I greatly enjoy facilitating workshops because they allow for participatory, collaborative and creative ways to engage with a topic. In 2018, I gave my first participatory, art-based workshop as part of my Master thesis research about the art of the circular economy, and in 2021 I started to give art-based workshops next to my PhD, such as at circular economy events of Accelerating Circular Economy Zuid-Holland ACCEZ. Two years later, I added research comic workshops for science communication to my workshop portfolio, based on my “ResearchIN’ Comics” project that I started in 2021.
Thus, I give two kinds of workshops: (1) research comic workshops for science communication, and (2) creative workshops addressing circular economy, climate change and sustainability more broadly.
Participants of my workshops range from kids to students (PhDs, MBA, Bachelor, Master students) to researchers, community members, municipality members, artists and activists.
Contact me if you would like me to give a research comic workshop at your conference, university or research day; or a creative workshop addressing sustainability in your community or organisation. Below this contact field you can find more information about my workshops.
(1) ResearchIN’Comics for Science Communication
I am facilitating participatory, creative workshops guiding participants through making research comics about their research process and findings.
My idea ResearchIN’ Comics received the NWO Synergy Award 2022, an award for the most compelling societal impact idea in the social sciences and the humanities. Research comics are a creative and engaging approach to science communication. Participants do not need any artistic skills to participate in these workshops as I offer examples, templates and tips to guide them.
Examples of my research comics workshops:
- A research comic seminar as part of the course “Creating Societal Impact” at the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities, guiding PhD candidates through the process of making their own research comic in 2023 and 2024
- A research comic workshop for researchers of the Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies (DPECS) attending the Research Retreat Day 2024
- Research comic workshops at the Nederlandse Verening voor Psychonomie (NVP) Winter Conference hosted by the Dutch Society of Brain and Cognition in 2024, for PhD students in Brain and Cognition of various Dutch universities
Interview with me and news about my research comics project:
- Interview by PhD Club
- Interviewed by Anais Augé and Robert Butler: Hahn, U., Augé, A., & Butler, R. (2025). Research comics for science communication: Interview with Dr. Ulrike Hahn. Multimodality & Society.
- ResearchIN’ Comics featured on the Radical Creativities Lab
(2) Creative Workshops about Sustainability
I am also facilitating creative workshops addressing circular economy, climate change and sustainability more broadly by means of creative activities such as collage-making, painting and sketching. Participants do not need any artistic skills to participate in these workshops as I offer examples, templates and tips to guide them.
Participants of my workshops include:
- kids
- students, such as PhDs, MBA, Bachelor, Master students
- researchers
- community members
- municipality members
- artists
- activists
The themes that are addressed in the workshops include:
- communicating about an organisation’s (climate) impacts
- imagining circular neighbourhoods
- visualising hope in times of crises
Among the workshop goals are:
- receiving clarity about a specific theme
- engaging in a creative, embodied activity
- contributing to team-building
- making a tangible visual output that can be engaged with and shared with others
The workshop can also be tailored to a specific goal, theme or audience. Contact me to explore the possibilities.
Examples of my sustainability workshops:
- “RSM Transforming Business Conference” organised by Rotterdam School of Management: I gave a participatory art workshop (vision board collage-making) about sustainability communication, for MBA students, alumni and UN Global Compact members during the Deep Dive session “Climate and Nature” (January 2026)
- “National Circular Economy Week“: I gave a participatory art workshop (working with creative circular economy visualizations) about imagining circular neighbourhoods, for residents and students during National Circular Economy Week at Iedereen aan Boord (March 2025)
- “Communicating Climate Hope: Countering Eco-anxiety and Climate Doomism in Research and Practice” conference organised by Tilburg University and University of British Columbia: I gave a participatory art workshop guiding conference participants (researchers, artists, activists) through the creation of art that addresses their research or practice on climate change and hope (August 2024)
- “Erasmus Sustainability Days 2023“: I gave a participatory art workshop addressing sustainability topic, to university students
- Circular Economy events of Accelerating Circular Economy Zuid-Holland (ACCEZ) and Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab (RASL): I was art workshop facilitator of 3 workshops between 2021 and 2022 for Binckhorst (The Hague) residents & researchers regarding imagination their neighbourhood in connection to circular economy. Read here more about it
- Event of ACCEZ at the Stedelijke Transformatie conference in The Hague: I was art workshop facilitator guiding researchers through creating artworks addressing transformations of the area (June 2022)
Speeches and Presentations
Examples of my speeches and presentations:
- Keynote speaker at the symposium “Shaping patterns” at art laboratory Villa Zebra about why and how the arts matter when talking about climate change and sustainability (4 October 2024, Rotterdam)
- Speaker at the conference “Culture as problem solver?” (Cultuur als probleemoplosser?) organised by the Boekmanstichting & EUR about “The visual arts to the rescue? – Reflections from the perspective of a researcher and artist” (17 April 2025, Rotterdam)
- Speaker at the Lorentz workshop “Unlocking the Imagination: Art-Science for Radical Transformation” at the Lorentz Center about “What is the power of the visual arts to foster radical imagination?” (28 January 2025, Leiden)
- Speaker at the TIAMSA conference ‘Towards a Sustainable Art Market?’ at the Université libre de Bruxelles about “Preaching to the choir? Audiences and their perception of climate-related art exhibitions” (30 June 2023, Brussels) and “Mirror or Hammer? News Media Coverage of Climate-Related Art” (Ulrike Hahn & Filip Vermeylen, 1 July 2023, Brussels)
- Speaker at the conference “STREAMS – Transformative Environmental Humanities” organised by the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory about “Artists on Climate Change” (3 August 2021, online)
- Speaker at the conference “Sustainability through Art ‐ The Role of Art In and Towards Sustainable Changes” organised by the Swiss Sociological Association & Universities of Geneva, Lausanne and Lucerne about “Climate‐Related Art Exhibitions in News Media: Artivism or Inconclusive, Open‐Ended Art?” (Ulrike Hahn & Filip Vermeylen, 25 September 2020, online)
- Speaker at various screenings of my video essay about artist Daniel Schinasi (e.g., at Palazzo Bagitto, Livorno in August 2021; at the Cinemateque de Nice, Nice in June 2019)
- Pecha Kucha speaker (20 images, 20 seconds each) at Blue City’s Pecha Kucha night about climate-related visual art (February 2020)
Contact me if you would like me to give a speech about art in connection to eco-social themes at your conference, university or research day, or with any questions you may have.
Art & Human-Nature Connections 