14 days ago it was finally decided that we were to contribute to the Climate Talks held in Barcelona – a 7 days negotiation process leading up to COP15. As a support team of WWF we traveled to Barcelona bringing a lot of ideas and concepts to try out: Ways in which we could apply visual language, visual thinking and visual practice to stimulate the negotiators. We figured that the complex issues of climate change could use a bit of visuals – in order for people to better see what each other means. We have engaged with our colleagues around the world to support these efforts. The above slideshow gives examples of all the ways in which we have “engaged with the Climate talks”. This document now serves as a catalogue which various parties the coming weeks will look at decide how much of it we will also contribute with at the final negotiations in Copenhagen December 8th to 18th.
Tip: Start With Small Steps
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:
Step 1: Visualise the main sessions on tablet, and project illustrations when and where possible
Step 2: Casually suggest presenters that you can put up a large piece of paper and start graphically recording what they are saying. Afterwards host conversations with anyone who come up to see the result.
Step 3: Ask everyone what Top 10 words / concepts they’d like to have a visual language for…and provide a space for them to write and seek visuals
Step 4: Collect powerful questions and organise them in a visual way, so that you start creating a visual dialogue tool (more and more people will want one for themselves
Step 5: “Attack” a stand and re-arrange the traditional type of stand into a living visual organisme, changing as people walk by and interact.
Step 6: Take the floor with a sandwich board (two boards put over you with big white paper). Walk around the conference premises and initiate spontaneous sessions where you facilitate a dialogue and create shared pictures.
Step 7: Start using social media to engage your community outside the conference. Invite them to contribute.
Step 8: Continue to create a hubbub around the visuals.
Step 9: Invent more and more ways in which the entire conference becomes visual and the participants can’t help get inspired to go deeper and deeper into the content and issues the conference is about.
