The Climateverse Shows What’s Possible Through Newscasts From Preferred Futures
Imagine living in a world where the just, sustainable, joyful futures so many of us dream of were a reality. What would that look like?
Through The Climateverse, NGFP 2023 Fellow Alicia Richins reports the news from those futures, offering a hopeful narrative to motivate and drive change today.
“With The Climateverse, I hope to make tangible those other hopeful possibilities while highlighting the work of organizations and communities working to make better, more just futures a reality,” Alicia explains. “I’ve created this project to counter the dominant narrative of dystopian and apocalyptic futures in the mainstream discourse.”
The Climateverse considers various images of the future based on current new issues. Looking at the preferred futures being pursued by different communities, Alicia engages in experiential futuring to reimagine an outcome in their theory of change and express it as a present day “breaking news” story. The story is published as a news release and performed and recorded as a newscast, thereby creating artefacts of the future (present) for The Climateverse’s growing audience to enjoy and take inspiration from.
Alicia argues that while, for instance, the climate crisis is worsening, it’s thanks to past and present inaction on one hand, and limiting imaginaries about the future on the other, that we’re now witnessing unprecedented levels of climate anxiety and despair across generations. This leads to increasing helplessness and hopelessness in our communities.
“The truth is that, there is still so much we can save, so much we can do to limit the worst impacts, and that those actions, changes and policies would actually help to make human society better in many ways than it operates today.”
Imagination is evidence of what is possible, and there’s nothing more satisfying when one of these hopeful artefacts of the future become real news!
For example, in September, The Climateverse published the piece titled Housing Minister Out and Greenbelt Lives to See Another Day. This was in response to the Greenbelt Scandal in Ontario, Canada, where large swaths of protected agricultural and conservation land was being sold off to developers, allegedly in an attempt to alleviate the housing crisis. Two weeks later, in the real world, the plan was repealed and the minister overseeing it resigned, thanks to the hopeful imagination, determination and action of organisations like Stop Sprawl Durham, and the Protecting the Greenbelt community letter writing campaign.
“We look forward to seeing more of the stories we publish become real world news!”
Alicia invites impact-focused organisations or communities to collaborate on stories that creatively imagine their theories of change coming to life. You can get in touch or book an introductory call here.
The rest of us who want to follow news from the future can subscribe to The Climateverse on Substack.