Climate Reality

Barbara Junge, Julian Netzer, Mark-Jan Bludau WS 2023/24

Design project Main study (Modules: Entwurfsprojekt + entwurfsbezogene Grundlagen)
Visuelle Kommunikation

The 1.5 degree threshold will probably be exceeded by 2027. We all know what that means: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if this target is exceeded, there is a high risk that tipping elements will be triggered. This can set in motion a feedback that causes changes in other subsystems of the Earth system, triggering cascading effects that can lead to rapid changes in the climate.

The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the Boiling Frog Syndrome: heat waves, forest fires, heavy rains, and floods are slowly becoming the norm. The climate crisis has far-reaching irreversible consequences that affect every single person and it is enough to check the news or even notice the changes in the immediate environment to be aware of it.

There are studies that show that the climate crisis has a negative impact on mental health, »Climate Anxiety«. Younger people are particularly affected, feeling that there is little they can do about it. But climate anxiety is not a new mental illness, and the political explosives of the once trivialized Fridays For Future school strikes are illustrated by the treatment of the Last Generation and their civil disobedience.

But what can we do? We want to explore with you what that might be. Be it to develop innovative forms of protest; to enlighten and shake up with means of visual communication; to develop ideas for future scenarios with means of design fiction; or simply to face one‘s own feelings like fear, sadness and anger and to express them in a productive way. But please without depression and shock!


Mark-Jan Bludau
accompanies the project and is an expert in information visualization. He works as a research assistant at UCLAB (FH Potsdam) at the interface of digital humanities and data visualization and is currently a visiting professor of the eLab.

Tags interactive, generative infographics, forensic storytelling, new forms of protest, civil disobedience,
design fiction

Schedule
Part of the Project is the visit of the Exhibition "The Great Repair", wich takes place in the Akademie der Künste: 25.10.23. 16:15h.

Please think about topics for your projects in advance and bring ideas and interesting work to the first meeting for inspiration and context.

Meetings Weekly Mondays, 10 a.m. - approximately 2 p.m. Meeting in group or individual consultation. See schedule for more (detailed schedule follows). Wednesday mornings if needed.

Location Room C102, VK + Zoom: tinyurl.com/3zf6za4n, Incom: kh-berlin.incom.org/workspace/2568

First meeting: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 10 a.m., Room C102, VK