Role of Sci-Fi + Imagination in Climate Solutions
This session explored the themes of the upcoming Cli-Fi anthology, Metamorphosis, published in partnership with GRIST, featuring global contributors. The panel discussed the imaginative possibilities of a new world and how storytelling can open new possibilities of how we relate to each other.
Resources for further learning:
Explore GRIST’s Imagine 2200 Project
Read Metamorphosis: Climate Fiction for a Better Future edited by GRIST
Learn about Decolonizing the Imagination
Read Octavia's Brood Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Read The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies’ Magazines
Explore Climate Interactive’s En-ROADS Global Climate Simulator
Take Action!
Creating a calm mind and attending to your mental health and stress can be abated a bit through forest bathing.
Forest bathing, also known as shinrin-yoku in Japanese, is a practice that involves spending time in a forest while immersing oneself in the natural environment. It encourages individuals to engage with the forest through their senses, such as:
Sight: Observing the trees, leaves, and other natural elements
Sound: Listening to the birdsong, wind rustling through the trees, and other sounds of nature
Touch: Feeling the bark of trees, the softness of moss, and the coolness of the air
Smell: Inhaling the scents of pine needles, flowers, and soil
Taste: Paying attention to the flavors of natural foods, such as berries or nuts
Forest bathing is a form of mindfulness and relaxation that aims to improve mental and physical well-being by reducing stress, boosting mood, and enhancing immune function. It can be practiced in any forest or outdoor setting where individuals can connect with nature
Grow a meadow full of native plants, flowers and trees. More at Wild Seed Project and Native Plant Habitat Resources.
Play games, battle social isolation, and build community. Here are a few: Building Utopia and Daybreak
Instead of, or in addition to land acknowledgements, become an authentic ally to indigenous people. Here are examples of what that can look like.
About the Speakers
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Louis Evans (he/him) has been going to Passover seder at his Papa and Bubbe’s house since the year he was born. He is a writer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His science fiction has appeared in Vice, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Nature: Futures. His climate fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Little Blue Marble, Fusion Fragment, and more. He’s online at evanslouis.com.
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Jamie Liu is a writer, climate resilience planner, and Sunrise Movement volunteer. She was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, California, and currently lives in Brooklyn.
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Sanjana Sakar is an author, filmmaker, and climate activist on a mission to make climate action the hottest place to be. Her work amplifies “thrutopian” stories with a lens on climate justice, radical imagination, and adrienne maree brown’s “pleasure activism.” As the founder of GARMI, a climate newsletter and creative studio, she leverages systems-thinking storytelling to reclaim extractive narratives and world-build towards a healthy human future on Earth. Sanjana has been featured in Grist’s Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction Anthology, the Hollywood Climate Summit, and the Webby Honorees, and she’s worked with organizations such as the Center for Cultural Power, Visit California, and The Washington Post. She is based in LA on Tongva land.
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Tory Stephens creates opportunities that transform organizations and shift culture. He is a resource generator and community builder for social justice issues, people, and movements. He currently works at Grist Magazine as their climate fiction creative manager, and uses storytelling to champion climate justice, and imagine green, clean, and just futures.
In another life he owned a kick-butt streetwear company, and he would have gotten away with eating the last cookie too, if it weren't for his three meddling kids.