Five Ways That Illustrations Can Tell Climate Justice Stories

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Climate change is often communicated through scientific reports, statistics and policy discussions. However, these technical approaches can be inaccessible to the public, failing to capture the experiences of those most affected.

Climate narratives structured as stories that involve emotional engagement and personal anecdotes are more effective at mobilising communities, influencing policy and promoting pro-environmental actions across diverse audiences . By blending art with storytelling, illustrations can make complex environmental issues, such as climate justice, much more accessible to the general public.

Illustrations are not just artistic expressions. They can amplify the voices of affected communities and help make the case for climate justice. In an era where climate action is urgent, harnessing the power of illustration can be transformative . It can challenge dominant narratives while creating more inclusive and participatory ways of understanding climate action.

I have been collaborating with Puspita Bahari, an Indonesian fisherwomen's movement to develop ways to communicate the effects of tidal floods and the importance of feminist solidarity. For my PhD research, I spent seven months carrying out fieldwork in three coastal villages in Demak, Central Java, Indonesia. This involved interviews, observations and creative workshops with the community.

By drawing on 38 women's firsthand experiences, we have published an illustrated book: Tidal Floods: Women, Fisheries, and Climate Crisis in Indonesia (2024) . This story about Indonesia's fisherwomen explores the intersections of gender, environmental change, activism and the future of the country's coastal regions. Here are five ways that collaborative illustrations can be used to tell female-led climate justice stories:

1. Intersectional narration

The effects of tidal flooding on Indonesian women vary depending on location, livelihood, age and disability status. Along the coastline, women in Indonesia are involved in selling fish, processing seafood and fishing at sea, alongside domestic work.

Fisherwomen working in a submerged fish auction due to tidal floods face economic hardship as well as physical health challenges. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024)

This book does not depict women as having a single, monolithic identity. Instead, the images portray their varied realities. These shape how they experience climate injustice and how pre-existing inequalities reproduce new climate injustices.

Intersectional narration is storytelling that captures how different aspects of identity overlap to shape people's experiences in complex ways. Using this, various issues such as economic hardship, domestic violence, sexual reproductive health, physical and mental health can be better represented.

The image below illustrates these challenges. A woman with a disability is unable to use her wheelchair because the village is sinking. A pregnant woman struggles to access healthcare facilities. Fisherwomen face declining incomes due to environmental and economic pressures.

Women's activities in a submerged village, working as fishers, using small boats to access maternity health services, and woman with disabilities trapped in increasingly cramped and hot. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024) 2. Body maps

To understand the complexity of climate impacts, I worked with women to draw body maps. As they annotated each picture, fisherwomen shared their embodied experiences of living with tidal floods as an everyday disaster.

Body mapping is an intimate cartographic process that involves tracing the body and visually exploring one's lived experience. This method goes beyond textual and oral narratives . It helps women recall and record body memories that might otherwise remain unspoken.

Body maps showed tidal floods impacts on women's bodies physically and psychologically. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024)

Their body maps are not just research artefacts. They have been translated into powerful visuals so their personal stories can be shared in this book. The picture above illustrates one fisherwoman's daily struggles, physical and physiological burdens – so the image reveals the complex, gendered, and intersectional effects of tidal floods.

3. Historical context

Certain pictures show how the coastal landscapes are rapidly changing and how villages are sinking at an alarming rate. This historical context is not only drawn from women's oral narratives but also from past photo albums shared by the community.

The picture below illustrates the landscape change over 20 years, from rice fields to tidal floodwaters.

The landscape has changed over 20 years, and now the village is submerged by water. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024) 4. Movement and agency

Beyond documenting vulnerabilities and the social, ecological and economic effects of climate change on women, this book shows how these women have agency. This manifests in various ways, from small acts of resilience to broader feminist solidarity.

Women assert their agency by making cloth pads, planting crops, and conducting demonstrations. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024)

When they work together as a community, women can adapt through collective action. This includes planting crops, building cooperatives and holding demonstrations. Stories can play a role in moving beyond positioning women not just as victims but as people with valuable knowledge and the ability to assert their agency and drive sustainable climate action.

5. Reflection and collective ownership

In an era defined by uncertainty and rapid change, the ability to pause and reflect on climate justice is more valuable than ever. Certain images actively encourage readers to reflect on more tech-driven and infrastructure-focused responses to the climate crisis.

The final pages include questions that prompt critical thinking about the links between gender, climate justice and activism. For example,“what do you think will happen if we do not address the climate crisis?”

Reflection questions for readers. Puspita Bahari & University of Leeds (2024)

Rather than extracting knowledge from women, especially those in Global South countries, this book is co-created. Fisherwomen's voices and narratives are central to the storytelling process. By reclaiming conversations about climate change that are often dominated by international forums, we can hear and learn from the people who are most affected. And hopefully inspire more climate advocacy and grassroots action .

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