Closing the imagination gap: From "What is" to "What if?" | webinar
Event by Communicating Climate Change
Closing the imagination gap: From "What is" to "What if?"
26 June 2025, 14:00 - 15:00 CEST | online
Join us for a powerful panel discussion on how stories, culture, and creativity can reshape the way we see and respond to the climate emergency. Right now, climate narratives often focus on problems and doom. But what if we shifted the focus to possibility, justice, and bold visions of what could be?
Reimaigining futures? Check the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment and the IPBES Scenarios and Models Assessment
This panel will dive into how imagination can become a powerful tool for climate action. Instead of focusing solely on the threats and technical challenges of the climate crisis, our speakers will explore how storytelling, speculative fiction, scenario building, and narrative change can inspire hope and drive transformation. Drawing on perspectives from the global majority and rooted in justice and plural worldviews, the discussion will show how new climate narratives can shift societal values, influence behavior, and spark meaningful action.
Keynote Speakers
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Tory Stephens – Climate fiction creative manager, Grist
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Chinelo Onwualu – Climate fiction writer and communications consultant
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Thomas Coombes – Narrative change expert, Hope-based communications
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Laura Pereira – IPBES expert, Professor & researcher in climate futures, Wits University & Stockholm Resilience Centre
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Dickon Bonvik-Stone – Communicating Climate Change (moderator)
Let’s imagine better and start building it! Don’t miss this conversation on the power of imagination to shape real climate solutions.
Photo by Nareeta Martin on Unsplash: a giant anteater - tamanduá bandeira in Portuguese - (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). It is native to Central and South America and are typically found in grasslands, savannas, and forests. This species is currently listed as Vulnerable due to habitat loss, roadkill, and other human-related threats