Student Worksheet

Fact-based Dreams For The Future - Activity Instructions

Dreaming about solutions for climate change may seem pointless - where is a dream going to get us? But what if you are doing fact-based dreaming? In this activity you will explore some of the existing and emerging solutions to climate change and use these to generate your own fact-based dreams for the future.

This lesson explores existing solutions to climate change, and uses them as creative prompts for imaginative writing. How might solutions to climate change affect your lives and the lives of others?

Part A: Climate Change Solutions

Step 1.

Although climate change is a huge problem, there are many solutions that can help us with meeting the challenges posed by a changing climate.

Spend five minutes brainstorming solutions to climate change that you know already exist, and that you hope or wish existed. You might come up with creative, funny or unexpected solutions. Remember, small steps and actions are just as important as big ones. List them below in the two columns provided.

Step 2.

You will now watch two clips that describe exciting visions of the year 2040. These come from a documentary called 2040. This film imagines what the future might look like if we applied currently existing solutions and technologies to help meet the challenges of climate change.

Watch the following two videos and while you watch, record any interesting innovations, solutions or aspects of the visions of 2040 presented in the film in the space below. Think about the following questions while you watch:

What do you imagine your life will be like in 2040?
How is the balance between fact and imagination?

Click to watch: 2040 - Decentralised Energy in Bangladesh (Password: 2040_EDU)

Click to watch: What's Your 2040 - Renee (Password: 2040_EDU)

Part B. Fact-based Dreaming

Step 1.

Damon - the creator and narrator of the film 2040 - describes the film as "an exercise in fact-based dreaming". Fact-based dreaming is a process that involves a significant amount of research and investigation. To make his film he explored the best climate change solutions that already existed (or were being trialled) and then imagined a future where these solutions had become widely adopted.

In this part of the activity, you will apply the same process to planning and producing a creative text (or, if you prefer, a graphic novel, script, video, advertisement or other text) around your own 2040 vision. You will need to synthesise what you saw in the clips with some research and with your own ideas about what the future might look like.

Follow the steps below:

1. Pick an everyday experience and transform it. You could pick one of the below experiences, or come up with your own:

Entertainment - a day out with friends
Journeys - getting somewhere (work, uni, overseas)
Eating - cooking dinner, eating out or growing food
Education / Future jobs - what will they look like, how will people get to them, what will they learn about/focus on

2. Research existing climate change solutions related to the experience you chose. What kind of climate-friendly options exist, or are in the process of being prototyped and implemented?

Struggling to find information? Use these keywords + your experience:

Climate-friendly
Climate change solutions
Future climate
Environmental change
Rising sea levels

The Drawdown website is also a useful source of climate change solutions.

Collect images, links and write short descriptions of inventions or ideas that may be included in your story.

3. Now that you know a little bit about your chosen experience and various existing or likely climate-friendly solutions, it’s time to extend these ideas by using your imagination. Consider the following question:

How might these solutions be improved upon, or what would it be like if these solutions were widely adopted in 2040?

To help guide your thinking, finish at least three of the questions below. You should focus on possible changes related to the solutions you have researched.

Example: What would it be like if we ate bugs instead of beef?

What would it be like if…
How would it be different if…
Suppose that...
What would change if...
How would it look differently if...

4. You will now start to turn your ideas into a creative text (or other medium) using a storyboard. This storyboard should show the ideas and visions for 2040 that you will explore in your final story. You can use this storyboard template.

Your storyboard should have at least six squares that lay out the premise of your story. Your storyboard should show what the world of your story will look like - what ideas and inventions will the reader come across? What is different about the world in 2040? How do you want the reader/viewer to feel?

5. Bring to life your vision of 2040! Create your story in the medium you have chosen, using the planning you have completed. Your final piece should reflect the research you have completed, the texts you have seen and your own ideas. Try to use elements of intertextuality, such as links to other texts and/or differing modes such as written, audio and visual elements. This will help you to be more creative.

Taking It Further

Reflect on this lesson using the following questions:

• Fact-based dreaming is interesting because...

• Fact-based dreaming has limitations because...

• I would be interested in further exploring...

2040 - Fact-based Dreams For The Future

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