17 June 2009

Unexpected Sources of Hope: Climate Change, Community and the Future

Unexpected Sources of Hope explores the impacts of climate change and other global uncertainties

A new monograph exploring the impacts of climate change and other future global uncertainties for people living in the Hamilton region was released in Hamilton on June 3.

The event was attended by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Southern Grampians Shire Council, community members who participated in developing the monograph, other members of the community, RMIT Hamilton staff and members of the Globalism Research Centre: Yaso Nadarajah, Martin Mulligan, Terrie Nicholson, Cicely Fenton, Wasana Weeraratne and Kalpana Ramani.

The monograph is based on a two-day scenarios-mapping workshop in 2008 with more than forty community members in the Hamilton region and a series of sessions with local co-authors and story contributors. It is the outcome of a collaborative research project built on the methodology of community-engaged research with scenarios mapping which explores the proposition that community participation in future visioning could help to stimulate a stronger sense of local citizenship and a stronger desire to contribute to future planning through policy development and implementation. It presents an opportunity to rethink citizen engagement that flows from the local to the national and the global, and in reverse. In particular, the monograph features stories set in the future, which have been further developed by local writers Christina Hindhaugh and Louise Le Nay , are based on the scenarios-mapping workshop. In these stories, we begin to hear the voices of a variety of recognisable characters who are already grappling with difficult challenges in a projected future scenario. Creating and sharing alternative narratives and visions about sustainable futures is an important starting point – both as creating a sense of hope and as a catalyst for social innovation. Christina and Louse worked with a wide range of people to make these stories both plausible and challenging. These extraordinary stories remind us of our innate capacity to reinvent ourselves in the face of tough challenges.

Download monograph (PDF 4.07mb, 42 pages)