ITAC IMPACT: Climate
ITAC IMPACT: Climate
ITAC IMPACT: Climate is a global initiative designed to prove that teaching artistry can drive real-world climate action. Led by the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC), the project mobilized artists across 17 countries to design and lead bold, community-based climate interventions. From Alaska to the Philippines, teaching artists used performance, visual arts, digital media, and storytelling to engage over 8,000 people—raising awareness, shifting attitudes, and catalyzing action on the climate crisis.
Through workshops, immersive residencies, and international collaborations, ITAC IMPACT: Climate gave people—especially youth—the tools to understand local climate challenges and become active agents of change. Projects like Newtok Memory Maps documented environmental displacement in Alaska, while SACLAW in the Philippines trained young climate leaders through art. The Eden Engagement tour redefined how the arts can travel, embedding climate workshops in 37 cities worldwide.
This initiative didn’t just raise awareness—it built movements. ITAC supported teaching artists with funding, training, and a global platform, helping them scale impact, build sustainable models, and influence policy. The result? A powerful proof of concept that the arts are not an add-on to climate action—they’re essential. ITAC IMPACT: Climate shows what happens when creativity meets urgency, and why the world needs more of it.
The Project in Numbers
Participants
Teaching Artists
Locations
Case Study ITAC IMPACT: Climate Projects
SACLAW:
The Social Actions Community Leadership Arts Workshop.
Art as a Catalyst for Greater Community Engagement.
Philippines, 2022 – 24
Led by Abner Delina
260 Participants
Performance, Theatre, Visual Arts
NEWTOK Memory Maps
Intergenerational Activism Through Art.
Alaska, USA, 2022 – 24
Led by Katie Basile
95 Participants
Drone Photography, Video, and Digital Mapmaking
The School of the (IM)Possible
Using Art to Inspire Young Activists.
Brazil, 2021 – 2023
Led by Plato Cultural
808 Participants
Design, New Technologies, Imaginative Play/ Theatre
Unmasking Climate Justice:
Voices from the Past, Present, and Emerging Generations
Affecting Climate Consciousness Through Art
Philippines, 2021 – 2022
Led by Razcel (Raz) Jan Salvarita
174 Participants
Performance & Installation Art, New Media
Climate Collective
When ITAC IMPACT: Climate launched the initial open call in 2021, we received over 90 proposals in just 2 weeks, from Teaching Artists across more than 36 countries, outlining projects they would like to run. We could only a commission a small number in our first year, and so it became clear there was an appetite and need for a space to gather all of this energy in an ongoing way. As a result, the Climate Collective was born.
The ITAC Climate Collective formed as a group of Teaching Artists from all over the world who gathered monthly online to exchange ideas, practice and advocacy opportunities in the Arts and Climate space. The group sought to connect and amplify the visibility and impact of Teaching Artists' powerful responses to the climate crisis.
The Climate Collective came to an end in December 2023 and, as a legacy project, the group shared their favourite arts and climate activities. We are proud to share some of these below.
You can view the full archive of Climate collective meetings, resources and curricula in the Resources section of our Members platform.
Mapping Stofland, Hex River Valley - A Climate Collective Legacy Activity
Created by Erica Lüttich (South Africa)
Role Reversal - A Climate Collective Legacy Activity
Created by Rachael Jacobs, Gadigal land, Eora Nation (Sydney, Australia)
The Butterfly Effect: Taking Action on a Human Scale, from One Country to Another - A Climate Collective Legacy Activity
Created by Frédérick Moreau (Canada)
Water and World Communities - A Climate Collective Legacy Activity
Created by Barry Stewart Mann (USA)
ITAC IMPACT: Climate Key Events
2021
ITAC IMPACT: Climate is Launched.
▶Four TAs are commissioned:
– Dijana Milošević (Serbia),
– Francine Kliemann (Brazil),
– Rachel Jacobs (Australia),
– Raz Salvarita (Philippines),
to design and deliver projects in their communities.
▶A Climate Ambassador is recruited:
Climate scientist, Diana Liverman, is brought on to support the science studied in the commissioned projects.
▶The Climate Collective is formed:
Commissioned TAs and over 100
members form the core of this active online global forum to offer training, networking, and ongoing advocacy for
climate action.
2022
ITAC IMPACT: Climate Expands.
▶Four new TAs are commissioned:
– Katie Basile (Alaska),
– Abner Torres Delina Jr. (Philippines),
– Pawel Pokutycki (Netherlands),
– Christine Hatton (Australia),
to design and facilitate projects that
address issues such as sea-level rise,
permafrost melt, climate activism and
wetland preservation.
▶Two 2021 TAs continue their work:
Francine Kliemann (Brazil) expands
School of the [IM]Possible into Scotland, and Raz Salvarita (Philippines) trains adult farmers as climate discussion facilitators in their home communities.
▶Climate Artists present projects
in plenary sessions at the 6th International Teaching Artist Conference, in Oslo, Norway.
▶The Africa-US TA Exchange is formed:
This transatlantic group of cross-
disciplinary teaching artists forms to meet
virtually to build cultural awareness and
exchange information to address climate
change.
▶The Teaching Artistry for Social Impact
Course is launched:
This free online course that guides TAs to expand their work into measurable social impact includes four in-depth case studies of the TAs commissioned in 2021, and is freely available across the globe on the Kadenze learning platform.
2023
ITAC IMPACT: Climate Builds on Learnings.
▶Three TAs are recommissioned.
Building on learnings from the last two years, Katie Basile, Abner Delina, and Pawel Pokutycki are recommissioned to evolve and expand the impact already made, and develop models of sustainability that can be shared, published, and replicated in other spaces.
▶A Free Impact & Assessment Guide
is created:
ITAC’s Impact and Assessment Guide is published as a downloadable resource to help TAs and changemakers around the world articulate impact goals, plan outcomes, and measure social impact in their projects.
2024
▶2021-2024: Eden Engagement:
A multi-year partnership with Grammy winner and opera singer, Joyce Di Donato, in which ITAC designed and led community workshops in every city on her global tour.
2025-2026
▶2025-2026: Ongoing Work
Artist interviews conducted, project data gathering undertaken, and report writing.
▶2026: Climate Report launched
As a result of this multi-year initiative, thousands of people
were inspired to move–to move towards greater awareness, action and hope. ITAC IMPACT: Climate proved that art can not only be used to educate the mind, but also to inspire the heart and create long-lasting change.