A new pilot initiative combines art and disaster risk data to imagine possible futures
A team of researchers and artists launched a new experimental project using field research data on community disaster risk and strategies. They aim to explore visualizations of possible futures using digital design and augmented reality. The pilot will investigate various aspects of transformation due to global environmental changes and extreme weather events. The team will develop an exhibition drawing on earth observation data and community-led sustainable solutions to communicate a vision of resilience in the face of climate change.
Exploring the four elements of water, earth, air, and fire, and their extreme expressions in our natural environment: floods, mudslides, hurricanes, and forest fires. This project merges science and art to mobilize knowledge and find new ways to work with communities in advancing sustainability and resilience-building goals. A main objective of the pilot is to design and test a knowledge mobilization model for communities at risk of disasters. This model will help communities reflect on transformation under a changing climate and consider their existing resources and the value of community in addressing risk. The project draws on field data and stories from community research in Canada, Latin America, and Europe.
ELEMENTs Team:
- Dr. Jose DiBella, researcher in Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction, TRANSFORM, Waterloo, Canada
- Giovanni Franchina, Art Curator, BEPART Public Imagination Movement, Milan, Italy
- Gianluca Abbate, Artist and Film Director, Professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy
- Sandro Del Rosario, Artist and Assistant Professor at Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA
At the workshop, the team engaged in a series of dialogues with Prof. Sarah Burch, Professor, Canada Research Chair, and Executive Director of the Waterloo Climate Institute, and Director of the TRANSFORM project, Dr. Kyoko Murakami, lecturer at the Department of Psychology at the University of Westminster, London, working on social remembering, reconciliation, and collaborative learning, and Prof. Christine Gibb, Associate Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, working on migration and disasters. The team is exploring different perspectives on transformation, sustainability practices, collective strategies for disaster resilience building, and community stories from disaster research.
For further information on the ELEMENTs pilot: jose.dibella@uwaterloo.ca
This pilot experimental initiative is part of the TRANSFORM urban experimentation and capacity building research partnership funded by:
