The INTAC Sustainability Jams provide an opportunity for participants to collaborate online in imagining approaches to harnessing art and design creativity for activating sustainable changes to address the climate crisis. In a short time frame of 3 or 4 weeks, groups of participants from around the world select topics to research, responding with presentations that elucidate issues, propose solutions and motivate change. Sustainability Jams were held in 2022 and 2023 with the participation of over 15 universities. A third iteration was held May 17 – June 14, 2025, involving 19 participants connected to 9 universities in 6 countries.
Jam 2025
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Artist Collaborations 2025
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Arcology – “The Akupara Initiative”
Elizabeth van Schaik, TAMK alumna, Finland
Kat Mendonca, OCADU alumna, Canada
Amrita Das, NID, India
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Consumer Cultures:
The Journey of Plastic
Sachin Kumar, NID, India
Plastics into Art
Brisa Quevedo Jordán, UAM, México
Ecobricks
Abigail Svitko, IUN, USA
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Displaced
Nola White, College of DuPage, USA
Gnat Djuras, IUN, USA
Badel Batu. UE, Germany
Balquir, UAM, México
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Mending Nature
Rindy Sutherland, ISU, USA
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Roots of Colonialism
Felipe Sarmiento, OCADU alum, Canada
RJ Filsinger, COD, USA
Marco González, UAEM, México
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System Noise: Echoes of Violence
Alivia Sarkar, NID, India
Daniela Duarte, UAEM, México
Fernanda Beltran Coss, COD, USA
Luis Muñiz, UAM, México
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Waste in the Environment: The Experience of Whales
Vianée Anahil Garcia, IUN, USA
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Organized and facilitated by INTAC core faculty:
Peter Sramek, Professor Emeritus (Adjunct), OCADU, psramek@intacnet.org
Giselle Mira-Diaz, Indiana University Northwest, gmiradia@iu.edu
The Jam 2025 Keynote Speakers:
São Paulo Urban Orchard
Prof Maria Carolina Garcia, Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo, Brasil
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Colour in a Sustainable Society: Submicron natural pigments
Prof Kuoan Hashimoto,
Joshibi University of Art and Design, Japan
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AcClimatize: Gamifying Sustainability to Seed Behavioural Change
Virginia Gail Smith, INTAC alumna, Canada
Video installation exhibition at ‘assemblage’ window gallery, Toronto, July-August, 2025
Participating Universities
College of DuPage (COD), USA
Idaho State University (ISU), USA
Indiana University Northwest (IUN), USA
National Institute of Design (NID), India
OCAD University (OCADU), Canada
Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Finland
Universidad Autonoma del Estado de México (UAEM), México
Universidad Autonoma de México (UAM), México
University of Europe for Applied Sciences (UE), Germany
The INTAC Sustainability Jam 2025 was supported financially by
the International Collaborations and Programs Office at OCAD University.
Jam 2025 Exhibition at
Indiana University Northwest
Jam 2025 at OCADU Ada Slaight Gallery – November 2025
Jam 2023
Sustainability Jam 2023
Jam 2022
Working in a group of 4 to 5 participants from a mix of institutions and with similar expressed interests, each team discusses their topic and selects a particular focus. They share their knowledge and experience, strategizing how to design an outcome which informs and motivates the eventual viewers. Communicating with each other online, they create a visual presentation that will be shared virtually and in subsequent public exhibitions. They are free to use images, texts, graphics, audio and video, and to propose creation of products or actions for the viewers to implement.
The Miro presentation whiteboards which document earlier Jams
may be viewed online via these links:
Visual Catalyst Workshops were created by INTAC professor Dr Juha Suonpää at Tampere University of Applied Sciences and these became the precursors of the Sustainability Jam format. These are documented on a related INTAC website created by the TAMK students.