Graphic Design | Undergraduate | Vilnius (LT)

Envirology: Climate Truth Crisis: role of young designers and future democracies

November 10-14, 2025, Sarajevo

CTC-Climate Truth Crisis: role of young designers and future democracies

April 7-11, 2025, Tallinn

Foto/Photo: Ott Kagovere

On April 7-11, the graphic design department of Estonian Academy of Arts hosted a workshop, public lectures and an exhibition by the CTC – Climate Truth Crisis: Role of Young Designers and Future Democraciesproject. The project deals with the spread of misinformation in relation to the climate crisis and it’s effect to democratic societies. The project seeks to educate young designers in these matters by organizing workshops at various partner universities. During the project a website, a podcast series, a glossary and a collection of articles will be compiled on the topic. In addition, students will work on visualizing the topic in various media. More information on the project website: https://www.climatetruthcrisis.eu/ On April 7-11, the Estonian Academy of Arts hosted the first student workshop of the project, during which students studied concepts related to the topic, wrote and visualized them and opened an exhibition in a public space to introduce the topic to a wider audience. The workshop was held in collaboration with the Department of Graphic Design of the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Department of Semiotics of the University of Tartu. The students were supervised by semioticians, conspiracy theory and disinformation researchers Mari-Liis Madisson and Daniel Tamm, Laura Vilbiks from the Estonian Foundation for Nature (ELF), and graphic designers Laura Merendi, Ott Kagovere and Kert Viiart. Participating students were from Bosnia, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Iceland, Lithuania and Estonia. During the workshop week three public lectures were held: 08.04, 16:00, A501 (EKA, Põhja pst 7) Artist Peeter Laurits, presentation: On Biotopia 09.04, 16:00, A502 (EKA, Põhja pst 7) Artist Kristina Õllek, presentation: Absorbing Hypoxic Water 10.04, 16:00, A300 (EKA, Põhja pst 7) Graphic designer Maria Muuk, presentation: Graphic Design as a Degrowth Practice The project will last for three years 2025-2028 and workshops will be held at various partner universities: Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo, Estonian Academy of Arts, ELISAVA, Iceland University of the Arts, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, University of the Arts London, Vilnius Academy of Arts.

CLIMATE TRUTH CRISIS: EMPOWERING YOUNG DESIGNERS FOR FUTURE DEMOCRACIES

The project brings together students and staff from seven art and design academies in The Hague, Reykjavík, Barcelona, London, Vilnius, Tallinn, and Sarajevo to explore the impact of climate change denial and disinformation on democratic society. The initiative specifically focuses on how to empower young visual communication students to assess climate-related news and visualize the spread of disinformation.
The project utilizes infographics, videos, and visual storytelling to engage the public in understanding the influence of industrial lobbying, greenwashing, conspiracy theories, and social media bots on democratic processes.
The leading research question is: If democracy requires that voters are well-informed to make political choices, how can visual communication engage people in serious issues and help them distinguish news from fake news to effectively drive sustainable change?
Climate change skepticism has taken various forms, ranging from scientific articles expressing uncertainty to the spread of disinformation on social media and the so-called “denial machine” (Dunlap 2013). Particularly, forces backed by industry and right-wing think
tanks have launched campaigns to create uncertainty regarding the facts and impacts of climate change.
Visual tools for knowledge production and explanation are commonly used in the sciences but are often overlooked or considered merely cosmetic (Galison 2002). Visual communication design is a specialized field with expertise and a growing knowledge base on the use, misuse, and cognitive effects of visual information display. Additionally, visual storytelling offers opportunities for emotional engagement through subjective exploration. In a shared dialogue, visual communication designers can create narratives that transform abstract concepts into personal experiences while fostering empathetic discussions about societal challenges.

Project Partners:
ALU Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo
EKA Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn
ELISAVA, University VIC Barcelona
IUA Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavík
KABK Royal Academy of Art /University of the Arts The Hague
UAL University of the Arts London
VDA Vilnius Academy of Arts
ELIA European League of Institutes of Arts, Amsterdam

Project Period: 2024–2026
Funding: Erasmus+ KA2

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Between 12-14 February 2025, the educational partners of Climate Truth Crisis met for the Teacher Training Activity hosted by UAL in London. Teachers from Vilnius Academy of Arts, University of the Arts London, ELISAVA, Iceland University of the Arts, Royal Academy of Arts (KABK), Estonian Academy of Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo gathered to explore and discuss pedagogical strategies in the age of climate disinformation. How do we navigate the social media space transformed by disinformation? How might vision science help designers understand how to better communicate visually with climate skeptics? Is it even possible to change someone’s opinion on climate? How do we find and evaluate reliable sources when it comes to climate-related information? And how might we hold our own institutions accountable?

The three-day program explored:

 teaching methods for classifying types of climate disinformation,

 research methods for finding points for intervention in complex problems and

 testing the creative limits of fake news.

Expert speakers gave overviews of their respective fields:

 social media analytics (Dr Felipe Soares, LCC University of the Arts London),

 vision science (Prof Simon Rushton, Cardiff University),

 investigative journalism (Juliet Ferguson, Centre for Investigative Journalism),

 climate activism (David Cross, CCW, University of the Arts London).

Professor Audrius Klimas and Associate professor Sigitas Gužauskas took part at he event.