Storming the Apocalypse is a global communications impact project using storytelling to bridge the gap between data-driven climate science and low levels of public risk perception around extreme weather and climate change impacts. We explore the cultural, economic, political, sociological, and cognitive ways that people make decisions around personal risk.

In four city case studies— Kampala, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City—interdisciplinary collaboration is happening with cultural partners, communities, local governments, and UNFCCC networks. An innovative communication training model is being designed to create and pilot methodologies toward the development of new tools for storytelling arts and popular culture to drive emotion, awareness and climate preparedness.

Front-line communities, academia, participatory arts organizations, cultural heritage groups, municipal and policy leaders will participate in the testing and scaling of storytelling solutions. Cultural infrastructure with sub-national and regional governments, and commons based governance systems will be explored.

Using site specific training workshops and labs, each co-created and process-driven case study will produce distinctive methodologies for the cultural translation of climate science priorities that will be published in an open-access digital toolkit, allowing the model to be scaled at large.

Culture is a form of civic infrastructure that shapes how societies perceive risk, build trust, and coordinate collective action. Storming the Apocalypse harnesses belief systems, shared values, and collective imagination to build civic engagement and climate solutions.