How interactive ‘climate fresk’ workshops are trying to accelerate environmental awareness around the globe

Six people huddle around a table, their brows furrowed in concentration as they piece together the puzzle of the changing climate. The task before them is deceptively simple yet profoundly complex: tracing the cascading impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on everything from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to famine and human health.

This is no ordinary discussion. It’s a “climate fresk”. Over the course of three hours, this group embarks on an emotional journey that shifts from confusion, sorrow and grief to hope and optimism. Together, they uncover the web of connections linking human activities to the planet’s deeply interconnected climate system.

Growing numbers of universities, businesses, community organisations and even friends are hosting these workshops, online or face-to-face, with over 2 million participants to date.

Climate fresk is an evidence-informed interactive workshop that enables people to get to grips with what climate change is, what it means for them, and what they can do about it.

Developed originally as “la Fresque du Climat” by Cédric Ringenbach, a French engineer and climate change specialist, Climate fresk has been used in 162 countries since its inception in 2015. The name draws inspiration from frescoes or mural paintings, reflecting the idea that each group creates its own visual map of climate change. This mural is personalised with annotations highlighting aspects that felt important, surprising, or personally meaningful to the participants. The goal is to accelerate the participants’ understanding of climate change and inspire positive action.

During each workshop, participants lay out and connect postcard-sized printed images demonstrating the links between agriculture, transport, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. They connect threats to food security and biodiversity with disease, heatwaves and flooding alongside the additional pressures of human migration, growing inequality and conflict.

Each card distils conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the UN body that gathers scientific evidence on climate change for world leaders. As they map out the impact of humans on Earth’s climate system, people can begin to identify ways in which different parts are connected and the role of feedback loops in accelerating climate change.

Head, heart and hands

Climate fresk creates space and time to learn about climate change and to identify collective, equitable actions that can be taken – something that young people and adults are demanding from their education.

Research consistently demonstrates that knowledge is not enough when it comes to climate change. There is a need for education to be personally relevant and meaningful and for participatory and affective approaches.

Once the system has been mapped out, friends, colleagues or strangers can share their emotional responses to climate change. Research indicates that having feelings heard, validated, respected and acted on offers some mental health protection against climate anxiety.

Emotions are also a key trigger for climate action. Through the discussion in a climate fresk workshop, relevant actions to improve the situation can be identified, along with where responsibility lies for change, and what people with different spheres of influence can do, creating a shift from powerlessness and anxiety to hope and optimism.

Discussions frequently explore the impact and ease of different actions. Facilitators often draw on research on the effectiveness of different actions.

Actions identified from workshops we have been involved with include: having climate change conversations, changing banking and pension funds to more sustainable options, contributing to local council meetings, embedding climate change in education, sharing positive climate change news, reducing use of air travel, reducing consumption, changing diets and joining or supporting climate action groups.

As researchers focusing on how best to engage the general public with climate science and take climate action, we’re struck by the ability of Climate Fresk to appeal to people of all ages, professions and backgrounds to discuss one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Research shows that many of us underestimate how much others care about climate change. By creating a space for open dialogue, the workshops can show people that their concern is shared, find inspiration in others’ actions, and collaborate ambitiously on solutions.

The cards offer a shared scientific knowledge base for entering into conversations about climate change, fostering discussions that might not happen in other environments. These conversations go beyond facts to explore our emotional responses together and identify concrete things we can do by ourselves and with others, linking the head, heart and hands.

While a climate fresk is easily replicable, it is not static. Facilitators regularly meet up to share their challenges and successes, and to identify changes needed in light of new evidence and thinking.

The latest version of the workshop has reduced the emphasis on the physical science basis of climate change and the focus on climate change impacts. In place, it has increased attention to preventing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The climate fresk has inspired other interactive tabletop workshops including the Biodiversity Collage, Circular Economy Collage, the Ocean Collage and Textiles Untangled.

As we come together to meet our global obligations under the Paris agreement and empower all members of society to engage in climate action through education, Climate Fresk is an accessible way to begin these collective conversations.

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Lynda Dunlop has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Education Endowment Foundation, British Educational Research Association, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Wellcome and UK Research and Innovation. Lynda is also a facilitator of the Climate Fresk workshop.

Sarah Clayton has recieved funding from the British Educational Research Association (BERA) for her doctoral research. Sarah is also a facilitator of the climate fresk workshop and an active member of the climate fresk community.