The Power of Positive Climate Narratives

Dr. Denise Baden is Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Southampton and founder of Green Stories. 

At Green Stories, Dr. Baden has run 16 writing competitions since 2018, focused around sustainability and storytelling. She is herself also the author of multiple eco-fiction novels, including Habitat Man and is the editor of a collection of short stories called No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet. She's working with BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, on a project about the role of screenwriters in consumer culture. And she's co-created the #ClimateCharacters campaign with them to highlight TV and movie characters who take on climate positive lifestyle behaviors.

Dr. Baden and Cody have a wide-ranging conversation about the role of storytelling as a lever for climate action, her work in researching how characters who demonstrate positive behaviors tend to drive better outcomes than fear mongering via disaster scenarios, and how the climate attitudes amongst her students have changed during her time in academia. 

In this episode, we cover: 

[02:37]: Dr. Baden's realization about the impact of storytelling while teaching ethics[04:35]: Her findings on the impact of positive vs. negative storytelling[09:50]: The concept of Thrutopias and Dr. Baden’s Green Stories competitions[12:31]: #ClimateCharacters collaboration with BAFTAs[17:35]: How fictional narratives shape subconscious value adoption[19:01]: Concerns about dystopian themes in climate storytelling[22:54]: The role of humor in climate-related storytelling[26:33]: Promoting sustainability through Green Stories competitions[31:25]: Personal carbon allowances for sustainable behaviors[34:00]: Positioning climate change stories for broader audience engagement[37:50]: Techniques for making climate change stories broadly engaging[41:59]: Leveraging existing movements like minimalism and other trends[45:12]: How climate attitudes amongst students have changed over time

Episode recorded on Jan 4, 2024 (Published on Jan 29, 2024)

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