Creativity and Imagination
Harnessing art, imagination and creativity in response to climate-health challenges.
About
Art, creativity, and imagination can address climate-related health impacts by raising awareness, fostering empathy, and inspiring action. Art provides a powerful emotional language to convey the urgency of climate-related health risks— like respiratory issues from air pollution or climate-related mental health impacts — in ways that data cannot. Through creative storytelling, and immersive experiences, people can more easily understand the human toll of climate change, inspiring new solutions and motivating communities, health practitioners and policymakers to take action.
Leads
Gary Anderson - Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Melbourne Medical School, MDHS
- Gary Anderson is a pharmacologist and immunologist and is a tenured Professor and Director of the Centre for Lung Health Research. Gary’s own research has centred on using genetic disease models to understanding molecular mechanisms of disease induction, progression, severity and exacerbation in asthma and COPD. Gary is also a practicing artist with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Julieta Galante - Deputy Director, Contemplative Studies Centre, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, MDHS
- Dr Julieta Galante is a qualified medical doctor with expertise in public mental health research. Her experience spans randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, economic evaluations, and population-based cohort studies. As Deputy Director of the Contemplative Studies Cntre, her primary focus has been studying meditation practices—particularly mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation—for mental health promotion in public health and secular settings.
Stephanie Campbell - Research Fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures and Affiliate Researcher in Spirituality and Planetary Health, Contemplative Studies Centre, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, MDHS.
- Stephanie’s research focuses on the potential for care work (whether providing spiritual, emotional, psychological, material, ecological, or other forms of care) to act as a site for politically and culturally transformative shifts towards eco-centric and relational ontologies in realising flourishing more-than-human futures, including through the acts of creativity, imagination, and artistry. She is a member of the research collaboration with UTS ‘Challenging the human-nature binary and representation of non-human species’, working with experts from across science, arts, and humanities, considering how other-than-human species’ perspectives are directly represented and/or involved in decision-making, including a focus on arts-based practices. She is also practitioner and facilitator of experiential nature connection workshops and retreats.