Making Good Media
A MASSIVE ACTION Sydney project fostering positive climate action through inspirational speculative design
The problem
Current media depicting the issues of climate change commonly evokes themes that can lead to hopelessness, negativity, and inaction.
Our strategy
The team at Making Good Media proposes creating a different media view - moving away from political debates, alarming data or messages that provoke fear, guilt or notions of sacrifice. Research shows we do have solutions, such as everyone switching to electric, renewable energy, but we need everyone on board.
Our team is pioneering the creation of short, shareable media clips that use a speculative design approach (kind of like science fiction) synthesised with university research to show possible futures where everyday occurrences, such as weather updates, directly and positively impact our energy use.
Over the past two years, Making Good Media explored/asked:
- What would a TV weather report look like in a renewable energy future?
- What if every time you engaged with the media, you could improve the lives of your family, neighbours and community?
- What if charging your electric vehicle was a fun, easy, community experience?
- What if young people had the tools to make their own good media? Policymakers? Everyone?
Speculative design invites audiences to engage with the implications of technological and social change, fostering a deeper understanding of the relationship between design, society and the future.
What if we could see what irresistible, successful climate action looked like?
Speculative design helps us envision a climate-positive future by reimagining everyday experiences like weather reports. This example imagines widespread adoption of existing climate solution technology and how the media could provide everyday climate action insights.
Further into the future, perhaps renewal energies could be even more closely linked to our everyday lives through personalised weather reports that impact how we chose to generate and use electricity.
Our partner
The project is supported by the UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute. Committed to a transdisciplinary approach that fosters collaboration and drives innovation to deliver real-world impact, the Institute is a pioneering force in building a transformative research capability.
Work with us
We want to create compelling visions of and exciting and optimistic future. To design a “new normal”, founded on empowerment and positive impact.
Want to find out how you can partner with us?
Our progress
The Making Good Media video series has been featured across social media, UNSW shows and expos and at South by Southwest (SXSW) Sydney 2024.
We’re also developing an educational framework and toolkit so everyone - from young people in schools to media companies and industry - can make their own Good Media!
“One of the things we want to do next is to partner with state museums, like the Australian Museum, to create workshops for the next generation so that they can create inspiring, hopeful visions of the climate positive future. We are also looking to support government and Industry with their messaging.” - Dr Green.
Meet the team
Dr Rebecca Green leads a team of UNSW designers, directors, visual effects creators and writers. We have access to cutting-edge research within UNSW and across the academic and scientific network. We take complex problems around climate change and make them inspirational and relatable.
Rebecca Green
Project Lead
Dr Rebecca Green (PhD) is a Lecturer and researcher at UNSW Art & Design (Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture) and an experienced graphic designer and illustrator. She has qualifications in graphic design and sociology. Her research into the visual communication of Climate Change highlights the significant influence that the language of graphic design can make on the uptake of, and trust in strategic climate messaging. As Academic Lead, 2021 Global Engagement Program at the International Universities Climate Alliance (IUCA), this research is currently at the forefront of IUCA Global Climate Talks and University Hackathon environments. This research is key to similarly complex scientific issues such as vaccination uptake and COVID-19 messaging, and to types of misinformation prevalent on social media. Given the rapid advancement of digital media technology, which has led to the dominance of an even more image-based style of visual communication, the role of the graphic designer in translating these important messages becomes more important every day.
Anna Tow
Animation and Visual Arts Specialist
Anna Tow is an education professional with a professional development focus. Her background is in animation and the visual arts with 20 years experience working in the film and TV industry. She is skilled in 3D Visualisation Techniques, Art Direction and Animation.
Carmel O'Connor
Project Manager & Writer
Carmel O’Connor is a professional staff member at UNSW’s Faculty of Arts Design and Architecture where she works as Strategic Lead in Academic Quality, with qualifications in Law/Arts in International Studies. She has worked in the university sector for seven years, delivering on diverse and key strategic projects in multidisciplinary teams.
Alongside her career in Education, she has worked as a writer across magazines, film, fiction, and non-fiction for over ten years. She is currently writing a young adult, speculative fiction series, which presents stories that aim to empower young people amidst climate change. This series is inspired by research into how traditional media narratives contribute to climate anxiety, and awe as a device to regulate nervous systems for greater individual and collective problem-solving.
Carmel brings her breadth of expertise to the Project Manager role in the Making Good Media team, to enrich the creative outputs and help drive delivery. This project adopts a multi-phase approach, with view to scaling a Making Good Media movement.
Sarah Liu
Art & Design Student Collaborator
Sarah Liu is a student currently in the final phase of her dual degree program at the University of New South Wales. Pursuing a Bachelor of Design, specialising in Graphic and Interaction Design, coupled with a Bachelor of Media in Public Relations and Advertising, Sarah’s practice fuses artistic creativity and strategic communication. She is deeply passionate about circular design, advocating for positive change, and empowering women in the design sector. Her design philosophy emphasises innovative reimagining of traditional concepts, blending new ideas with a hint of tradition to create designs that resonate with both novelty and familiarity.
Her academic journey is marked by a commitment to personal and professional growth, supplemented by roles that have honed her business and communication skills. A notable achievement in her career was collaborating with Bruce Mau and Bisi Williams in 2022 on the Massive Action Sydney project, which significantly enhanced her strategic design and public speaking skills. As she navigates her fourth and final year at university, Sarah stands as a motivated individual, driven by a passion for collaborative work and an unwavering commitment to continual learning. Sarah has a vision to achieve positive change through compelling, beautiful, and persuasive design.
