Acclaimed electronic dance music label Anjunabeats partners with MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative on a unique and innovative project to engage music fans in climate change and sustainability consciousness, with the ultimate goal of conveying actionable solutions on a personal scale.
Raising awareness through the universal language of live music and installation art, Egyptian-born recording artist and MIT PhD student Norhan Magdy Bahomi (aka Nourey) conducted this pilot study at Grammy-nominated act Above & Beyond’s massive ‘Gorge Weekender’ event this summer. The experiment was active for a total of 16 hours, with nearly 400 responses recorded for a climate identity survey, and more than 500 people interacted with the augmented reality ‘Art Wall’ experience. In the words of the main researcher and Anjunabeats artist Nourey “music unites us, and so can science and Technology. During the ABGT weekender this year, we were blessed with the opportunity to work with Anjunabeats / Involved Group on a beta project for Climate communication. Fusing AR technology with collaborative arts, we believe this could be a stepping stone in a broad space where audiences can better engage in climate change issues during live events.”
“Partnering with MIT’S Environmental Solutions Initiative enables Anjunabeats to apply scientific rigour in our sustainability efforts. Music events provide an opportunity for testing new ideas and experimentation around pressing global challenges. We hope the Gorge project contributes to a growing body of research with the objective to scale-up sustainable behaviour change.” – Anna Johnson, Anjunadeep’s Sustainability and Environment Officer
In the words of Professor John E. Fernandez, head of MIT’s ESI program “Working with Anjunabeats at the Gorge was a unique experience in projecting into the future – a more climate aware, sustainable and equitable future. Bringing science into the heart of a music experience is not only a powerful way in which to engage people on the challenges of climate change but also inspires the potential for transformation. Anjunabeats has been a leader on these issues and MIT has deep expertise and engagement activities on climate change and many other environmental challenges. Working together at the Gorge proved that there is much we can do to enhance learning and prompt real action for a better planet.”
The results and findings of this study will be officially presented in a live-streamed event on Zoom and Twitch on Wednesday 21st September (16:30 BST / 11:30 EST), hosted by MIT and Anjunabeats, as part of an ongoing sustainability project initiated by the label.
