The power of embodied metaphors.
Seeding Sustainable Futures – a project by Culturesphere – explored the potential of individuals to contribute to sustainable development within organisations through the symbolic creation of a collective artefact. Commissioned by the Bavarian Academy for Environment, Health and Sustainable Development, the project brought together more than 150 participants from various consultancies. Each participant sculpted several small seeds from clay, and together these hundreds of seeds formed a large outdoor installation.
The message was simple yet profound: Seeds are small but powerful. From a small seed grows a big tree; from a single tree, a resilient forest. Likewise, every person holds the potential to make a meaningful contribution to sustainability through individual choices and small actions — and the more such contributions accumulate, the greater their collective impact.
A lasting experience
At the end of the activity, the seeds were distributed among the participating organisations — around 60 advisory offices across Bavaria — where they were intended to find new homes, for instance as part of local installations or displays. These collaboratively created artefacts were intended to serve as a tangible reminder of the shared experience and as a lasting expression of collective awareness for sustainable behaviour.
Seeding Sustainable Futures exemplifies how art can serve as a medium for communication: it engages people on a deep, embodied, and emotional level, conveying insights that go beyond rational understanding or abstract knowledge.
Image Source: © 2020 Culturesphere
