- Posted on October 8th, 2024
CCL Alumni in Focus: Bernard Vienat
Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Climate Leadership (CCL) programme aims to build an international network of diverse and influential cultural climate leaders who will work with their communities to make change happen.
Bernard Vienat took part in the CCL Switzerland 2024 programme. He is an art historian, curator, and entrepreneur merging art with environmental science and futurology.
How has your journey unfolded since CCL, and what creative climate projects are you currently working on?
Intense!
The experiences I had during the CCL were a strong incentive to engage even more intensely with forms of exhibition design and mediation capable of serving as catalysts for lasting transformation.
Key moments in this process were the launch of the nomadic version of the Biennale in Kiel, and the accompaniment of the realisation of artist Olaf Holzapfel’s monumental sculpture at the German Federal Environment Agency. In both cases, these projects were coupled with teaching in visual art and architecture classes, offering an ideal way to continue practicing in connection with curating, teaching and artistic and environmental mediation.
If the themes of sustainable construction and urban biodiversity clearly emerge from these projects, the diversity of the artists, from different regions of the world, arouses both curiosity about these themes and the need to redefine our system, both in terms of redistributing wealth and taking into account the different forms of life that inhabit the planet.
Another valuable lesson has been the continuation of our educational programme in Geneva, where pupils and parents discover notions of biodiversity through art in schools. The feedback we receive about this program encourages us to develop it elsewhere. Exchanges with other alumni and people interested in pedagogical challenges at the crossroads of art and ecology could certainly open up enriching perspectives.

What does Creative Climate Leadership mean to you?
For me, creative climate leadership means showcasing artistic practices that bring people together in response to the ecological emergency, extending far beyond the issue of global warming. It involves fostering dialogues between architects, designers, artists, and other visionaries to raise awareness of the nine planetary boundaries—critical thresholds like biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and soil erosion—that determine the stability of our global ecosystem and are directly tied to systemic choices.
This type of leadership aims to combine mediums and approaches to steer society towards a beneficial transformation for the common good of all living beings (human and non-human), while respecting artistic freedom. It is also about collaborating with artists whose works combine poetry, imagination and commitment, in order to arouse curiosity, encourage deep reflection and question in radically different ways.
Rather than cultivating a sense of individual guilt, this leadership refocuses the debate, sets concrete objectives, and navigates between diverse interests to maintain a unifying course, bringing about change.
What is most exciting about working in the creative community on climate transformations?
What’s most exciting about working within the creative community on climate transformations is the ability to think beyond conventional boundaries, using imagination not only as a vehicle for poetry, but also as a means of bringing people together, sharing, and building a community ready to transcend the limitations imposed by politics today.
Working in a multidisciplinary and international context allows us to explore both the poetic and speculative dimensions of artistic practices, while fostering reflection and concrete actions—whether it be in raising environmental awareness or in launching political initiatives that elevate culture in debates surrounding urgent socio-economic changes.
This expansion of possibilities, along with the challenges it brings, provides unparalleled motivation to fuel curiosity, research, and to reimagine entirely how we live together—breaking away from anthropocentric norms to embrace coexistence with all forms of life, human and non-human alike.

What are your ambitions for your creative climate project?
The reconnecting.earth Biennial, both in Geneva every two years and in its nomadic editions, has had a great impact on the various participating communities and on the general public. Our ambition is to perpetuate this wonderful adventure, while maintaining a lasting presence in the cities where the project is based.
The mediation component, which already brings together almost 2,000 children in Switzerland, is at the heart of this objective. We are currently seeking financial resources to extend this programme, particularly in regions of the Global South, by collaborating with local NGOs, as we are attempting to do on a pilot basis in Thailand. This involves not only sharing our experiences, in full awareness of our privileges, but also supporting local work and exchanging ideas on how to achieve a wider impact.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone working on climate-related projects right now?
Analyse and understand the capacity of audiences in each context where you work to dialogue about sustainability issues, while taking into account local socio-economic realities. Don’t focus solely on individuals. Involve political and economic players to promote systemic change, without reinforcing a sense of individual guilt.

Any upcoming programmes / webinars / events to mention?
• November 20: Online discussion with artist Mark Dion, one of the pioneers of environmental art.
• Until November 24, 2024: Nomadic exhibition reconnecting.earth at the Museum of Zoology Kiel and the Stadtgalerie Kiel.
• Until December 31, 2024: Wand exhibition by Olaf Holzapfel at the Federal Environment Agency.
• October 2025: Third edition of the reconnecting.earth Biennial in Geneva, focusing on the issue of natural resources.
Which experience made your worldview change upside down? (asked by previous CCL Spotlight interviewee Lyke Poortvliet)
A deeply personal experience. A serious accident at the age of 25, followed by a long stay in hospital, when I was already active in the contemporary art world, radically transformed my vision and directed my actions differently. I realised how privileged I was to have grown up in Switzerland, to have had access to education and to have learned several languages. This convinced me that, beyond pecuniary aspirations, I could share these opportunities and use my skills and passion for art to develop a network and communicate differently about the ecological crisis and its repercussions, particularly in terms of social injustice and the lack of integration of resources and other forms of life in our mainly short-term Western vision and immediate personal interests.