Walking across the Mediterranean: bringing climate adaptation closer to people
A giant map, games, theatre, music and a journey through the streets of Larnaka brought climate adaptation out of the conference room and into the city during the first DesirMED Adaptation Festival. At the heart of the experience was a simple idea: nature is one of our strongest allies in facing climate change, and protecting it starts with getting to know it.
Participants from the Mediterranean Coastal Day exploring the Giant Interactive Map at Larnaka (Cyprus)
Photo: IUCN
Alex, the Embassador of DesirMED in aumented reality.
Photo: Giant Interactive Map
Moment of the play Saving Mrs Euterpe: An Ice Cream Saga! in the inauguration of the DesirMed Adaptation Festival
Photo: IUCN
A flash mob celebrates Cyprus, host country of the DesirMED Adaptation Festival in Larnaka
Photo: Giant Interactive Map
Iasonas Iasonidis, vicemajor of Larnaka with Susanne Pedersen, Director of the IUCN Centre for Science and Knowledge, in the inauguration of the open activities of the DesirMed Adaptation Festival with the Giant Interactive Map
Photo: IUCN
On 26 September, a 17-metre-long map transformed Europe Square in Larnaka into a miniature Mediterranean basin. Children and adults could walk from Portugal to Cyprus, cross islands and coastlines, discover species and ecosystems, and explore some of the climate challenges already reshaping the region.
The DesirMED Giant Interactive Map, covering more than 160 square metres, was one of the central attractions of The Mediterranean We Desire, the first DesirMED Adaptation Festival. It is the largest interactive map of the Mediterranean produced to date. Over the course of the afternoon, around 300 people stepped onto the map, from festival participants and families to tourists and residents passing through the city centre.
"Larnaka is delighted to welcome you and to be part of this important exchange of ideas. We hope your time here inspires new actors to preserve our environment and build a better future. As Europeas, we share a common responsibility to make our communities and our planet a better place to live.", said Iasonas Iasonidis, Vice Mayor of Larnaka.
The map was designed as a communication tool: visitors were invited to walk on it, play, answer questions, interact with augmented-reality content and discover how forests, wetlands, dunes, rivers, seagrass meadows and other ecosystems can help communities respond to drought, heat, wildfires, floods and coastal erosion.
A set of games invited participants to recognise Mediterranean species and landscapes, understand the pressures they face and think about possible responses. In an augmented-reality quest, holograms of a monk seal, a Posidonia meadow and a flamingo appeared over the map. The map encouraged people to explore the connections between climate, biodiversity and human wellbeing.
Making climate adaptation something we can experience
Climate adaptation can easily become an abstract conversation about projections, policies and technical solutions. The festival experimented with another language: experience and emotion.
The map also made visible something that can disappear when climate impacts are discussed separately: Mediterranean territories are connected. Climate impacts may occur hundreds of kilometres apart, but the ecosystems affected and many of the solutions available to communities form part of the same regional story.
Nature-based Solutions build on those connections. Protecting or restoring ecosystems can help reduce climate risks while supporting biodiversity and providing benefits for people. Bringing that idea onto a map people can physically explore helped translate a technical concept into something tangible.
The performing arts brought in the emotion. The original play Saving Mrs Euterpe: An Ice Cream Saga! took Mrs Euterpe and her grandchildren on a journey across the Mediterranean to save her Larnaka beach canteen from coastal erosion and rising waters, while the T.E.A.M Hip Hop Collective invited the public to learn Mediterranean dance steps and The Windcraft Band closed the day with a concert.
A group set off on A Walk with and among Other Bodies, an inclusive workshop for people with disabilities led by the Koullou|Makka Collective with the support of the GreenLink project, one of the festival partners. Stopping at different places in the centre of Larnaka, participants explored their relationship with nature through movement, creative writing and play, at a pace that respected each person's needs.
From policy discussion to public engagement
The second day of the festival followed the policy and technical discussions held on 25 September as part of Mediterranean Coast Day, where policymakers, scientists and practitioners discussed Nature-based Solutions and resilient coastal planning across the region.
This second day shifted the conversation towards citizens, and the Giant Map was the setting for that dialogue. Climate adaptation will require science, investment, planning and effective public policies, but also people who understand the changes taking place around them and can participate in shaping the responses. Communication therefore becomes part of adaptation itself.
"This giant interactive map gives us a different way of looking at the Mediterranean: not as separate countries or coastlines, but as one interconnected region, sharing ecosystems, climate, cultures, communities and, of course, the sea. What happens in one part of the Mediterranean does not necessarily stay there. Our ecosystems and many of our challenges cross borders, and protecting and restoring nature is not separate from building climate resilience" said Susanne Pedersen, Director of the Centre for Science and Knowledge, IUCN.
A giant map cannot solve coastal erosion or prevent a heatwave. But it can make people curious. A game can lead someone to discover a species they did not know. A theatre performance can turn sea-level rise into a story people remember. A walk through familiar streets can reveal a different relationship with the environment.
The Giant Interactive Map of the Mediterranean was produced by the IUCN in collaboration with Giant Interactive Maps within the DesirMED project, funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe and by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The Festival was organised with local partners, the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute, the Cyprus Energy Agency and the Municipality of Larnaka.
More information:
DesirMed Adaptation Festival booklet
For more information about the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, click here.
