What if climate communication worked not only through facts, but through feeling, movement and lived experience?
In my second idea for a poster, I would like to examine whether dance can be understood as a meaningful form of embodied climate communication. Rather than focusing solely on explaining climate change through facts and figures, the poster explores whether physical experiences, movement and active participation might offer an alternative way of engaging people with environmental issues. Can dance create forms of climate communication that are perceived as more relationship-based and action-oriented than traditional approaches based on the transmission of information?
This idea arises from the broader question of why climate awareness campaigns often fail to bring the desired behavioural changes, despite growing public awareness. Challenges such as information overload, emotional detachment and a lack of trust suggest that knowledge alone may not be enough.The presentation will address research on dance as a pathway to environmental responsibility, the role of music and dance in fostering pro-social and sustainable behaviour, and experience-based communication as a tool for strengthening a sense of empowerment and encouraging climate or pro-environmental action.
References:
- Tuckey, L., and D.Bos. 2025. “Steps to Sustainability: Dance as a Learning Pathway to Enhance Engagement With Sustainability.” Areae70083. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.70083.
- Moser, S.C. (2014), Communicating adaptation to climate change: the art and science of public engagement when climate change comes home. WIREs Clim Change, 5: 337-358. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.276
- Cook, P. (2018) “Performing arts activism for addressing climate change: Conceptualizing an intercultural choreographic practice and dance performance called Melting Ice,” Choreographic Practices. Intellect. doi: 10.1386/CHOR.9.1.119_1.