Western design students lead the climate conversation at Powerhouse Late

‘Restore the Balance’ Climate Action poster, Chloe Lavender

Young people are not only leading the fight against climate change but also finding innovative forms of knowledge exchange and empowering their peers, educators, and the public towards positive climate futures.

On July 27, works by Western Sydney University Design students and research by ICS scholars were showcased at POWERHOUSE LATE: CLIMATE, which featured work by young people from youth-led organisations and multiple universities and explored the role of visual communication and storytelling in response to climate change. Over 500 people of all ages and backgrounds attended the event.

Powerhouse Late: Climate was spearheaded by Dr Michelle Catanzaro (YRRC & HCA) and Brianna Barwise (Program Producer - 100 Climate Conversations) in partnership with Powerhouse Ultimo, University of Technology Sydney, and The Wollotuka Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Newcastle.

The event consisted of a visual exhibit, a panel discussion, a participatory 'Grumble Boogie' by performance artist Betty Grumble, A workshop led by youth organisers - Pheobe McIlwraith from Seed Mob and Grace Vegesana from Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and a discussion session at the climate café.

100 Climate Conversations poster, Erica Seo

Michelle Catanzaro, a research fellow at the Young and Resilient Research Centre and a member of the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, said the event was inspired by the 100 Climate Conversations podcast series by the Powerhouse Museum. The 100 Climate Conversations project talks to industry and community leaders, presenting their solutions on climate change that are proven and currently in practice or soon to be in practice. Due to this aim of the project, the 100 leaders are skewed to those in mid-late careers, with an average age of around 38.

Powerhouse Late: Climate was driven to bring students into the conversation using visual communication to expand how storytelling can amplify youth concerns about climate change. This culminated in visual interventions by students from Western, UTS, and UON (The Wollotuka Institute for Indigenous Education and Research) that were informed by climate science, climate action and Australian First Nations perspectives.

The event focused on youth perspectives and forms of expression on climate change to demonstrate the power of young people's views. This included an exhibition of work by Design students at WSU who were tasked with selecting a conversation from the podcast series and designing a poster that reflected the conversation's content. In addition, the students were asked to create a climate action poster. This flips the traditional top-down scientific knowledge approach to Climate change and instead embraces environmental activism, social and political intervention and the creative arts and positions young people as every day climate action experts.

Phillipa Collin, who is leading the Australian Research Council Discovery Project, "New Possibilities: Young People and Democratic Renewal", emphasised how important events like this are as they take research out of the University and into the public domain, inviting a broader conversation about what we can do differently with young people. The ARC project, which examines the importance of young people's involvement in climate change movements for democracy, demonstrates how young people are organising, taking action and educating others on how to address climate change are significant for public and political responses to the climate crisis.

Michelle explained the potential when integrating a protest poster's message, often seen on the streets, into a museum setting.

'This collaboration works across institutional divides to create an experience for students to feel empowered to articulate their concerns in public forums. This is to address the need for locally-relevant approaches outside street protests where young people may be listened to with greater attention to the nuance of their concerns and ideas,' Michelle said.

'Some of the protest posters were solution specific, which was interesting to see. We saw many works referring to overconsumption, fast fashion, microplastics and fossil fuels; they were infused with solution-focused messaging.'

On the night, Michelle participated in a panel discussion moderated by Professor Philippa Collin featuring youth activist and campaigner Natasha Abhayawickrama from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and first-year design and visual communication student Chris Cameron from WSU. The panel discussed 'Young people, climate action and the power of the visual', bringing together youth experiences and perspectives, pedagogy and research. Michelle, who leads the visual language component of the New Possibilities project, shared some of the findings from the study.

'For young people at the strikes, many who can't vote, the strikes are a space for their political voice. This panel highlighted the analysis we conducted on the placards held by young people at the strikes, exploring how colour, symbols, typography and illustration can provide insights into how young people use visual language to communicate their concerns, demands and feelings about the climate crisis.'

Following the panel, instead of a traditional Q&A session, the participants and audience were invited to the Climate Café to participate in small group climate change conversations.

'This was a more bottom-up, grassroots approach that included everyone's voices', Michelle said.

'It was particularly great to see intergenerational exchanges taking place; everyone was sharing ideas and resources about what they can do following the event.'

Going forward, Michelle, Philippa and the New Possibilities research team are collecting and analysing visual data with students and aim to curate similar events in Canberra and the upcoming COP meetings to explore the engagement and responses of politicians and decision-makers.

Piece by Deniz Agraz

100 Climate Conversations poster, Joseph Issa

‘What’s Cooking’ Climate Action poster, Azeem Dawre

‘Join the Solution’, Climate Action poster, Julian Ligon