Building Engagement in a Contested Climate Field

The challenge

Climate cooling research is moving into public view at a time of heightened scrutiny and polarised debate. ARIA, the UK’s moonshot agency, funds high-risk, high-reward science. Its Exploring Climate Cooling programme supports 21 international teams whose research touches public concerns and geopolitical tension. For climate change solutions to work, researchers and the public need to have productive and informed dialogue about the possible benefits and risks of frontier climate science.

Researchers bring different levels of experience in engaging communities on the ground with their work. Teams need to improve their skills and learn new techniques to enable them to have meaningful dialogue with communities and build public trust. 

The Liminal Space has established a new programme of community engagement  support to match ARIA’s ambitions for scientific progress.

Our involvement 

As the community engagement partner for the next three years, The Liminal Space is shaping a programme-wide approach to responsible science-society engagement.

Working with Dr Cian O’Donovan (UCL) and Tim Kruger (Oxford Net Zero), we’re helping ARIA develop an approach grounded in responsible innovation and shaped with the people who will use it.

The first milestone was a large-scale, two-day experience in London (September 2025) designed to build capabilities across teams. We created a set of bespoke learning environments, including:

• A live theatre event exploring the emotional realities of community-facing work.

• Multi-sensory installations animating global case studies through film, audio and archive, giving researchers vivid, memorable encounters with real-world scenarios.

• Practice simulations enabling teams to rehearse for moments of uncertainty, challenge and misinformation.

The result was a carefully choreographed experience that buzzed with creativity and emotional intelligence in a way traditional events rarely achieve.

We continue to work with ARIA as the programme moves closer to on-the-ground activity.

 "I was blown away by the thought and care that The Liminal Space put into creating an inclusive yet challenging engagement workshop. The sessions were designed to really get the participants thinking deeply about engagement and allowed new perspectives to form. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the incredible Liminal Space team."
– Gemma Bale, Programme Director, ARIA

“The two-day event delivered by The Liminal Space was exceptional. From the outset, the team demonstrated a deep understanding of our challenge and they created an experience that went far beyond conventional team engagement… We are excited to continue our partnership.”
- Mark Symes, Programme Director, ARIA

The impact so far

This early phase has begun to create a coherent culture across ARIA’s funded teams. Researchers now share tools, language and principles that guide how they engage with communities. The collective energy of the network is becoming visible, with teams orienting around a shared commitment to strengthening science-society relations.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive: 87% expect to use what they learned during the workshop, and participants spoke of perspective shifts, increased confidence and a stronger sense of connection:

“A masterclass in learning and engagement.”

“A new sense of shared purpose.”

“I feel newly equipped for the
conversations ahead.”

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COLLABORATORS

Dramaturgy and scriptwriting: Tom Ryalls
Photography: Finn Paul
Videography: Tristan McShepherd