The multimedia arrangement – created through a collaboration between ESA and Massive Attack bandmember Robert “3D” Del Naja – formed part of a three-day celebration to mark Liverpool’s recently awarded status as the UN’s very first accelerator city for climate action.

As an accelerator city, Liverpool will expand the use of green technologies to embed innovative approaches to decarbonisation into the fabric of the city. This transformation will focus on its cultural industries – such as music, TV and film production – which are vital elements of the city’s economy.

Between 28 and 30 November, Liverpool kicked off the accelerator city project by hosting a series of gigs and exhibition days for industry and the public, giving ESA the opportunity to showcase how satellites advance understanding of the global climate system and empowering sustainable urban development.

The ESA-Massive Attack collaboration, which opened the exhibition days, uses imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to transport viewers over Earth’s changing environments, showcasing melting glaciers, rising sea levels, rainforests threatened by deforestation, growing desertification – and urban growth. The original score was created by Robert Del Naja & Euan Dickinson.

The journey ends with satellite images of Liverpool to highlight the importance of the city’s mission to accelerate climate action by pioneering low-carbon urban technologies. You can watch the full video on the ESA Extras YouTube channel.

The focus of Earth observation and climate action continued throughout the event, with ESA highlighting how space data is supporting efforts to address the climate crisis.

Industry professionals and members of the public explored Earth’s changing environment through the eyes of Earth observing satellites, thanks to an interactive installation from ESA’s climate team. Experts within this group are working with scientists around the world to turn satellite data into actionable information that helps the international community monitor and mitigate the effects of climate change.

ESA’s Space Solutions team, which helps companies to unlock the huge potential of satellite technology, also attended the exhibition days to advance its efforts to support green urban development.

At the event, Liverpool signed an agreement to join  ESA’s Space for Smart and Green Cities Task Force, enabling the city to begin working with the agency on innovative satellite-enabled projects focusing on sustainable urban solutions.

ESA Space Solutions also presented other new and upcoming opportunities for collaboration, including Space for Sustainability in Sports and Mass Events and Space for Sustainable Connectivity and Liveable Cities, as well as participating in a workshop with industry to provide an overview of space-based applications and technologies.

ESA’s climate team and ESA Space Solutions are led from the agency’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) on Harwell campus in the UK. ECSAT also hosts teams working in telecommunications, exploration, and technology development.

The accelerator city programme is supported by energy provider Ecotricity and comprises a partnership network of public and public organisations including ESA, UN Climate Change, UNESCO, the BBC, BAFTA Albert, BFI, Earth Percent, Equity, BECTU, A Greener Future, the Association of Independent Festivals, ZENOBE Energy, and numerous transport, food and local service providers.