FEEL TO ACT
PROJECT
A SOCIAL CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE
CHALLENGE & INTERVENTION
Communities are on the front lines
of innovation.
This artistic research project documents how cities are actively building their capacity to address local challenges through embodied communication practices.
Problem
Embodied communication is often overlooked when implementing community engagement strategies to localize research, policy, and solutions.
This global needs assessment is an ongoing measurement vehicle for shaping the sensations, perceptions, and behaviors of systems transformation for climate adaptation and city resilience.
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Highlights
Our preliminary findings uncover that most individuals don't know they inherently possess the ability to communicate complex thoughts with their bodies- until they start doing it.
ILab was invited to facilitate and present this project during the Systems Transformation Track at the IDG Summit 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The City of Atlanta's Mayor's Office of Sustainability & Resilience developed this art intervention as an Ambassadorial capstone project.
This data collected from this initiative is being used to inform a broader asset-based narrative of global community-driven innovation exhibited globally through 2025 & 2026.
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Research Question
How do cities describe their lived and imagined needs for systems transformation to address local challenges?
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We created a socially engaged art intervention that invites individuals to embody their sensations, perceptions, and visions of systems transformation in themselves and in their city.
Participating research artists around the world captured responses via various creative medias. More than 250 individuals from +100 countries have participated so far.
Intervention
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This arts intervention focuses on measuring four key categories of solutions:
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Core human needs of participating cities
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The imagined experience of systems transformation for local climate action
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Communal wisdom, affection, and civic engagement for local biodiversity
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Living artifacts of personal, communal, and systemic adaptation and resilience practices.