Paper short abstract:

The workshop fosters critical optimism by reconnecting participants with nature and future generations (human and more-than-human) through sensory mapping. It encourages speculative activities to cultivate empathy, creativity, vision clarity, and purpose.

Paper long abstract:

Our workshop offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the future while rekindling cognitive ties with nature and future generations. At its core, our workshop centres on the climate crisis and integrates anticipatory memory, combined future literacy, and eco-literacy methods. We will build upon the "Future Forests" workshop held at the Department of Psychology at Rzeszow University, Poland, in December 2023, developed in response to the local emotional impact of the war in Ukraine, including the well-reported acts of ecocide and the times of uncertainty we live in.

This experimental two-stage workshop allows participants to develop eco-literacy and future literacy while cultivating critical optimism (De Chiro, 2021), crucial amidst the climate crisis. Using a diffractive sensory mapping tool, participants embark on a journey to reconnect with the natural world (Barad, 2007). Through this exploration, they foster nature connectedness, bonding with their environment. Subsequently, using data from this map, including memory triggered by sensory stimuli, they engage in a speculative world-building exercise envisioning future scenarios where they will generate a variety of visions of future worlds containing possible future ancestors and ecologies.

By finding solace in our relationship with nature and connecting with future generations (both human and more-than-human), participants reconsider existing anticipations, preparing for and shaping better futures, while embracing the complexity and uncertainty of the world they inhabit. We invite you to join us on this transformative journey towards envisioning and shaping a more resilient and empathetic future.