The team at Adaptation Scotland noticed that, although there was an increase of information on the risks of climate change in Scotland, it was scattered across a wide range of sources and sectors, making it difficult for the general public to access.
So, they decided to embark on a project to create a set of interactive visuals that would clearly and coherently communicate the key climate change impacts identified for Scotland, and the adaptation measures that could contribute to a ‘climate-ready’ Scotland. This would then create a central resource for a broad audience to refer to.
And in order to make the visuals resonate with the Scottish public, it was paramount that the final product looked and felt like Scotland. Our team travelled north to start sketching.
They were given six different settings to split between them; uplands, lowlands, coastal, industrial, suburbs and city. They visited real locations for each of the landscapes, and these were used as the basis of their sketches. A team of expert stakeholders went along with them, including university academics, architects and scientists, to provide them with accurate and detailed content for the visuals.
Each landscape had to be drawn in micro-detail, with all of the crucial facts included. This level of detail forced the experts to confront some truly difficult questions; in the wake of climate change, which species, buildings and landscapes will be too expensive to realistically maintain? What would have to be lost? And what effect would this have on the economy and people’s way of life?
Managing the input of multiple stakeholders, and consolidating their views in sketches drawn in real-time, made for a demanding day for the Scriberia team. But it also made for some really rich and engaging conversations, valuable collaboration and a powerful piece of visual communication that would stand the test of time.
See the project in its online home, here.
