreshing to see people from many nationalities, races, backgrounds, organizations, and walks of life coming together to discuss.
Being 28, I was so encouraged and inspired by the speakers in their 20s and 30s that were leaders in major organizations and were passionate about not just discussing climate change issues but actually making a significant impact today in their roles.”
Instagram:@ckadzuwa
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