Finding agency in the face of climate change
The news on climate change can seem so unrelentingly grim that it’s easy to assume that we’re all doomed. At Greenspace, we prefer a spirit of optimism — and it turns out there are more reasons to believe that we can find a way out of this mess than we thought.
In the new online and print edition of 21 Silver Linings — our annual antidote to the cascade of negative news — we’ve curated stories of people discovering a sense of agency in the face of the climate crisis.
From the “raw earth” architects designing self-cooling homes in Senegal to Welsh farmers capturing carbon with volcanic dust, the 21 stories showcase new thinking by designers working on projects as diverse as climate-friendly air travel, new forms of deliberative democracy, greener cars, and vertical farms.
Illustrated with minimalistic typographic animations, the 21silverlinings.com online project is both a celebration of the endless human capacity for innovation and a source of inspiration or anyone seeking to feel more empowered in the face of our global challenges.
This year’s printed edition was designed with sustainability in mind. Rather than producing a book, which can often be a process-heavy medium, Greenspace decided to create a slit-folded poster that folds down in to an A4 booklet. The single sheet has been hand-folded, making it less reliant on harmful mechanical processes, whilst the design features 21 concentric silver lines, radiating outwards to represent the planet. The piece is printed on the 100% recycled, FSC certified Particles Moonlight, part of the Arjo Wiggins Keaycolour range, and has been printed using vegetable based inks, making it totally recyclable.
“Optimism lies at the heart of everything we do at Greenspace, and we wanted to honour the creativity at work in the search for climate solutions around the world,” says Greenspace’s Lene Nielsen. “Some of the innovations featured in this edition of 21 Silver Linings have received far less news coverage than they deserve, and we hope other people will feel as uplifted by them as we did.”
The World Health Organization recommends that we read and share optimistic stories for our mental health, so head over to 21silverlinings.com for one of your 21-a-day.
