Climate Change for All – Art, Science and Hope

What happens when science and art join forces to tackle one of the most urgent issues of our time?

Climate Change for All is a wonderful collaboration that brought art, science and community together, through the eyes of children and their families. What began with global data, resulted in eight beautiful quilts stitched from the hopes, fears and creativity of children.

Two children viewing one of the finished quilts
A display of the quilt squares created by children and their families. Credit: Ashley Mackenzie-White

Together, these works of art tell a story of resilience, imagination and collective climate action.

The project was created by artist Laura Johnson in conversation with Dr Sian Henley, and delivered in collaboration with the National Museum of Scotland led by Ashley Mackenzie-White. The project was supported by the Data for Children Collaborative, Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES), and the Scottish Government’s Climate Engagement Fund, and took place in two stages bringing research on the impacts of climate change on children, to life.

Rising Heat, Raising Hope: Climate Change for Kids

The original project was inspired by the Children’s Climate Risk Index, an outcome of the Data for Children Collaborative with UNICEF initiative which saw UNICEF, The Scottish Government and the University of Edinburgh come together to find innovative ways to explore and address childhood issues across the globe.

The research revealed that children born today will experience far more climate extremes than previous generations, including more frequent heatwaves, floods, droughts and crop failures. 

Through a series of workshops at the National Museum, families and children were invited to learn about climate change, explore how it makes them feel, and express their hopes for the future through creating quilt squares.

Children taking part in the workshops
Children and their families taking part in the workshops. Copyright: Andy Caitlin

Led by Dr Sian Henley and artist Laura Johnson, the events welcomed children and families to explore the realities of climate change through both science and art. After attending a talk by Dr Henley on climate change and its impact on children, participants took a guided tour of the museum’s Rising Tide exhibition on climate change in the Pacific. This was then followed by an art workshop with Laura where the children designed fabric quilt squares, crafted from recycled or donated materials, reflecting their feelings about climate change and their hopes for the future. These quilt squares were sewn together into beautiful community climate quilts by Laura and a team of volunteers at the Edinburgh Remakery.

There was also an online version of these events which ran on Earth Day (22 April) for schools across Scotland and beyond to take part.

Sewing Hope: Quilts for Climate Change

After the initial project, a follow up project, ‘Sewing Hope: Quilts for Climate Change’ saw the reach of the workshops grow with even more quilt squares being made. This stage also expanded the project’s reach, inviting more children, families and visitors from across Scotland (and beyond!) to take part, using the two original quilts as inspiration.

Each quilt square tells a personal story – a fear, a dream, a call to action – about the future of our planet and how we can face climate change together.

The 400 quilt squares were then beautifully sewn together by volunteers at the Edinburgh Remakery. The resulting eight quilts from both stages of the project were displayed at the National Museum of Scotland, inviting thousands of visitors to reflect on what climate change means to them, and how we can work together to build a better future.

Sian Henley standing in front of one of the finished quilts
Dr Sian Henley in front of one of the beautiful finished quilts. Credit: Laura Johnson

Stitching together stories of climate and community

At its heart, the project was about taking the findings from a global research collaboration and making them real, emotional and tangible for communities across Scotland. 

The Children’s Climate Risk Index examined how climate change is affecting children around the world. This project, Climate Change for All, helped to bring these stories alive.

With over 5,000 people involved and engaged over the course of this project, it shows that creative community engagement can spark powerful conversations and bring people together in the face of complex global challenges.

This project reminds us that climate change is not just a scientific issue; it’s a human one. And the hope we need to address this issue, like these quilts, is something we create together.

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