We are on our second day in the Barcelona Climate Talks. We have taken small steps in applying visual techniques to various parts of the conference. On the above photos you can see Stine working on what will become a display of visuals conveing the essence of WWF’s 10 steps leading to a successful COP15 agreement.
You can see more photos from the first days in Barcelona in the sidebar of this blog.
We have come to experience 9 important steps (see further below) you as a visual practitioner can take to make to takeover a conference with visual tools and techniques:
We are now on 3rd day of the negotiations and things are getting more and more tense. It will become politics tomorrow and probably some will show new positions. We have made visuals and Stine is in the middle og making a stand, where people can have dialogues.
Update
Last Thursday 4pm we finally got lucky. We have been invited to join WWF international in their work in relation to the ongoing negotiations leading up to COP15 in Copenhagen December 8th to 18th.
Read this post – and get back to us – if you in some way would be able to be involved the coming 4 days:
COP 15 is going to substitute the Kyoto protocol which expires in 2012. The Barcelona Climate Talks are is final “working conference”.
We are on the team of “WWF observers” as “visualisers” basically running around the conference center in Barcelona. We have been here since Friday supporting WWF in their preparation for the 5 days (mon-fri). We participate in WWF morning and evening meetings where 50+ WWF’ers discuss how to influence the negotiations. We will each day walk around in this huge space and visualize the process of the negotiations, facilitate dialogues on the floor…etc. We are supporting WWF putting together powerful visuals which can explain what the talks are about (see from their view)– so that “even your grandmother will get it”. We are meeting and talking with many of the players here, spreading the word about how visual facilitation, graphic recording and other visual support can inspire the negotiations. We are having conversations with the organizers of COP15 of Copenhagen about how we of how we may involve a larger crew in Copenhagen.
During the next 7 days negotiations leading up to COP 15 in Copenhagen (the new deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol) is taking place. We are supporting WWF during these days. For each day we will upload visuals of the main issues, ideas and messages which WWF find important to communicate. We invite anyone out there to join us. The above is from the premeetings this weekend. More to come here and on our Slideshare site.
There is a group of Danish Cartoonists who has created this site where they from now on and up to the COP15 will post illustrations and cartoons. We hope to engage with the group in terms of some of the events we will be partcipating in. Thanks to Erik Petri for the link.
We are always on the lookout for strong visual language which can help people have great dialogues about complex issues. Thanks to Simon from the Kaospilots we got to know of the GreenMap project. They simply make map and icons for green issues.
Leo Murray is an animator of the fiction documentary ‘The Age of Stupid’. He has created this thought provoking visual story: ‘Wake Up, Freak Out’. It is based on scientific reports and tells a powerful story. It calls for reflection and action. We believe there is a role to play for visual thinkers and practiotioners to use visual language to get collective thinking and action going. What do you think?
The next four months Copenhagen is buzzing with activities, events, projects etc which all lead up to COP 15. There is a lot of data, information and communication out there. Some of it is scary, some confusing and some inspiring. The Co2penhagen Festival is of the inspiring kind: A positive approach. The entire communication and visual language signals that we can have fun and support each other while doing something good for the climate. This weekend we will try to find ways of contributing visually to the event – be it the concerts, the talks…or something else. Got any ideas?
Now it is possible to educate yourself as a Climate Teacher to help children build capacities and understanding of the climate challenges – and possible solitions. Sorry – it’s in danish! Klimaundervisning
Comment »
