Turning the Tide
An Artistic Wave of Change: Cultivating Resilience in Waterfront Communities
How can artistic practices inspire transformative action and community resilience in the face of climate change?
Climate change is hitting Europe's coastal and riverfront cities hard. Rising seas, erosion, flooding, and ecological damage are no longer distant risks; they are reshaping communities in real time. These pressures fall heaviest on those already facing social and economic vulnerability. Yet most responses remain technical and top-down, leaving out the emotional, cultural, and imaginative dimensions of the crisis. Communities bear the weight of change without a meaningful role in shaping the answer. Turning the Tide places artists at the centre of climate action in waterfront cities across Europe. Through 42 artist residencies across Evia, Vienna, Gdańsk, and Stockholm, artists work directly alongside local communities, carrying out research, mapping places and stories, and producing new work rooted in specific landscapes and the people who live in them. Local Urban Labs and international residency programmes open up new ways of seeing, telling, and responding to the climate crisis, ones that come from the ground up, not the top down.
Visit project websiteOutcomes & Resources
Local Art Residencies
Local art residencies embed artists within specific communities, fostering place-based engagement around climate issues. Artists collaborate with local actors to develop creative responses that reflect and challenge local environmental realities.
International Art Residencies
The international residencies offer artists the chance to work across borders, connecting with diverse ecologies, cultural contexts, and fellow creatives. These residencies support knowledge exchange and shared creation beyond national frameworks.
Climate & Culture Summit
The Climate and Culture Summit in Glasgow brought together voices from the Scottish Government, Creative Carbon Scotland, and environmental artists to explore the intersection of art, cultural planning, and climate justice. Missed the summit? No problem. Watch it online.
Webinars on Co-Creation & Climate
The webinar series features artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners in conversation about art’s role in addressing the climate crisis. These virtual events offer insight, reflection, and tools for creative action. Missed the webinars? Watch them online.
International Labs
In our international labs, artists, researchers, and citizens come together to explore climate challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. Each lab tests new formats of ecological thinking, making, and learning. Missed the labs? Watch them online.
Cartopological Mapping
This practice combines mapping with storytelling and ethnography, tracing local knowledge, climate memories, and ecological shifts. Cartopological maps reveal emotional, cultural, and environmental layers of place that often go unseen.
Project Outcomes & News
After the Cameras Leave
Two Artists, One Island's Recovery: Reflections from Evoia Local Urban Lab Round I
Breaking Boundaries: How Art and Science Are Rewriting Evoia's Story of Resilience
Reflections from Evoia's Local Urban Lab: Round III
When Art Opens Conversations
Memory, Loss, and Adaptation in Evoia's Local Urban Lab II
Danai Papadimitriou
Culture at the Frontline of Climate Action
What happens when artists, researchers, and communities come together in a landscape shaped by fire and flood? Reflections from our International Lab in Evia, Greece.
Project Partners
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
