Back in November our Founder and CEO Fiona McNae shared some of our thinking on the power of narratives as tools for positive action as part of The University of Exeter’s MBA Speaker Series. The presentation explored how the stories we tell now and in the future can help us guide our way through the often daunting climate crisis.
Stories are powerful carriers of ideas, of meaning, fundamental to human communication. They help us make sense of the world around us, sharing information in a way that is embodied, felt and real.
Once in a while stories can even change the world.
The Climate Crisis has become front and centre of many global and local narratives. It is clear the time to act is now. And yet real meaningful behaviour change still feels out of reach for many.
The dominant story of our collective future feels overwhelming and even hopeless as disaster framings of an uninhabitable earth feel like an increasingly real and growing inevitability.
These stories are shaping our view of the world, changing what we think, what we feel, and what we do. Just as positive stories can drive meaningful change, narratives which remove our sense of hope and ability to control our own destiny breed apathy and inertia.
Without a counter narrative the end of the world story is given the power to become a reality.
But thankfully, it’s still only one story of a possible future.
We frequently use stories in our work. We explore diverse social and cultural issues to identify powerful new narratives and help our clients to share more positive, culturally relevant ideas which encourage positive change.
As part of an ongoing internal initiative to enhance our positive impact on the climate conversation the Space Doctors team and many of our associate network have been applying our creative cultural minds to finding ways to contribute towards defining a more aspirational future for our world.
In this presentation – the first piece published from this initiative – we have looked to the many positive stories gathering pace within the climate conversation and wider culture. We know that powerful stories become lived realities. By acknowledging those we need to leave behind we can identify those we need to bring to life to ignite action and activate behavior change.
Stories can change the world. Perhaps they can save it too.
To learn more download the pdf presentation here: Stories for a Zero Carbon Future
Want to talk about telling more meaningful stories? Get in touch.
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