HomeDipNote: All Posts...Creative Writers Imagine Solutions to Climate Challenges

# 									Creative Writers Imagine Solutions to Climate Challenges							

DipNote

Aubrey R. Paris, Ph.D., Ilinca Drondoe, and Laura Gamble

Office of Global Women’s Issues

April 21, 2024

The urgency of the climate crisis demands a collective response that is reflective of different backgrounds and areas of expertise, and it requires elevating voices and perspectives that may not usually be heard. This includes members of the creative industries, who not only play a role in imagining innovative solutions, but also in developing narratives that enhance our understanding of climate-related challenges and opportunities. On this World Creativity and Innovation Day, we are highlighting an international collective of writers that aims to do just that.

Through its Innovation Station initiative, the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) collaborated with Syllble, an organization empowering global cohorts of speculative fiction writers, to form the “One Humanity Writing Collective.” Since 2021, One Humanity has asked women and non-binary creative writers to imagine futuristic worlds impacted by — and devising solutions to — pressing climate challenges, ranging from drought to floods to wildfires. According to Paulinette J. Quirindongo, an author from Puerto Rico, the collective’s work makes the climate crisis feel more human. She explained that “words can be used to transform minds ... Words are power.”

**Crafting Futuristic Worlds**

One Humanity connects writers from diverse U.S. and international locations, particularly locations that may face similar climate challenges, to craft their futuristic worlds. The collective’s writers have hailed from California, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico, as well as Australia, Brazil, Guatemala, and New Zealand. Their collaborative writing — an exercise in cultural diplomacy — has demonstrated the value in having conversations about and theorizing solutions to climate and environmental challenges that transcend borders.

For Ligia Anjos, a designer from Brazil, the project allowed her to play an active role in changing the narrative around climate action. “When I see some climate solutions [proposed elsewhere], I think, ‘this will not work in Latin America.’” She emphasized that the collective’s diversity “helped us to learn ... not only about writing, but about the world,” allowing participants to co-create a vision for a more equitable future.

To inform the writing process, S/GWI introduced One Humanity writers to women subject matter experts from the Innovation Station network to share their work on climate science and action. Each month, the authors met virtually for a workshop on an environmental issue that would provide inspiration for the next chapter of their story.

“One writer [would] volunteer to write a story on that issue,” shared Elyse Hauser, a Seattle-area author. “Then we would meet again to talk about their draft.” She added that their writing process was strengthened by open discussions about how climate change affects each author’s community.

“Some of us are making our own main character that reflects our personal knowledge,” Hauser mentioned, noting that she contributed a personally inspired chapter written from the perspective of the daughter of refugees. Similarly, Quirindongo created a character representative of Puerto Rico’s native Taino culture, bringing her unique ancestry into the collective’s stories.

**Including Marginalized Voices**

Celebrating characters from underrepresented communities and incorporating culturally significant themes were important goals of the writers. Caylee Tierney, an Australian author, emphasized that “marginalized voices are some of the more resilient ones in climate change discussions. Women and non-binary people are often used to the feeling of not being heard ... and if you can gather together more people, then you can have a richer understanding.” Participating in the collective has inspired Tierney to “channel activism through writing,” and as she pursues a career in creative writing, she emphasized her desire to create similarly collaborative, motivating spaces.

Projects like One Humanity enable women and non-binary individuals to be a mouthpiece for climate storytelling, an important aspect of facilitating their climate leadership, as emphasized in the U.S. Strategy to Respond to the Effects of Climate Change on Women.

When asked about the experience of writing across borders of identity and geography, the authors underscored the importance of listening carefully to one another. Writer C.B. Calsing shared her impression that “the most challenging part [was] setting aside the assumption about how you think things are elsewhere.” She believes it is important to feature women and non-binary authors because of the need for balance and representation in all spaces, ranging from decision-making bodies to written anthologies. Learning about each other increases cultural literacy and creates stories featuring inclusive solutions.

At SYLLBLECON 2023, Syllble’s annual virtual convention for speculative fiction writers, the One Humanity Writing Collective joined other creative writers in pitching their futuristic world to Hollywood judges. Those judges crowned One Humanity the winner of the World of the Year Award based on “visionary potential, immersive storytelling, cultural significance, and overall market appeal.”

Their project explores a world set in 2060 and follows an autonomous and self-aware ship that sails across the world, assisting climate refugees and navigating climate change impacts. Concerns like ocean acidification and shoreline erosion feature prominently in the collective’s stories, but so do possible solutions, however futuristic they may seem. “When you go into a fictional world,” Hauser shared, “you really can explore more systemic approaches to change or dig deeper into the systemic nature of the issues that we face.”

**Life-changing Experience**

A resounding theme echoes through the wisdom of these five gifted writers: hope. Hope illuminates their voices and work, bridging divides and forging connections; hope brightens our world through learning, collaboration, and unity; and hope creates a vision for our planet, as the stories penned today ignite the solutions of tomorrow.

For Anjos, participating in One Humanity has been a life-changing experience allowing her to connect her technology skills with her passion for storytelling. In her words, “we are what we listen to; we are what we watch. When we create, we open doors for women to share their opinions, to build the future. We are able to make something different.”

*Aubrey R. Paris, Ph.D., is the Senior Policy Advisor for Gender, Climate Change, and Innovation in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI), where she leads the Innovation Station initiative. Ilinca Drondoe and Laura Gamble are VSFS interns with the Innovation Station.*

Tags

AustraliaBrazilBureau of Global Public AffairsCaliforniaClimate and EnvironmentClimate ChangeDipNoteEnvironmentGlobal Women's IssuesGuatemalaHawaiiLouisianaNew Zealand

Back to Top