The Picturing Climate Network Leads £1.2 Million UKRI-Funded Project to Transform Climate Communication Through Art, Science and Entrepreneurship

LEICESTER, UK – De Montfort University (DMU) has been awarded funding through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to lead a pioneering interdisciplinary project that embeds artistic co-creation and entrepreneurial thinking directly within climate research. The project, Entrepreneurship, Art, and Science for Environmental Sustainability (EASE), has been awarded £959,952 (£1.2 million full economic cost) and will run for 24 months beginning May 2026.

Climate research being undertaken on the island of Crete.

Bridging the Gap Between Data and Emotion 

Despite the escalating urgency of the climate crisis, scientific knowledge continues to struggle to connect meaningfully with public audiences. Technical language, abstract modelling, and inaccessible discourse create barriers to understanding and emotional engagement—leaving many individuals disengaged and unable to act. EASE proposes a radical solution: to embed artists and entrepreneurs as genuine co-producers of knowledge within the sites of climate research itself.

Led by Principal Investigator Dr Mark Kasumovic, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Photography and Video at DMU, EASE brings together an international consortium spanning five UK universities—De Montfort University, the University of Birmingham, Nottingham Trent University, the University of East London, and the University of Oxford—alongside Western University (Canada) and a wide network of cultural, scientific, and heritage partners across Greece, Italy, and the UK.

From Cretan Caves to Global Solutions 

The project introduces the Climactic Assemblages Methodology (CAM), a new interdisciplinary framework that systematically integrates artistic co-creation, rigorous scientific research, and structured entrepreneurial thinking into shared fieldwork and iterative development processes. A central mechanism of CAM, the Artist Venturing Labs, will embed artists, climate scientists, entrepreneurs, and local stakeholders together in live field research settings across Crete—a region generating world-leading palaeoclimate and archaeological data on how ancient civilisations adapted to environmental change. From these collaborative residencies, teams will co-develop and test innovative climate communication tools, including immersive multimedia installations, mobile exhibitions, and richly designed digital platforms.

These outputs, called Minimum Valuable Prototypes (MVPs), are designed not as commercial products but as scalable, socially meaningful tools grounded in real-world stakeholder needs. They will be formally tested at venues including the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub at Oxford, re-imagined alongside sustainable curating principles at (Centre for Sustainable Curating) at Western University (Canada), and through a touring Mobile Exhibition visiting museums and UNESCO archaeological sites in both the UK and Greece, with scoping underway for a major exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

"EASE represents something genuinely new—a structured, replicable model for bringing together scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs not as separate contributors, but as co-authors of climate knowledge. By working within real field research contexts, we can produce communication tools that are scientifically grounded, emotionally resonant, and built to last beyond the life of the project."

The project addresses three recognised failures in current climate communication practice: entrenched disciplinary silos that prevent sustained collaboration; the absence of sustainable business frameworks to support creative climate work at scale; and the lack of rigorous, evidence-based mechanisms for assessing the social and behavioural impact of communication outputs. EASE responds to all three by building economic viability, community co-design, and embedded evaluation into its methodology from the outset.

Looking Ahead 

Partner organisations include Photoworks UK, the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, the Sitia and Psiloritis UNESCO Global Geoparks, and the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research.

Long-term, EASE aims to cultivate a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers, inform evidence-based environmental policy, and establish internationally recognised frameworks for effective climate communication. Project findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, interdisciplinary conferences, and ‘Picturing Climate’— a purpose-built digital platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and ongoing international networking.

The project positions the UK as a global leader in integrating scientific rigour and creative practice for greater societal and environmental benefit, directly advancing UKRI's ambitions for research with real-world impact.

A World-Class Consortium

About De Montfort University De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) is a globally recognised institution and a leading hub for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. DMU's research in media, visual arts, and sustainability consistently reaches national and international audiences, including unique access to the COP 'Blue Zone' climate negotiations.

Project Co-Leads EASE is co-led by an interdisciplinary team of researchers drawn from across the consortium: Professor Xiao Ma (Director, Centre for Business and Industry Transformation, Nottingham Trent University); Mr. Georgi Iliev (Venture and Product Development Manager at Centre for Business and Industry Transformation, Nottingham Trent University), Dr Iryna Kuksa (Senior Research Fellow, Nottingham Trent University); Professor James Bendle (Reader in Organic Geochemistry, University of Birmingham); Michael Pinsky (Reader of Fine Art, University of East London); Dr Andrew Shapland (Sir Arthur Evans Curator of Bronze Age and Classical Greece, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford); and Professor Kirsty Robertson (Canada Research Chair in Museums, Art, and Sustainability, Western University, Canada).

About UKRI UK Research and Innovation is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK government. UKRI works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.

For media enquiries, please contact: 

DMU Press Office // Justin Hawkins; Senior Communications Officer; justin.hawkins@dmu.ac.uk

Lead Researcher Contact // Dr. Mark Kasumovic; Project Lead and Senior Lecturer of Photography and Video; mark.kasumovic@dmu.ac.uk;