Envisioning sustainable climate imaginaries through an “engineering fiction” learning experience: A content analysis of youth stories

Abstract

Dominant climate imaginaries (commonly shared understandings and mental representations of climate change) in Western industrialized nations privilege the logico-scientific mode of thought as well as apocalyptic or techno-utopian visions of the future, often triggering apathy and helplessness among youth while obscuring possibilities for political transformation. Using a participatory design research approach, we developed a learning experience that integrated engineering and solar punk-inspired speculative fiction writing to engage high-school students in imagining pathways toward just and sustainable climate futures. A content analysis of participant-authored stories written at the beginning and end of the learning experience revealed that, while students initially depicted typical climate imaginaries, they subsequently created new imaginaries representing emotionally charged narratives of collective action to catalyze systemic change toward sustainability. This study contributes to scholarly movements bringing emotional and critical lenses to climate education and futures studies.