On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, the Master Non Linear Narrative at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, organizes a comprehensive symposium on the topic of climate change and digital democracy. Tempers and Temperatures: The Rising Heat of Digital Ecologies is part of the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership ‘Climate Truth Crisis,’ which investigates how climate change skepticism impacts democracy and public trust. The research project brings together staff and students from seven art and design academies in The Hague, Reykjavík, Barcelona, London, Vilnius, Tallinn, and Sarajevo to critically evaluate climate-related news and engage in democratic processes.

Tempers and Temperatures aims to examine the relationship between climate change denial and the rising trend toward autocracy. It addresses questions related to collective trust, truth-telling, climate data, and future imaginaries, asking, are climate change denial and increased autocracy symptoms of the broader trend toward shirking political responsibility for humanity’s impact on the environment? Or is the distrust of democratic institutions a logical consequence of climate skepticism? Or perhaps even more so, is this lack of initiative merely a consequence of any given society’s tendency to blame their representatives for their own inability to act?

The one-day program is divided into three thematic sessions, each with two speakers. The first session explores how climate narratives are shaped by power, ethics, and disinformation, influencing what counts as truth in public debate. It asks who creates climate stories, whose voices are marginalized, and what ethical responsibilities come with producing and circulating climate knowledge. The second session focuses on how climate data enters the public domain through journalism, media representation, and digital tools. It examines how investigative and visual practices can help detect false narratives, support truth-telling, and strengthen accountability across contemporary media ecosystems. And the last session explores how design and community building can foster resilience and cultivate shared imaginaries for climate action. It foregrounds grassroots practices, civil society networks, and forms of collaboration that move beyond critique toward collective care and the creation of sustainable futures.

Session 1: Ethics, Truth, and the Politics of Climate Knowledge
– Jennie King, co-founder of Climate Action Against Disinformation (Institute for Strategic Dialogue, London)
– Mijke van der Drift, philosopher and educator (Royal College of Art, London)

Session 2: Media, Investigative Practices, and Climate Narratives
– Sabine Niederer, Professor of Visual Methodologies (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)
– Joey Grostern, investigative journalist (DeSmog, Vancouver and Berlin)

Session 3: Design, Labor, and Collective Futures
– Sophie Dyer, designer / researcher
– Sorab Roustayar, union member and community leader (Fite Qlub, Amsterdam)

Students of the Master Non Linear Narrative will respond to the presentations through discussions and interactive sessions.

Tempers and Temperatures: The Rising Heat of Digital Ecologies is moderated by Victoria McKenzie, Niels Schrader, and Füsun Türetken. The event is funded by the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership Programme and the admission is free. More information on www.kabk.nl.

Please click this link to register for the symposium.

Location
Royal Academy of Art (KABK)
Auditorium
Prinsessegracht 4
2514 AN Den Haag