DCU co-hosts symposium examining climate change and the arts

On May 29th, Colleagues from the School of Human Development and the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education at DCU, in partnership with NCAD, held a one-day Symposium on the DCU All Hallows Campus. 

A unique and dynamic gathering of 80 artists, activists, educators, students, curriculum specialists and policymakers came together to discuss the Arts’ emancipatory potential in responding to the climate crisis. Panelists and workshop facilitators included: art historian Dr. Yvonne Scott, curator and storyteller Oein DeBhairduin, screenwriter and theatre-maker, Sian Ní Mhuirí, educators Sive Bresnihan and Dr. Rowan Oberman and artists/artist educators Lucy Boyle, Anishta Chooramun, Andrea Cleary, Maia De Faveri, Eduard Fulop, Fiona King, Dr Caoimhín Gaffney, Tony Murphy, Dr. Deirdre O’Mahony, Geraldine O’Neill, and educators Sive Bresnihan and Dr. Rowan Oberman.

The day long event featured four workshops and two panel sessions which focused on visually representing the climate crisis, and storying the climate crisis. The discussions ranged a number of topics such as holding space for difficult conversations that can lead to creative action in the face of denial and fatalism.

DCU researchers and panellists Dr Audrey Bryan and Dr Rowan Oberman have published influential research in the field, tackling the issue of climate change education and the use of graphic materials in teaching climate change respectively.

Illustrator Eimear McNally produced a visual representation of the day's discourse.