After the climate crisis

Why I started inktober for future

Do you know inktober? It’s a drawing challenge initiated by Jake Parker in 2009.
The rules are simple:

1. Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).
2. Post it online
3. Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2018
4. Repeat

Every year thousands of people participate and post their drawings all over Instagram. Some follow the original prompt list published by Jake Parker, others choose their own topics. In recent years there have also been alternative lists with prompts that match a specific topic like

• Greek Mythology
• Cats
• Tarot Cards

So, where is the connection to the climate crisis?

In late September I had just returned from the K3 Congress for climate change, communication and society in Karlsruhe. One of the keynote speakers, Harald Welzer, said in his speech, that we had stopped developing the idea of our society. A lot of our messages about the future head in the direction of: “If we don’t act now, a catastrophe will happen.” And don’t get me wrong: I think it’s crucial to shake people a bit and let them know, that the time to act is now and that the consequences of not acting will be disastrous. Still: We know that images and narratives of catastrophes often provoque overwhelm, defence and flight. They don’t necessary make people act.

Moreover climate action is often framed as a story of abstinence and limitations. If we like it or not – for many people this leads to a reaction of “now or never”: Better drive that fast car, take that long flight, buy that item before it will be prohibitedo. Or hell expensive. What we don’t talk about is a desirable future, that we’re working towards.
There are many positive ‘sideeffects’ of climate action. As Welzer put it: “We don’t need the thread of climate change to like a car free city.” We should instead talk about all the positive effects like clean air, less people killed in car accidents and more space. He claimed we needed new visions.

The German world for vision is “Zukuftsbild” which literary translates as “future-picture”. That of course rang a bell for me, since visual communication, more specific communication in drawings is my daily business.

And then October approached. People started posting their inctober prompt list. And then it dawned on me: We need a prompt list about a positive climate future!
If we fast forward our thoughts to a point in time when we have successfully tackled the climate crisis we’re facing now: What does the world look like?
 
So I came up with this list to spark some inspiration.

Come join us!

We’re two week into Inktober now and the channel already shows some beautiful and thoughtful results. But it’s not to late to join! You don’t have to do all the prompts and it is necessary to post daily. Just jump in and build this positive climate vision with us!

You can find all the contributions on the Instagram Profile @Inktober4future.

Here are the inktober4future rules:

1. Imagine the bright future after we solved this climate crisis
2. draw your vision (any technique is fine!)
3. Post it!
4. Hashtag it with #inktober4future
5. Repeat (daily, every other day, once a week - whatever schedule you prefer)

 
BONUS: If you link @inktober4future , I might repost your drawing.


Have fun and inspire others!