This paper considers the role of drawing and creative processes of visualizing possible coastal futures as a means for engaging young people in climate change research and coastal management processes.
While predictive models show the impact of climate change in coastal areas around the globe, what will happen to individual places will largely depend on local strategies and interventions. Yet, the complexity of these phenomena as well as the high level of specialisms involved often tends to leave local communities, and young people in particular, unable to participate decision-making processes which will determine the future of the places where they live.
In the Morecambe Bay Timescapes project, three secondary schools and one college across Morecambe Bay were involved in a programme of activities which combined fieldwork, archival research, climate modelling, and art practice which led to the design of visions of hyperlocal coastal futures. These visions were used as part of an interactive exhibition that brought together young people and experts in conversations about possible futures. This paper describes the role that drawing played in enabling such conversations, by providing a way for students to work through multiple layers of complexity and articulate their reflections.