Creating a Climate for Change with Dance Limerick

Description

Our work with Dance Limerick in 2024 on the Creating a Climate for Change in Limerick project explored how dance, visual art and audio description together as a creative process can support communities as a citizen engagement method for climate action.

CM Space was one of the climate research leads on this project, primarily linking regenerative design, systems thinking, sustainability and climate science to the creative process. We supported participants from three communities: Dance Limerick; Moyross; and Croom to develop an embodied understanding of climate change and the positive effects that their individual and community climate actions can have on the wider systems they are part of.

As a result of this project:

In fostering a deeper relationship to the body, participants' ability to connect with community and nature has greatly increased, allowing them to respond to the climate emergency from a place of interconnection rather than fear or overwhelm.
Local place-based knowledge was passed on through storytelling in each workshop
Community members co-created movement scores which were continuously evolving throughout the year, changing according to the place, climate and seasons.
The creative process was underpinned by combining movement, audio description, and visual art, offering participants different ways into understanding and participating in the climate conversation.
The artist and climate research team trained with Stop Gap Theatre Company on accessibility and Irish Sign Language interpretation was part of all of the final sharing events.
All workshop materials, advertising and communications were designed as easy-read formats, ensuring no distance was created between the project and community members by over-intellectualising the topic.
Strong and ongoing relationships were formed with Limerick City Gallery of Art, Watchhouse Cross Library, Limerick City Library, Croom Family Resource Centre and Limerick Sports Partnership.
Through the embodied understanding of systems theory, participants were able to perceive how their actions affect the wider systems they are in relationship with

Client:

Dance Limerick

Date:

2024

Project Type:

Regenerative Development & Sustainability

Website:

dancelimerick.ie

Dance provides the fertile ground for people to grow their capacity to mobilise as a community. Participants were empowered by the creative process to take clear action in their own lives and within their communities. Dance has the potential to be used as a citizen engagement method at local, regional and national policy-making levels to ensure decision making is accessible, inclusive and emergently responds to the complexity of these times.

CM Space was delighted to support this project by bringing together creativity, culture and living systems thinking. If you have a project in mind that would benefit from something similar, please reach out to hello@changemakingspace.com.

This project was funded as part of the Creative Ireland Spark Creative Climate Action projects. You can view the final video and the final project booklet below.