Fictional stories and the "Imaginary wor(l)ds" method

Fictional stories created with the “Imaginary wor(l)ds” method, in the framework of the project “PANICOCENE. Reframing Climate Change-induced Mobilities”, funded by the European Commission, through the HORIZON EUROPE Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Global Fellowship 2022 (Grant agreement ID: 101105719). 

This repository is composed of a corpus of 50 fictional stories produced by academics, media professionals, and activists, collected through the “Imaginary wor(l)ds” method during participatory seminars. This creative, practice-led methodology invited participants to collaboratively imagine and narrate future scenarios of climate (im)mobilities, aiming to bridge academic research with public engagement and foster new imaginaries through collective storytelling. The approach is grounded in the recognition that creative writing can disrupt dominant knowledge systems and open discursive space for alternative interpretations.

The participants were invited to use their imagination and craft creative stories about climate (im)mobilites, envisioning scenarios five years into the future, requiring them to develop a story based on the prompt: “Due to the effects of climate change, a single person, family, or community experiences displacement. Create a story incorporating your experiences, imagination, knowledge, fantasy, and ideas. Include details such as identity (who they are), context (where they are and what happened), journey (where they are going, by which routes and means), and destination (where they settle and what happens after five years).”