In recent years, CIMA Research Foundation has consolidated a path of exploring artistic language as a means of scientific communication through the “Art and Science” project. This approach found space and recognition at the 2024 and 2025 editions of the EGU (European Geosciences Union) General Assembly, within two sessions that systemically addressed art, science, and society.
EGU 2024:
Art to Tell Wildfires, Floods, Droughts, and the Climate Crisis
In 2024, the session titled “Wildfires, floods, droughts, and the climate crisis: can art narrate the risk?” offered the ideal context to present CIMA’s experience, showcasing several initiatives in which artistic language – through painting, photography, installations, and theater – was used to raise awareness among a broad and diverse audience on environmental and climate risks.
Through art, complex topics such as biodiversity loss, droughts, floods, and the increase in extreme events became more accessible, emotional, and engaging. The works did not merely represent phenomena but narrated them, stimulating empathy and critical reflection. This perspective also guided CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution to the design of the Science and Technology Museum of Addis Ababa, where art and participation become tools to support the transmission of scientific knowledge.
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU24/EGU24-8045.html
EGU 2025:
“Lament of Ur” – Narrating Drought Through Memory and Emotion
In 2025, the focus was on “Lament of Ur: Addressing Drought Through Art”, a tribute to the intellectual collaboration between Franco Siccardi (founder of CIMA Research Foundation) and artist Beppe Schiavetta. Central to the session was the work “Lament for UR”, a pictorial reinterpretation of an ancient Sumerian text narrating the destruction of the city of Ur, likely due to drought and social conflict.
Through Schiavetta’s paintings and Siccardi’s reflections, the project emphasized the continuity between past and present, showing how climate crisis, environmental migration, and resource scarcity are both ancient and current issues. This project demonstrated how art can transform scientific data into engaging and accessible narratives capable of stimulating awareness and empathy.
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/EGU25-19404.html
Art and Science: A Shared Language for Action
Both EGU contributions showcased the powerful communicative potential of synergies between art and science. CIMA Research Foundation has thus helped redefine how we communicate risk: not only through graphs and models, but also with images, stories, and
emotions. In an era in which climate change imposes new communicative urgencies, these experiences serve as essential tools for engaging communities and promoting a cultural shift toward environmental, cultural, and social sustainability.
