Project offers visions of hope for communities as they tackle the effects of climate change

Net Zero Visions is rooted in the idea that imagining what is possible can help communities achieve change
Net Zero Visions - a mural wall in Tiverton by Kate Crawfurd 
A series of artworks – from murals and maps to interactive games and poetry – are helping communities across Devon tell the stories of how they are responding to the climate emergency.
Villages, towns and cities across the county were given the opportunity to work with researchers and professional artists and writers to explore how they might respond positively to the climate crisis and to celebrate changes they are already making.
The result is an eye-catching collection of visions, highlighting how places of all shapes and sizes are working to address the challenge of being carbon net zero.
The creative outputs have been developed as part of Net Zero Visions, a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by the University of Plymouth in collaboration with Devon Climate Emergency.
The project is rooted in the idea that imagining what is possible can help communities achieve change, while raising a wider awareness of the better futures that are still available to us.
It is also supporting the Devon Carbon Plan, the roadmap for how Devon will reach net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.

So often when we hear about the climate emergency, the challenges it poses seem overwhelming. While the scale of the threat is undeniable, we also have to remember that positive change is still possible. Reimagining the places where we live in a positive net zero future can be a great way of developing ideas about changes that could be made, and celebrating the work already being done. This project has given communities and individuals the chance to share their hopes and ideas and to collectively imagine a net zero future they can journey towards.

David SergeantDavid Sergeant
Professor of English Literature, and Net Zero Visions project lead

 
 
 
Net Zero Visions Game - still image of game screen by Mutant Labs 
Net Zero Visions Public Submission Winner
Stills of a Net Zero Visions Animation by Ashley Potter 
 
 
 
The projects produced through the Net Zero Visions initiative include:
  • Three murals – on the University of Plymouth’s Sustainability Hub, the Plymouth Methodist Central Hall and the Tiverton Pannier Market – which identify some of the communities’ key existing achievements, and their aspirations for the future;
  • A series of poems written by award-winning Devon poet Fiona Benson, who worked with organisations across the county to write about everything from otters to seagrass and solar farms;
  • Artist Philip Harris worked with the Five Parish Alliance – which represents the parishes of Brixton, Holbeton, Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo, Wembury and Yealmpton – to create illustrations exploring what the communities see as the critical elements of their net zero future. He also worked with organisations in Torbay to create maps showing how they are meeting the challenges of going net zero, and with groups in Exeter and Brixton to promote walks that take in organic farms and biodiversity hotspots;
  • Plymouth-based design agency Mutant Labs Ltd worked with local residents and schools to create three online mini-games based around the themes of green transport; locally produced sustainable food; and recycling, upcycling and borrowing;
  • BAFTA  Award-winning animator Mr Ashley Potter, Lecturer in Illustration at the University of Plymouth, created a free-to-watch film that draws together all the communities’ aspirations for the future;
  • With Dr Emma Whittaker, Professor Sergeant co-edited a project book – Net Zero Visions – which brings together the artworks along with essays by transition experts on key sectors of the Devon Carbon Plan, and explorations of the role that net zero imagining can play.
In addition, a series of educational resources are being developed in partnership with Devon County Council and Planet and People that will provide teachers and schools with materials they can use to explore net zero transition and positive change.
A toolkit is also being produced with artist Kate Crawfurd and Dr Naomi Tyrrell that will support communities in developing their own Net Zero Visions public murals. 

Imagining a positive future for the place you live in is a creative exercise that can be done by anyone. We’ve seen professional artists, community groups, and classes of schoolchildren all embrace the idea and adapt it to different purposes. We continue to invite individuals and groups to share their Net Zero Visions with us and others. It’s fascinating to see the creativity, imagination and determination that is out there.

Professor David Sergeant
 
 
 
 
Sustainability Hub mural

Net Zero Visions
Aerial view from high altitude of little planet earth with small village houses and distant green cultivated agricultural fields with growing crops on bright summer evening

Sustainable Earth Institute
Net Zero Sustainability

Sustainability: on the path to net zero