Co-creating a climate comic book: reflections on using comics in intergenerational research and engagement

Abstract

The places where people live, work and spend leisure time are essential to their health and wellbeing. However, with climate change, these environments are changing. It is paramount that we understand older and younger people’s climate change perspectives, behaviours and visions for the future so that the places that matter to them can be shaped and managed effectively for health, wellbeing and sustainability.

This article presents the case for using comic books to explore climate change with diverse intergenerational groups. The bilingual (Welsh/English) Climate Comic was created in South Wales, UK, as part of the ‘Understanding Older and Younger People’s PerspecTives and Imaginaries of Climate Change’ (OPTIC) project. From February to May 2023, 65 older and younger people took part in structured workshops where we used creative methods (games, collaging, comic creation, mobile and online interviews, storyboarding) to elicit intergenerational conversation, articulate intangible values and explore change. Workshops were audio-recorded, and stories were developed into a comic by illustrator Laura Sorvala. We also used comics as part of wider engagement and to stimulate ideas in a design sprint with interested groups.

We discuss why comics are suited to exploring climate change with older and younger people, and the process we used to create the Climate Comic. We then reflect on the affordances and limitations of our approach and make recommendations for future research in this area. We hope that this work will stimulate others to consider using this adaptable and engaging art form for further research and engagement with younger and older people.