AN interactive art installation in Penryn is giving the community the chance to reflect and respond to climate issues to mark the start of COP28.  

The University of Exeter’s Climate Wall acts as a public record, aiming to connect Cornish people to global discussions taking place at the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP).  

COP28, held in Dubai this year, is being described as a decisive moment to act on climate commitments and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Running from November 30 to December 12, 2023, the international conference follows a year of extreme weather events in which many climate records have been broken. It will feature conversations on the energy transition, food systems, and loss and damage funds. 

The University of Exeter’s interactive light projection has run since November 27 and is currently outside the Stannary and Student Union at the Penryn campus.

Climate messaging from university climate scientists, academics and students are projected onto an external wall via a projector, which is activated when people pass by, making the words ‘dance’ on the wall.

The wall lights up from 4-9pm, as it needs darkness to run. A projector picks up on a participant’s movements and the words on the wall will start to move, linking them up to create a sentence. 

Participants can also scan a QR code to submit their own answers.

The art installation allows the community to make recommendations for individual and collective action. Questions such as: ‘Can you give us an example of a positive tipping point,’ are projected on to the screen. 

Exeter researchers have identified sources of hope—called positive tipping point—in various areas from agriculture to politics and public opinion. 

The Climate Wall is fully funded by the University of Exeter and will be hosted on Penryn campus in collaboration with Falmouth University, FX Plus and the SU.

The Climate Wall will run until 1 December 2023.