APOLITICAL 09/19/24
By Michael Shank

This article is written by Dr. Michael Shank, director of engagement at the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs where he teaches sustainable development.

There’s a transformation happening across city governments that has the potential to powerfully boost climate and sustainability work. Cities are moving away from the traditional information dispensing after a program is developed and towards more co-created models, with methods ranging from appreciative inquiry to citizen assemblies – all in an effort to better engage communities in climate action and policymaking.

In this shift, there’s an opportunity for cities to actively employ the arts sector, which could improve engagement, as text is being used less and videos and visuals are increasingly the public’s primary communication vehicle.

Here’s my proposal: Hire an artist to be a member of the climate and sustainability office. And not just in a short-term artist-in-residency capacity, which cities have smartly done for decades but as a full-time employee similar and equal to other hires in the environmental office.

Here’s why: The data-driven and science-inspired work culture in many municipalities only goes so far in understanding what the public wants to consume and how they want to consume it. Take a look at cities’ job announcements in the sustainability space. The skill sets required often double down on that of which the department has ample supply – data, planning and science-centric thinkers, or left-brain cognitive capacities. In contrast, the place for creatives, and right-brain capacities, is usually delegated to an ad agency or found in the city’s communications, marketing, or outreach departments.

We can do better. Having both cognitive capacities at the outset can lead to a better and more motivating product. As Howard Zinn once quipped in a foreword for a journal article of mine on art activism, “What most of us must be involved in—whether we teach or write, make films, write films, direct films, play music, act, whatever we do—not only has to make people feel good and inspired and at one with other people around them, but also has to educate a new generation to do this very modest thing: change the world.”

That bit about feeling inspired and at one with other people is essential to climate action and it’s the kind of thinking that an artist can bring to the table. That’s what many artists think about: the behavioral science aspect of it and how the public will engage with and respond to their work. And while cities could partner instead with behavioral scientists, there’s no guarantee that the brain’s more creative right hemisphere is engaged to balance the left hemisphere’s analytical work in the office.

Cities would benefit from both left and right brain cognitive capacities on the ground floor of environmental work – not after something’s been developed or designed – and as essential ingredients in the beginning stages of climate programs, projects and products.

Given the obstacles cities keep running up against in the climate space – with rising levels of distrust – it’s time to explore all approaches, including the hiring of artists at the beginning of program development not just in the dissemination of it.

Climate behaviors are still not matching climate attitudes – the gap remains large – which should help justify a budget that better accounts for engaging communities creatively. This persistent attitude-behavior gap should motivate any climate policymaker to pull out all the stops – musical pun intended – in an effort to bridge that gap. And if done right, it can help rethink how cities do climate action and policy. Take these examples, for starters.

First, artists can translate the esoteric math and accounting aspects of climate policy, which are inherent to carbon neutrality and net zero emissions work. While quantification of climate progress is obviously important, and critical to monitoring and evaluating reductions over time, an artist could help the city rethink how their emissions data are unpacked, understood, and utilized. The data “story” could be much more creatively conceptualized, and something beyond the digital visualizations that are common but often inaccessible to the public. London’s creative use of street visuals to illustrate the harmful health impacts of idling-related data and pollution is one excellent example of what’s possible here. The streets became the stage, and the cars became the canvas. More of this is needed.

Second, artists can visualize physical buildings, transport, energy and waste aspects of climate policy, which comprise the bulk of a sustainability office’s decarbonizing focus. Much of this work is often out of sight and out of mind. While transportation may be an obvious emitter in the public’s mind, buildings are less so, and embodied carbon is even further from it. Having an artist on the ground floor conceptualizing how a building is a blank canvas, theatrical experience, or pottery wheel for the world is how cities can enliven and empower this work. Ben Von Wong’s waste-based artistic storytelling in cities illustrates well what’s feasible. Again, it’s about taking it to the people, where the public plaza or piazza becomes the theater.

Third, artists can create supportive spaces for the equity and justice aspects of climate policy, which are increasingly the focus for cities. This equity and justice work is finally motivating municipal governments to more intentionally engage all aspects and attributes of a community. And it’s encouraging a rethink of how cities design and implement their climate plans. Art is equally integral to this space, of course, and indigenous to many aspects of this work already, making it even more compelling for cities to lean into this space. The City of Glasgow, for example, has effectively used legislative theater to help government staff better understand the inequitable aspects of city services. This kind of artistic perspective-taking will be critical in building empathy and understanding for equity work.

There’s so much opportunity for cities to grow in how they engage every aspect of how their communities think, feel, see, hear and do. And given that cities are not yet where they need to be in terms of mitigation and adaptation, it’s worth leaving no stone unturned in the effort to educate and inspire. Having a creative artist on staff full-time to assist in the forging of this work, and not as an afterthought, could help here. All the world’s a stage, after all, so let’s make sure the stage and its many players are a part of the program production, too, not just the show-promoting parts of it.