Climate Fiction for Leveraging High School Students' Far-Future Climate Perspectives

TY - GEN

T1 - Climate Fiction for Leveraging High School Students' Far-Future Climate Perspectives

AU - Yazell, Bryan

AU - Wolf, Patricia

PY - 2023/9

Y1 - 2023/9

N2 - This research paper presents an innovative citizen science approach that empowers high school students to express their concerns about climate change and envision far-future scenarios. By combining climate fiction research from the humanities with insights from far-future scenario development in the management sciences, the study explores the potential of involving citizens in speculative fiction creation. The study, conducted with 152 Danish high school students, investigates the assumption that citizen engagement in narrative building can enhance climate change speculation, including the envisioning of desirable futures and identification of potential pitfalls. The findings reveal that the submitted stories predominantly reflect negative expectations of the future, employing familiar dystopian storytelling techniques. Taken together, the stories underscore the necessity of incumbent actors, such as policy makers and business leaders, acknowledging the far-future scenarios presented. The stories highlight the need for societal cooperation and mutual understanding as crucial foundations for effective technological and policy interventions in addressing climate change. This research underscores the significance of providing young individuals with a platform to articulate their climate concerns and offers insights into leveraging citizen perspectives for shaping a sustainable future.

AB - This research paper presents an innovative citizen science approach that empowers high school students to express their concerns about climate change and envision far-future scenarios. By combining climate fiction research from the humanities with insights from far-future scenario development in the management sciences, the study explores the potential of involving citizens in speculative fiction creation. The study, conducted with 152 Danish high school students, investigates the assumption that citizen engagement in narrative building can enhance climate change speculation, including the envisioning of desirable futures and identification of potential pitfalls. The findings reveal that the submitted stories predominantly reflect negative expectations of the future, employing familiar dystopian storytelling techniques. Taken together, the stories underscore the necessity of incumbent actors, such as policy makers and business leaders, acknowledging the far-future scenarios presented. The stories highlight the need for societal cooperation and mutual understanding as crucial foundations for effective technological and policy interventions in addressing climate change. This research underscores the significance of providing young individuals with a platform to articulate their climate concerns and offers insights into leveraging citizen perspectives for shaping a sustainable future.

M3 - Article in proceedings

SP - 562

EP - 571

BT - CINet conference proceeding

PB - Continuous Innovation Network

T2 - 24th International CINet Conference

Y2 - 17 September 2023 through 19 September 2023

ER -