This project explored how theater and community engagement can help develop a context-specific understanding of climate change to empower Texan communities and individuals to become resilient and adapt to a changing climate. While many scientists enthusiastically engage in public outreach, most adopt the “deficit model”: a paternalistic, one-way approach that is not effective in changing behaviors or attitudes. Over-emphasis on educating the public comes at the expense of more effective communication objectives, like framing, building trust, or fostering dialogue. This participatory action research project invited young people (high school age), scientists, and theater-makers to collectively process environmental justice emotionally, intellectually, and artistically. Using the aesthetic, scholarly, and lived experience expertise of these participants, the research team wanted to explore and make visible how Austin historically and currently outsources climate change onto our most vulnerable citizens.
