Tara DePorte

As an IMéRA Fellow, my research will survey creative communication tools that have been used over the years to engage new (and existing) audiences in understanding climate science and policy, with a particular emphasis on driving people to action. Research will be geared towards answering the following question: how can we effectively employ the arts to communicate climate issues and inspire climate action? I will examine tools currently or recently employed by environmental organizations, governments, and other groups, as well as tools previously developed at the organization I founded and run, the Human Impacts Institute (HumanImpactsInstitute.org). Demographically, this research will look at initiatives developed for urban populations in industrialized countries, especially those in low-lying coastal regions that are more vulnerable to climate-induced sea level rise (i.e. NYC and Marseille). The targeting of materials to and for these populations will create an interesting dynamic of stakeholders that are both highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, as well as primary causal agents of climate change (i.e. the U.S. and EU are some of the highest emitters per capita of greenhouse gases3).