This installation sought to provide an immersive experience to bring students, university faculty and staff and the public an opportunity to experience real world implications of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
These 17 Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global targets adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDGs provide a comprehensive framework for international cooperation and action to create a more sustainable and equitable world. They address a wide range of social, economic, and environmental challenges with the aim of promoting prosperity, well-being, and environmental sustainability worldwide. The goals include objectives such as ending poverty and hunger, ensuring good health and quality education, achieving gender equality, providing clean water and sanitation, conserving underwater life, promoting affordable and clean energy, developing more sustainable cities and communities, combating climate change, and promoting global partnerships for the goals.
Engaging people on sustainability issues can be challenging for several reasons, including their complexity and global nature. Sustainability issues often involve complex systems and global challenges. The perception that sustainability issues are overwhelming, distant or unrelated to one’s own life can create psychological barriers. People may feel disconnected from the consequences of their actions and those of local governing bodies on a global scale. Although the public is increasingly aware of the extent and urgency of sustainability challenges, citizens may have limited access to sustainable alternatives or may find it challenging to integrate sustainable practices into their lives. Moreover, many people may feel that their individual actions won’t make a significant difference in addressing large-scale sustainability issues. This perceived lack of impact can lead to apathy and fatalism.
In light of these perceptions, the project “stations” will attempt to show how each goal is relevant on a local level in Montreal and Québec, and how efforts of individuals, local government, local community organizations and NGOs are achieving impactful results. Visitors will also be able to interact with the space and gaming elements (City Player game platform and the Immersive Storytelling VR installation) to provide input on how communities might design more sustainable city environments. Thus, the installation is both an immersive sensory experience and laboratory.
- Concept and original music : Baron Tymas
- Executive producer VR component: Bart Simon
- VR Project manager : JoDee Allen
- VR Technical lead : Marco Luna
- VR Lead designer and developer : Owen Hellum
- VR 3D modelling and environment design : PoKi Chan