Climate Confident The Holodeck of Climate Solutions: Writing a Better Future
I had the pleasure of speaking with Professor Denise Baden and Steve Willis on the latest episode of this podcast. Denise is a Professor of Sustainable Practice at the University of Southampton and runs the Green Stories project, which aims to communicate climate solutions through storytelling. Steve is the Director of Herculean Climate Solutions and helped produce the book "No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet" with Denise.
In this episode, we dive into the power of storytelling and how fiction can be used to raise awareness and inspire action on the climate crisis. Denise and Steve share their approach to writing positive, solution-focused stories that address the lack of hopeful narratives in the climate fiction genre. The book features 24 stories by experienced writers (Kim Stanley Robinson, Andrew Dana Hudson, Paolo Bacigalupi, and more) in collaboration with climate experts and includes solutions such as personal carbon allowances and citizen assemblies.
We also discuss the importance of moving away from the GDP metric and towards a Wellbeing Index or Happy Planet Index. Steve shares his idea of making the ocean an independent state to solve its problems and Denise highlights the potential for planting ocean vegetation. They both hope their writing will inspire people to think about these solutions and take action.
Denise shares the inspiration behind the anthology and how she balanced the need for entertainment with communicating climate solutions. She and Steve have big dreams of turning the stories into a Netflix series. They also plan to promote the book and raise awareness of the need for action on the climate crisis.
So, grab a pen and take notes! This episode is packed with inspiring ideas and solutions to the climate crisis. Don't forget to check out the accompanying website for the book, which offers audio versions of the stories and links to ways to make the solutions a reality.
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Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper