RisingEMOTIONS

In response to the threat posed by sea-level rise, coastal cities must rapidly adapt and transform vulnerable areas to protect endangered communities. As such, raising awareness and engaging affected communities in planning for adaptation strategies is critical. However, in the US, public engagement with climate change is low, especially among underrepresented populations. To address this challenge, we designed and implemented RisingEMOTIONS, a site-specific collaborative art installation situated in East Boston that combines public art with digital technology. The installation depicts the impacts of sea-level rise by visualizing local projected flood levels and the public's emotions toward this threat. The community's engagement with our project demonstrated the potential for public art to create interest and raise awareness of climate change. We discuss the potential for continued growth in the way that digital tools and public art can support equitable resilience planning through increased public engagement.


Team Members

Carolina Aragon
Mahmood Jasim
Narges Mahyar


Demo

https://risingemotions.cs.umass.edu/
http://www.carolinaaragon.com/#/risingemotions/


Award

Nominated for 2020 CODAwards.
https://www.codaworx.com/projects/risingemotions/


Media Coverage
East Boston Times
Mary Allen Welch Greenway
Commonwealth Magazine

Related Publications
[Nominated for 2020 CODAwards] RisingEMOTIONS: Bridging Art and Technology to Visualize Public's Emotions about Climate Change. Carolina Aragon, Mahmood Jasim, Narges Mahyar. 2021. Creativity & Cognition.