What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward

We resonated with the idea that dreaming is important, and that climate fiction is a way of dreaming with environmental educators. A well of resistance lives in art collaborations around the world which harness the power of the collective to face terrible realities and twist, bend, and dance them in...

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Main Authors: Alison Laurie Neilson, Sevgi Aka, Dwight Owens, Julia Jung, Małgorzata Suś
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press
Series:Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062625100529/type/journal_article
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author Alison Laurie Neilson
Sevgi Aka
Dwight Owens
Julia Jung
Małgorzata Suś
author_facet Alison Laurie Neilson
Sevgi Aka
Dwight Owens
Julia Jung
Małgorzata Suś
author_sort Alison Laurie Neilson
collection DOAJ
description We resonated with the idea that dreaming is important, and that climate fiction is a way of dreaming with environmental educators. A well of resistance lives in art collaborations around the world which harness the power of the collective to face terrible realities and twist, bend, and dance them into alternative hopeful pasts, presents and futures. Engaging with other people and more-than-human lives, through creative collaborations have led us to understand complex and unfamiliar perspectives in ways that are unreachable alone, regardless of how much academic study we do. This story emerged from online meetings that crossed time zones and oceans: Vancouver to Istanbul. Our climate fiction surfaced from improvised, spontaneous story creation. It was as if the story was waiting for us to find her, if we acted with care and love while facing directly our own dark shadows and fears about climate catastrophe. This story of Cassandra, alongside our interpretations of its emergence, invites the reader to draw from any evoked confusion or other feelings as well as their own learnings to reflect on burdens of knowledge not acted upon. Leaning into confusion is a way to open up to the power of uncertainty for environmental education.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 0814-0626
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language English
publisher Cambridge University Press
record_format Article
series Australian Journal of Environmental Education
spelling doaj-art-802c6676ad504d68a11fe070ccd467d72025-08-26T06:16:57ZengCambridge University PressAustralian Journal of Environmental Education0814-06262049-775X12410.1017/aee.2025.10052What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and ForwardAlison Laurie Neilson0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6457-2804Sevgi Aka1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6568-3629Dwight Owens2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6258-2163Julia Jung3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-6525Małgorzata Suś4CICS.NOVA, Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences, NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalDepartment of Visual Communication Design, Istanbul Topkapı University, Istanbul, TurkeyOcean Networks Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaFaculty of Creative and Critical Studies, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, CanadaIndependent Artist, Co-founder of The Memory of Water, Co-founder of Watering Words, International, onlineWe resonated with the idea that dreaming is important, and that climate fiction is a way of dreaming with environmental educators. A well of resistance lives in art collaborations around the world which harness the power of the collective to face terrible realities and twist, bend, and dance them into alternative hopeful pasts, presents and futures. Engaging with other people and more-than-human lives, through creative collaborations have led us to understand complex and unfamiliar perspectives in ways that are unreachable alone, regardless of how much academic study we do. This story emerged from online meetings that crossed time zones and oceans: Vancouver to Istanbul. Our climate fiction surfaced from improvised, spontaneous story creation. It was as if the story was waiting for us to find her, if we acted with care and love while facing directly our own dark shadows and fears about climate catastrophe. This story of Cassandra, alongside our interpretations of its emergence, invites the reader to draw from any evoked confusion or other feelings as well as their own learnings to reflect on burdens of knowledge not acted upon. Leaning into confusion is a way to open up to the power of uncertainty for environmental education.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062625100529/type/journal_articleClimate fictionoceanradical listeningstorytelling
spellingShingle Alison Laurie Neilson
Sevgi Aka
Dwight Owens
Julia Jung
Małgorzata Suś
What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Climate fiction
ocean
radical listening
storytelling
title What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
title_full What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
title_fullStr What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
title_full_unstemmed What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
title_short What Were We Thinking? A Climate Fiction Beginning and Ending, Told Inside and Outside and Backward and Forward
title_sort what were we thinking a climate fiction beginning and ending told inside and outside and backward and forward
topic Climate fiction
ocean
radical listening
storytelling
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062625100529/type/journal_article
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AT juliajung whatwerewethinkingaclimatefictionbeginningandendingtoldinsideandoutsideandbackwardandforward
AT małgorzatasus whatwerewethinkingaclimatefictionbeginningandendingtoldinsideandoutsideandbackwardandforward