The transformations described by the Devon Carbon Plan require changes to the way we see the world, as much as changes to the world itself.
In 2022 researchers from the University of Plymouth, in partnership with Devon Climate Emergency, teamed up with local communities and organisations, Devon-based artists, and transition experts, to develop ‘Net Zero Visions’ in different media and locations. These ‘Commissioned Net Zero Visions’ were put to different uses in different places – from spreading word of existing net-zero initiatives, to sharing dreams, to supporting communities in developing local plans.
The project continues to invite submissions of Public Net Zero Visions that have been developed by groups and individuals. These are hosted on a gallery on this website, as well as plotted on an interactive map, to make a grand collaborative mosaic of imagined Devon futures.
We have found that, at the very least, ‘Net Zero Visions’ add colour and fun to what can often be a daunting process. But we have also found that reimagining a positive net-zero future for where you live can be an effective way of engaging diverse ranges of people, of enlisting support for existing projects and planning new ones. Resources to support this process can be found here.
Pictures of the Commissioned Visions, as well as words from the project contributors – organisers, communities, artists, transition experts – were collected together in a project book, copies of which were donated to public libraries across Devon. Remaining copies of the book are available for sale.
Net Zero Visions was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with support from the University of Plymouth and the ERDF Low Carbon Devon project also based at the university.
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