'Saving the Island'

Devised as part of the coursework of the MSc Climate Change, and funded by the Department of Geography, the Circus of Climate Horrors are very fortunate to announce a new interactive exhibit ‘Save the Island’, to be featured as part of the ICARUS outreach programme through the coming summer. 

Featuring a model island inside a basin of water, this exhibit serves as a clever analogy to the impacts of high-GHG-emission sectors on the current rates of sea level rise. The purpose of this new exhibit is to test the knowledge of participants on relevant facts and statistics concerning sustainability and environmental policies. The more correct answers given, the more they can minimise the degree of coastal flooding, while each wrong answer means a concrete block is placed into the basin , forcing water levels upward. 

The annual ‘Picnic in the Park’ event at Harbour Park in Maynooth was a fitting venue for ‘Save the Island’ to make its public debut, and it was met with great success and positive reception. Connor Platt, one of the MSc students who designed the exhibit said “While younger children were interested in tackling our questions, all visitors enjoyed placing the concrete blocks into the basin to see the water levels rise. No matter how the public interacted with the exhibition, we noticed eager appreciation from our audience for the analogous significance it has for the current global issue of sea level rise” 

“From this, we hope to inspire our participants to recognise the importance of knowledge in carrying out appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as the power of choice: the more people who choose to implement sustainable options in their daily lives, the closer the world comes to establishing a robust, global circular economy which prioritises the limitation of global greenhouse gas emissions, the preservation of Earth’s natural environment and the opportunities for future generations to come.”

 

Papua New Guinea - A perspective

 

 

Gertrude Miria, Irish Aid fellow MSc student on the design team and from Papua New Guinea, highlights how ‘Save the Island’ has a lot of meaning for Pacific islanders. “Many atoll islands in the Pacific will be gone shortly due to warming oceans and sea level rise. From a Papua New Guinea (PNG) perspective, losing a place is more like losing your land, your family and everything you call home. Sea level rise is threatening our livelihood and our rights and ownership of the land we claim home. In PNG, the Carteret Islanders in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville were among the first climate refugees as a result of sea level rise. The relocation was difficult for the islanders, and many refused to relocate because dealing with land in PNG is a very sensitive issue. 97% of the land is customarily owned by people (clan groups) a practice common in the Melanesian societies such as PNG, Solomon Island, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Irian Jaya province of Indonesia. Only 3% is owned by the government. Once my island sinks, my birthright is lost; I'm a foreigner on another man's land. Dealing with customary land is a big challenge, and to date, these atoll islanders are living in care centres because the government is still negotiating with customary landowners to secure land to relocate these people; it can take more than 20 years, the case for Manam Islanders (PNG). Adaptation to climate change as a result of sinking islands is very challenging when it comes to relocation.”

 

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The making of the ‘Save the Island’ is  possible thanks to funding from the Geography Department and the design and artistic skills of Anthony Cleary, Senior Technician in the Department of Design Innovation  at Maynooth University. The Circus is further supported by ICARUS.

 

Pictured (L-R) are Anthony Cleary, PhD Student Csaba Horvath, Dr. Nick Scroxton,Prof. Steve McCarron Head of Geography, and MSc student’s Gertrude Miria and Connor Platt (who along with Casaba Horvath and MSc Student Clara Bezeau designed ‘Save the Island’.