Date: Saturday 17 June 2017, 11am – 4pm
Location: University of Exeter Forum, Stocker Road, Exeter
Today, my “Little colouring books of climate mindfulness” popped up in the Forum alongside “Green|Blue: Exe” in “The Observatory“. I was doing a colour-by-numbers activity as part of “Think…Art”, a day of free fun artistic activities linked to the University’s research themes.
There are five “Little colouring books” in the series – “Winter Blues”, “Summertime”, “Middle Course”, “Worst Case” and “Grandchildren” – and my hope is that by spending time colouring in the maps, people are encouraged to reflect on what the future holds for our weather under climate change.
We took photos of the artists and their works, and tweeted them at #ExeterClimateHope for simultaneous display. Here are a few of the works in progress and at completion. And for those who are interested, you can download our A1 posters of possible temperature and precipitation futures under the UK Climate Projections 2009.
I was joined by Dr Anna Harper and some of her colleagues from the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. I was very grateful for their support. She is researching the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through bioenergy and reforestation, and also has an interest in encouraging people to take small steps to reduce their own carbon emissions. So we also had a Climate Pledge for people to sign up to and take away, and a little bit of advertising for her “Climate at the Quay” event – more climate-related fun activities on Thursday 13 July.
Other activities on the day include print-making, design your own exo-planet, textile art, the opportunity to explore a camera obscura, and memorabilia from Exeter City Football Club. Thanks to Katya Romankevich and Stephanie Franklin-Burns for organising.
