Creativity, Collaboration, and Resilience: How art is shaping community preparedness
Published: 9 July 2025
Commentary
Written by Ailsa Mackay, this exhibition at the University of Glasgow, in partnership with the National Centre for Resilience and For Enjoyment CIC, shows how creativity can strengthen community resilience through shared understanding and connection.
As climate change continues to increase the frequency and severity of natural hazards across Scotland and beyond, the question of how we build resilient communities has never been more urgent. While emergency services and local authorities play a vital role in issuing warnings and delivering critical messages, real resilience goes far beyond simply following instructions. It requires understanding, connection, and engagement—qualities that are not always easy to achieve through traditional channels alone.
That’s where creativity steps in.
At the University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre, a new exhibition titled Building Resilient Communities Through Creative Thinking explores how the arts can serve as a powerful tool in helping individuals and communities make sense of risk and build stronger connections. The exhibition is the result of a month-long creative challenge held in February 2025, delivered in partnership with the University of Glasgow, the National Centre for Resilience, and For Enjoyment CIC.
Participants from across the UK and internationally were invited to respond to 28 daily prompts, each designed to spark creative reflection on themes of resilience, environmental change, and shared community resources. The final artworks—20 of which are now on display—reflect diverse interpretations and artistic styles. But perhaps the most powerful outcome of the project wasn’t the art itself, but the conversations it sparked.
Over the course of the challenge, people from vastly different backgrounds and locations connected through a shared creative journey. What emerged was a rich exchange of stories, insights, and lived experiences. Participants across continents taught one another about local approaches to resilience—from flood awareness in rural Scotland to coping strategies in urban New Zealand.
These conversations became the real heart of the project. The artwork is a valuable and visible outcome, but it represents just a fraction of what was achieved. The key success was the process: a space that fostered dialogue between communities who might never otherwise have crossed paths. This is where creativity truly shines—breaking down barriers, making space for empathy, and opening up new ways of understanding.
To help support this reflective process, the University’s UNESCO Poet in Residence, Tawona Sithole, wrote a haiku each day of the challenge. These short poetic pieces offered daily inspiration and a shared point of connection for participants.
The project also demonstrates the growing recognition that creativity is a critical part of resilience-building. Research from the Met Office and others shows that while emergency messaging is essential, it’s not enough unless people truly understand and relate to it. That’s why communities are calling for new, more engaging tools—ones that help people connect emotionally, culturally, and socially to the risks they face.
Creativity answers that call. It brings complex ideas to life through storytelling, visual language, and emotional connection. It opens up space for shared learning, for community ownership, and for long-term engagement.
Building Resilient Communities Through Creative Thinking is open to the public from the 22nd - 25th of July at the University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre. We invite everyone—researchers, artists, policymakers, and community members—to explore the exhibition, reflect on the stories it tells, and consider how creativity might support the work of resilience in their own lives and communities.
Learn more about the National Centre for Resilience on their website.
First published: 9 July 2025