A lecturer recently denigrated a major oil company within a presentation to 80+ undergraduate students without context or explanation of the statements presented, which I found shocking, disappointing and irresponsible. Whatever our personal beliefs, I think there is a need to present in a balanced factual and open manner when standing before an audience of young people! This helps to ensure they are able to make their own judgments, based on balanced knowledge rather than personal bias through the abuse of ‘podium power’!

For this installation, I chose to engage with my audience by creating participation activities and games that could generate a curiosity to understand more about the continued need for fossil fuels globally. Because we do! We simply can’t just stop using them whether we like that fact or not!

Using a multitude of mixed media, I created 7 linked art elements within a fact confronting educational installation. It was designed to appeal to young people aged 12 – 17, referencing the stylistic approach of Royal Intuition Christmas lectures.

My aim was to engage and attract young people to consider how they could impact and contribute to resolving the climate change challenges as individuals in their daily lives. More importantly, I wanted to encourage them to have the freedom to consider opportunities for career paths without fear of ridicule or ethical/moral constraints based on negative public perception.  The need to progress the use of renewable energy will require young STEM students to progress within those industries.

My goal was for all who take the time to engage with one or more of the elements within my installation and say, ‘I didn’t know that!’ to offer a more balanced understanding of what fossil fuels do, and don’t do, for every single aspect of our lives.