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

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Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCINet conference proceeding
PublisherContinuous Innovation Network
Publication dateSept 2023
Pages562-571
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023
Event24th International CINet Conference: Taking care of our future: Foresight and innovation for a sustainable world - Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
Duration: 17. Sept 202319. Sept 2023
https://continuous-innovation.net/events/conferences/2023.html

Conference

Conference24th International CINet Conference
Location Johannes Kepler University
Country/TerritoryAustria
CityLinz
Period17/09/202319/09/2023
Internet address

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