What happens when public space becomes a climate commons; shared, shaped and reclaimed through creativity?

We Gather Here Because We Must is an international artist exchange between Get It Done (Manchester) and Aks Creative Hub (Ankara), supported by the British Council's Connections Through Culture Programme.

The project brought together four artists – Hathaikan Konguanraun, Edanur Seçim, Öykü Işıl Kışla and Maisie Pritchard – from Türkiye and the UK to explore how simple, playful and low-cost creative interventions can activate public space for climate awareness and connection.

Across the world, the climate crisis has undeniably arrived on doorsteps; in overheated streets, disappearing green spaces and the polluted air we breathe. Cities like Ankara and Manchester are transforming rapidly, often faster than care can keep up. In this context, public space becomes a critical ground, not to escape the crisis, but to face it together.

Culture plays a crucial role in how we respond to this moment. While artists cannot solve the climate crisis alone, their work can help build the relationships, imagination and collective action that resilient communities depend on, creating opportunities to gather, participate and reimagine public space together.

How can artists intervene in public space to make the climate crisis visible, build solidarity and spark small, everyday actions?

FROM MANCHESTER TO ANKARA

Over four months, our artists met online, exchanged methods, explored participatory climate projects from around the world and carried out sensory research in their own cities.

Different places experience climate change differently, and every community holds knowledge, traditions and creative approaches that others can learn from. Ankara and Manchester also face surprisingly similar pressures, giving us an opportunity to compare our cities, learn from each other's contexts and explore what international exchange could bring to our practices.

In May 2026, we gathered together in Ankara for the first time. Working collaboratively, we designed and built a temporary pavilion from reclaimed materials inside Esat Hal public market, created a city-wide participatory game and launched the work with a community event.

Our installation acted as an anchor: a place to gather, rest and connect, as well as the starting point for the game. Water pipes left over from the municipality, wooden pallets reclaimed from scrapyards, washing lines used as ropes and fabric from past celebrations all found a second life within the pavilion.

We opened the installation with a community celebration, amulet-making workshop and participatory performance, welcoming around 100 visitors. The pavilion remained in place for a further few weeks, continuing to activate the space after the residency.

A CITY-WIDE GAME

As the residency progressed, we realised that some of the most exciting moments weren't the objects we were making, but the participatory activities we were creating together.

These activities developed into a city-wide game. Through a series of playful prompts, people were invited to explore Ankara through their senses; noticing, connecting, caring, making, contributing and moving. The game encouraged an embodied and sensory connection to our environments, while gamification gave people a fun and accessible way into much bigger questions around climate and place.

By the end of the residency, we hadn't just made a game that was city-specific. We had made something that could be played anywhere.

WHERE NEXT?

This project demonstrated the potential for arts and culture to become a practical tool in community climate action. International exchange, participatory public art and gamification formed the basis of our methodology, helping people build stronger connections with place, each other and the environmental challenges affecting their communities.

Creative participation can sit alongside technical climate responses, creating opportunities for people to gather, share local knowledge, strengthen community relationships and experience climate issues in tangible, everyday ways.

We Gather Here Because We Must is only the first chapter! We're exploring ways to play our game with further communities and developing a reciprocal residency in the UK, bringing artists, climate experts and residents together to continue testing this approach.

We want to grow the network of artists, organisations, cultural institutions and communities involved. If you're interested in collaborating, hosting a future exchange, supporting the project or continuing the conversation, we'd love to hear from you.

Read the full project zine (coming soon).

We Gather Here Because We Must is supported by the British Council's Connections Through Culture Programme.