Climate Futures in Fiction
A climate fiction project that addresses the growing communication gap between the public and policymakers amid the global wave of net-zero transformation.
(中文版文章連結)
One of the major challenges in communicating climate change lies in the temporal and spatial disconnection between actions and disasters: how to concretise future climate disasters, technologies, and social life in a way that persuades contemporary audiences to take action now, thereby preventing these disasters from affecting future generations. The “Climate Futures in Fiction” project addresses the growing communication gap between the public and policymakers amidst the global wave of net-zero transformation. This project incorporates discussions on future technologies, social dynamics, emotions, religion, and even rumors — dimensions that traditional forms of public engagement fail to reach.
The “Climate Futures in Fiction” project, spearheaded by Shun-Te Wang from 2019 to 2024, has continuously evolved through collaboration with various communities. This climate fiction (Cli-Fi) project can be divided into six stages: “Travel Books and Postcards,” “Cli-Fi Story Relay,” “Cli-Fi Novel Writing,” “Cli-Fi Drama at COP27,” “Cli-Fi Workshops,” and Gods of Water. Collaborators include the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC), Taiwan Research Institute, artist Kuang-Yi Ku, and climate scientist Yi-Chi Wang. The project initially aimed to assist Taiwanese youth in participating in the UN Climate Conference and has since expanded to include youth empowerment, net-zero public communication, speculative design, and climate fiction. The formats have also diversified from initial zines and postcards to include dramas, workshops, and contemporary art.
The “Cli-Fi Workshops” of this project received support from Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment in 2022, serving as one of the official youth social communication events for the 2050 Net-Zero strategy.
After 2023, the project was led by artist Kuang-Yi Ku. He employs the cli-fi methodology into courses at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and develop it into his art project Gods of Water, comprising three works: “God of Technology”, God of Weapons”, and God of Rumors”. Shun-Te participated in the development of Gods of Water as a scientist and scriptwriter, incorporating his experience with NGOs and think tanks to make Gods of Water a fictional art project that reflects Taiwan’s challenges in achieving a net-zero transition.
- Travel Books and Postcards:
From 2019 to 2020, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition promoted international youth collaboration through cli-fi projects, creating tourism guidebooks and postcards depicting Taiwan under climate disaster scenarios. (Link) - Cli-Fi Story Relay:
In 2021, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition cooperated with artist Kuang-Yi Ku, utilising techniques such as sci-fi writing and speculative design to envision the lives of Taiwanese university students in 2100 after the net-zero transition. - Cli-Fi Novel Writing:
In 2022, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition invited youth members to complete four cli-fi novels. - Climate Action Drama:
During COP27 in 2022, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition simplified the Cli-Fi Story Relay process and invited international youth NGOs to co-write a cli-fi drama, which was filmed as a short video in Sharm el-Sheikh. (Link) - Cli-Fi Workshops:
Based on artist Kuang-Yi Ku’s “Future Press Lab,” these workshops guide participants through reading the IPCC AR6 Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), climate projections, and policy documents to create fictional news that reflects our net zero everyday life in 2050. The first workshop was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment in 2022, and the second was held during the Gods of Water: Kuang-Yi Ku Solo Exhibition in 2024. (Link) - Gods of Water:
Gods of Water is an ongoing art project by Kuang-Yi Ku. Through research and investigation on water-related disasters, the project proposes three hypotheses for a future society where the threat of water has led to three cult values: information, weapons, and media. Gods of Water includes three works: “God of Technology,” “God of Weapons,” and “God of Rumors,” as well as a series of public events. (Link)
