Hope in Creation

Context

At times the future looks grim. There are many reasons to worry and to lose hope. Today, as we face daunting polycrises, there is a tendency to use fear and alarm as a motivating force for environmental action, with some referring to the environmental catastrophe as the modern-day apocalypse. Yet we know that historically hope has played a crucial role in motivating transformation.

Aims and Objectives

This interdisciplinary two-day workshop, taking place on 30 June and 1 July at the University of York, explores how creative approaches centered on hope can help academics to convey their research on environmental challenges to wider audiences in more inspiring ways. It reflects on the role hope has played – and still plays – in contributing to more equitable, peaceful and sustainable living and on how we can nurture hope as the basis for action. Drawing on the humanities, including visual, narrative, theatrical and other creative approaches, it explores how to mobilise positive imaginings of life on a different Earth.

The workshop will offer an opportunity for academics and creatives to co-create realistic and aspirational visions of living and thriving in the emerging hotter, stormier, wetter and drier Earth environments that will define our future. This interdisciplinary event will bring together people from a wide range of academic disciplines (e.g., Health, Film & Literature, Environment & Geography, Education and History) and a wider network of collaborators, including writers, poets, filmmakers, and visual and performance artists.

More concretely, it will allow participants to better address questions such as: How do we create and communicate hope in contemporary representations of ecological environmental challenges to motivate transformative action? How can positive future-building approaches to environmental crises enrich environmental education, support mental health, and promote a more equal society?