“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” 

— Donna Haraway, Staying with The Trouble

The words we use shape how we see the world and in turn shape possible worlds.  Climate change communication is failing to move us. Here at Natural England our writing voice is clear and direct but how else could we narrate our findings to impress their urgency?  How might we turn statistics into storytelling to stir the emotions and inspire more creative responses?  We held an open call inviting any employee from Natural England, DEFRA and The Environment Agency to take part in an experimental creative writing project to investigate these curiosities! 

Participants were invited to rewrite extracts pulled from a range of Climate Change Committee, Natural England and IPCC texts in different voices, genres and lyrical tones as an exercise in exploring not what we say, but how we say it and who says it. Species reports are re-written as diary entries, assessment reports read like a sci-fi thriller, trees have autobiographies and soils speak their own monologues. This anthology of short texts is less about critiquing the way we write and more about foraging for imaginative ways of communicating our important work.

Thank you and congratulations to all the authors in this volume for their imaginative work!

This project forms part a series of  experimental projects led by Sarah Taylor, Senior Specialist - Climate Adaptation and artist Becky Lyon as part of an investigation into Art-Science collaborations led by the Chief Scientists Directorate. 

To find out more contact: 

sarah.taylor@naturalengland.com / beckyl.lyon@googlemail.com