Interacting with Climate Change: A Survey of HCI and Design Projects and Their Use of Transmedia Storytelling

Climate change is arguably one of the most debated issues today. The scale and global reach of this crisis doesn’t afford a universal solution and requires widespread global mobilization. Public engagement is essential for the success of any initiative on this topic. However, sometimes communicating the facts is not enough. Interactive storytelling and transmedia narratives have an important part to play in communicating climate change, especially in shifting from a mere transmission of data to a narrative that is more engaging, positive and action focused, that considers diverse audiences and active participation. Following this premise, we conducted a survey on climate change applied research projects addressing the general public to understand how the fields of interactive media, HCI and Design are using transmedia narratives. The intention of this study is to gather what has been done regarding these topics and the strategies used, to further the debate among the community and inform future research.