Imagining a Sustainable Future via Green Stories

At this event you will have the opportunity to learn about what a sustainable society might look like and how fiction can be used to communicate green solutions to help reduce our feelings of powerlessness in the face of climate change and inspire action. You will have the opportunity to hear winning entries from previous competitions, share your ideas with others and to write your own story.

Firstly, a talk will be given by Professor Denise Baden on the key environmental challenges we face, and how these can cause feelings of powerlessness. Attendees will then split into small groups and discuss positive visions of what they think a green society might look like, with help from university staff, who will share ideas and encourage discussion.

Professor Denise Baden will then give a talk on how a sustainable society might look, considering themes such as carbon budgets and green energy. This will also cover how using fiction to convey green solutions can help tackle feelings of powerlessness over environmental change and inspire action, with the Green Stories Writing Competition being introduced. After this, attendees will work in small groups to create ideas for their own green stories and discuss these with the wider group. The session will conclude with some final thoughts by Professor Baden and details for how to submit stories to the competition.

The event will have the following structure:

• 9:30: attendees arrive

• 9:40: a talk covering environmental challenges and feelings of powerlessness

• 9:50: group discussions about how a sustainable society might look

• 10:15: a talk about how a model sustainable society might look and how we can use fiction to promote sustainable behaviours

• 10:35: group discussions to come up with stories conveying green solutions

• 10:55: individual writing time

• 11:15: attendees share what they have written or any of their ideas with the rest of the class. Feedback will be provided

• 11:45: wrap up talk

• 12:00: finish

Feel free to bring your own refreshments as none will be provided.