From Margins to Murals: How Disabled Communities Are Shaping Climate Action

By Daniella Angulo

Disabled people make up 16% of the global population and have had to create ways of living in a world that doesn’t prioritize their needs. In a world increasingly affected by climate change, the insights and experiences of disabled people may be critical to building new relationships with the environment and each other.

This Disability History Month (14 November - 20 December), we are learning more about the disabled people’s movement. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Rebecca Yeo, who has been an activist and academic in this area for several decades. Working together with mural artist Andrew Bolton, she uses art as a research method, bringing people’s messages to public spaces.  

She is currently working on “Sensing Climate,” a research study led by Dr. Sarah Bell from the University of Exeter. This project places disabled people at the centre of responses to the climate crisis, using creative expression in addition to policy analysis to contribute to building more just and sustainable cities. Sensing Climate has just completed its first community mural in Bristol. Over the next few years, they will continue this work with disabled communities in Glasgow and Dublin.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How do you use art in your work?

We use art as a research method to bring disabled people together and see what people want others to understand. People can contribute in different ways, like drawing, speaking, or writing. Artist Andrew Bolton then creates a mural design that includes parts of everyone’s ideas. The design is revised until everyone is happy with how their contribution is represented.

Murals contribute to public space, so they have to look good. Our murals often have very hard-hitting messages, but we don’t want them to be so depressing that people don’t want to look at them. We aim to make a positive contribution through the art, focusing on what needs to change without reducing the messages to the toxic pressure of positive thinking.

The work is about contributing to the public conversation. Therefore, the murals are designed to be thought provoking rather than to put forward a single message.

A transcript of the film with visual information

How do you involve disabled communities in mural creation?

Each project depends on the circumstances, who’s involved, and what wall is being used. We make sure that everyone who wants to can take part, whatever their impairment.  Sometimes people paint directly onto a wall, other times people paint on boards that can be taken to a different space.  Obviously, visual art isn’t ideal for blind people. In the past, we’ve used tactile methods and ceramics. We’ve also used pieces cut out of wood for people to feel the shape of what they were painting. We involve sign language interpreters and have online descriptions of the mural, which makes it more accessible for blind people.

It is important to recognise that the people who get involved in projects like this are not necessarily the people who are at greatest immediate risk from extreme weather events.  If people are fighting to meet immediate needs, then issues such as where to sleep tonight or where to get food are more pressing than concerns about future risk.

The first Sensing Climate Mural was completed in Bristol in June 2024. It shares a wall with a previous mural about issues of disability and the immigration system. The different messages and images of the two murals interact with each other. More about Dr. Yeo’s previous work on disability and migration can be found here.

What key messages came out in the Bristol mural?

This mural shows Monopoly characters (like the game) rushing to a rocket to escape to a different planet. A wheelchair user and a blind person are trying to keep up, but they are at the back of the line. In any case, the rocket has stairs, making it inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Monopoly characters running with bags of money towards an inaccessible rocket. Photo Credit: Mark Simmons

These images show that when we talk about inclusion, we always need to ask, “inclusion in what agenda?” People contributing to the mural talked about how capitalism causes climate change. Many disabled people will always be undervalued in a system that values people according to their economic contributions.  If the agenda is oppressive or is destroying the planet, then including disabled people within it is not going to build justice.  In these circumstances, inclusion even risks giving credibility to an oppressive agenda.

The mural also shows disabled people and allies helping others onto a different path going in the opposite direction.  

Disabled people and allies building an alternative path Photo Credit: Mark Simmons

On the left side of the mural, there are images of a different society founded on care for people and the planet.  People are helping each other onto a meadow next to a pool of water and lush trees.

In one of the workshops, we discussed what we learn from the experience of being disabled. People spoke of solidarity and the need to live in ways that support each other. These are also extremely relevant in the fight against the climate emergency. Disabled people are very used to finding alternative ways of living. Instead of simply including disabled people in ‘business as usual,’ we need to organize society differently.

What is next for disabled people involved in your work, either through their continued relationships with the study or from what seeds you’ve seen planted within communities?

These are really hard and dangerous times, particularly for disabled people. The UN has criticised the UK government for its policies that reduced financial support and services,  and caused many deaths of disabled people.  Of course, murals do not change this directly, but we aim to contribute towards building solidarity and increasing awareness of what is going on.

In the context of everything going on and the multiple threats the disabled community faces, where would you like to take this research next, as an activist and academic?

Bringing the different sectors together is very important. In my previous work on disability and migration, it is clear that when people seeking asylum are prevented from meeting essential needs such as safety, housing and a sense of community, the result creates a system that is actively disabling.  Insights and experiences from the disabled people’s movement are therefore particularly relevant, but the sectors are often separated.

The impact of extreme weather events and resource shortages can also be disabling. We need to build solutions that address this rather than create more problems.  If disabled people’s needs are not considered from the start, the result can further divide people. The ban on plastic straws is a classic example. This may have been seen as an easy way to reduce plastic use.  Yet, for disabled people who rely on plastic straws to drink, it made life even harder. Similarly, unless access issues are considered, pedestrianising town centres can isolate some disabled people even further.

If we’re going to have any chance of surviving, we need to come together. We can’t develop solutions to one issue without learning from each other and considering how it impacts others. We have to bring the messages and insights from each movement together and build more collaborative approaches. In this way, we can solve these different crises together.

Thank you so much to Dr. Yeo for being willing to share her insights on this work! In the face of the looming climate crisis, it is clear that the disabled people’s movement has resources, solidarities, and tools that all movements for social justice must learn from. To keep up with Sensing Climate’s work, follow them on X here.

A full view of Sensing Climate’s first mural, edited around the previous mural with which it shares a wall Photo Credit: Mark Simmons