Can the arts really compel people to take action against climate change?
An international research team, including faculty and alumni from York University's School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), has found in a new study that the arts may be a critical tool to confront climate-related health challenges.
“What keeps surprising me, even though it shouldn’t, is just how profoundly impactful creative practice is when it comes to climate-related health challenges,” says Professor Ian Garrett. “Art helps people understand, process and communicate experiences that data alone can’t.”
The Role of the Arts at the Intersection of Climate Change and Public Health was initiated by the Jamaal Arts and Health lab at New York University and the World Health Organization. Along with York faculty, it included researchers from Dalhousie, Yale, Zurich, Switzerland and London, among others.
The study highlights the potential of integrating arts, public health and environmental concerns to promote planetary health and sustainable, equitable climate action.
While the arts are frequently invoked as valuable for education, communication and well-being, their specific role in climate-health interventions has remained surprisingly understudied, says Garrett.
“A key finding is that we need to stop treating the arts as a separate ‘feel-good’ sector. Creative and cultural practices are proving essential to how communities understand climate impacts, build resilience and support public policy,” says Garrett.
To better understand the arts' role in supporting communities facing climate-driven health threats, researchers conducted an online survey of those working at the intersection of arts, health and climate change. Participants represented countries across the world – including the United States, United Kingdom, India, Ghana, South Africa, Brazil and Australia with backgrounds in the arts, environmental science, public health and community activism.
Respondents were asked open-ended questions about what is already in place, where gaps persist and what further opportunities could be mobilized. The responses reveal a powerful consensus: the arts are not optional or peripheral in confronting climate change. They are essential.
AMPD has a commitment to pursuing interdisciplinary research that bridges artistic practice, social impact and global health, says Garrett.
“We realize that you can’t separate climate, health and culture anymore. To make meaningful policy, you need an intersectional foundation that brings hard science, social science and creative practice together,” he says.
This research adds to a growing movement asserting that climate change is not solely a scientific or policy challenge; it is also a cultural one. Addressing it requires empathy, meaning-making and human-centered engagement – the kinds of transformative processes the arts uniquely cultivate, says Garrett.
“In disasters or rapid climate shifts, people don’t only need infrastructure – they need ways to feel connected, to make sense of what’s happening. Artistic and cultural practices often become the spaces where that understanding actually occurs.”
The research team is in the process of developing a policy brief on the study and aim to share with government agencies, arts councils and policy-makers.
“Support for the arts isn’t just nice to have: it pays real dividends. Cultural activity can accomplish things that other approaches can’t, especially when communities are facing fear, displacement or profound environmental change,” says Garrett.
With files from Karen Martin-Robbins