Inside the Greenhouse: Utilizing Media to Communicate Climate Challenges

At the University of Colorado-Boulder, Professor Beth Osnes (Department of Theater & Dance) and I have teamed up to embark on a project with students called ‘Inside the Greenhouse’ (ITG). Our project objectives have been (1) to generate multimodal compositions on the subject of climate change, (2) to engage with various dimensions and issues associated with sustainability, and (3) to produce and distribute an 'Inside the Greenhouse' program. Through this project, we have worked to deepen our understanding of how issues associated with climate change are/can be communicated, by creating artifacts through interactive theatre, film, fine art, performance art, television programming, and appraising as well as extracting effective methods for multimodal climate communication. The centerpiece of this project is a television program, featuring a high-profile figure engaged in climate and environment issues. As part of the programming, we also feature work produced in the associated course we led in Spring 2012 for undergraduate students called ‘Inside the Greenhouse: Utilizing media to communicate positive solutions for climate change’ at the University of Colorado-Boulder. That course has explored how climate issues can be communicated through creative means (interactive theatre, film, fine art, performance art, television programming, blogs for examples), and students confronted and grappled with novel and effective ways to translate complex issues around climate and other 21^st century challenges. This presentation will share some of the products from the effort so far, and also will analyze and reflect on the process of representational practices and content generation associated with climate change themes. Check out the work so far at www.insidethegreenhouse.net