How arts stepped in where words fail us — a session from Ljubljana
At Urban Future 2026 in Ljubljana, a session organised by ICLEI Europe and facilitated by Kassia Rudd turned climate communication into a live experiment. Rather than discussing engagement in the abstract, participants were invited to a "creative co-design studio" to work directly on a real challenge presented by the city: how to make soil visible, understood, and valued in Ljubljana's Šiška green wedge.
Creative tools for complex challenges
The session brought together a striking range of artistic approaches to nature communication. Bettina Wilk (The Nature of Cities) introduced NbS Comics as a way to translate complex nature-based solutions into relatable, human-centered stories. Fiona de Bell (Cascoland / CULTIVATE, City of Utrecht) showed how food-based and on-site interventions create shared experiences that spark genuine dialogue. Adam Langer (Sladovna Písek / ReValue) presented theatrical methods that use imagination and performance to build trust and community engagement. Ana Mitic-Radulovic (CEUS/UNP+) explored how illustrations and games can be used to connect young people with the flora and fauna in their local environment.
The challenge itself was grounded by Liljana Jankovič Grobelšek (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia / SPADES), anchoring the creative process in real planning needs and local complexity.
From ideas to proposals in 30 minutes
In just half an hour, participants developed four concrete, arts-based proposals for Ljubljana:
- Fairy Tales from the Future — storytelling and theatre to co-imagine alternative futures for the area, developed with schools, cultural institutions, and local stakeholders.
- Stone/Lava Playground — a phased, playful intervention making soil conditions visible through games, installations, and regenerative landscapes.
- Ljubljana Get Grounded — an embodied experience where citizens physically connect with different soil types, building awareness through sensation rather than information.
- Keep the Grass in Ljubljana — community actions engaging children to influence everyday decisions, like protecting green spaces from being converted into parking.
Why this works — and why it matters for our NetworkNature community
Across all proposals, one insight stood out: people don't connect to technical information alone. They connect through experience, emotion, and participation. Storytelling, play, food, and performance make invisible processes — like soil health — tangible and meaningful. They also open new pathways for citizens to engage with planning processes and contribute to change.
Ljubljana representatives responded positively, highlighting both the creativity and the practical potential of the proposals, and expressing genuine openness to integrating these approaches into ongoing work.
For NetworkNature community, this session is a powerful reminder: arts-based methods are not a soft add-on to nature-based solutions work. They are infrastructure — for communication, engagement, and co-creating sustainable urban futures with the communities that live them.
