Everyone knows that the biggest event of the year is COP26 - and for good reason. This is a critical moment to establish the next decade of climate action.

However, everyone is vying for attention. And while much of it is focused on closed-door rooms, there has been little thought for the people outside: many of whom feel disillusioned by decision-makers offering empty promises.

We have developed a campaign in collaboration with Force of Nature called ‘Call Your Mother’. The creative challenge was to create a digital space that felt inviting and inclusive whilst allowing the different voices to be showcased in an impactful way. Call Your Mother is a space for people to open up and share immediate feelings about the climate crisis - anger, fear, grief, urgency, hope, motivation - and connect with others who feel the same. The project existed as physical pop ups in Glasgow but most importantly accessible to the masses online.

Simple and accessible, we wanted to create an intervention that helps people identify and understand their feelings around the climate, from delegates to local Glaswegians and young activists. To reach as many people as possible, we sought a digital context for the project, ensuring anyone with a phone can get involved through its virtual activation.

Youth-powered Force of Nature comprises the young people we seek to serve. So it was our hope to create a space for these young voices to be platformed. With that in mind, whilst hoping to cut through the clutter of attention-vying organisations across COP26, our eye-catching pop-up in a high-footfall area was the way to get noticed and get people talking.

Hopeful and solutions-focused, we needed to ensure people wanted to engage with the project rather than feel they ought to. Both the in-person and online activation was a safer space for people to navigate their feelings.

By creating an online space for people to share their feelings, we can keep the conversation going to ensure the project’s impact extends beyond when all the delegates return home – creating with it a long-lasting legacy.

To the full team at Force of Nature and all the volunteers on the ground during COP26.

Thanks for the trust and collaborative approach from the founder, Clover Hogan and for the support and use of the platform from Chad Reynolds, Vurvey.

callyourmother.earth