{"id":4742,"date":"2023-05-06T10:46:11","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T10:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/design\/?p=4742"},"modified":"2023-05-06T10:48:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T10:48:41","slug":"teaching-climate-creativity-in-kathmandu-traditional-ecological-knowledge-locality-and-the-power-of-an-embodied-approach-to-the-climate-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/design\/teaching-climate-creativity-in-kathmandu-traditional-ecological-knowledge-locality-and-the-power-of-an-embodied-approach-to-the-climate-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching \u2018Climate Creativity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A few months ago, I was invited by Kathmandu University as a guest lecturer to run a workshop on Climate Creativity for their final year BA students in Design and Fine Art. The three-week-long workshop was part of their Studio Practice module and through a practice-based approach aimed at generating reflection on the relationship between creative practice and ecological issues in Nepal, especially in and around Kathmandu Valley. While the mountain regions of Nepal are facing an increasing lack of snow and the melting of glaciers, hillside villages are affected by landslides due to unnaturally long monsoons and Kathmandu \u2013 still one of the most polluted cities in the world \u2013 sees frequent flooding in the summer months.<\/p>\n

\u00a0During our time together, the students and I investigated the impact of climate change on local people and the environment and how national and international designers, artists, and architects have responded to the climate debate.<\/p>\n

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Students engaged in activities in the studio and nature to explore feelings, emotions and ideas related to the impact of humans on non-humans. They were also encouraged to think locally and reflect on the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), what their ancestors had to say about the relationship between humans and nature through rituals, traditional ways of living in reciprocity with the environment, and storytelling. And we mainly discussed and reflected on the role and tools that this young generation of Nepali creatives may have in reaching their own communities and making complex issues understandable.<\/p>\n

From this experience, I found three elements \u2013 among others \u2013 particularly fascinating and thought-provoking as an educator.<\/p>\n