Imagining climate-resilient futures through adaptation-stories

Successful adaptation planning can be made more actionable by drawing on diverse forms of knowledge. These range from locally grounded experiences to scientific understanding of projections of climate and societal change and their potential impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems. Equally important for planning and action is the ability to imagine the desired future outcomes. However, the volume, complexity and inherent uncertainty of information may impede stakeholders’ ability to envision those outcomes and take action accordingly.

We present an approach[1] for co-developing adaptation-stories that integrate quantitative estimates with qualitative knowledge and experience and take advantage of storytelling as a well-known and familiar means of making sense of the world and engaging audiences. The approach is implemented through a participatory process consisting of five steps: (1) co-definition of a notable climate change impact relevant to a chosen livelihood or a specific contextual setting; (2) identification of the climatic and non-climatic drivers responsible for the specified climate change impact; (3) co-evaluation of adaptation measures for alleviating or leveraging impacts; (4) characterisation of the causal mechanisms and assumptions that specify past experiences of notable impacts and adaptation and their potential future development; and (5) co-development of adaptation-stories by researchers and stakeholders. The resulting stories are fictional accounts that may be set in the future or alternatively describe past adaptation.

We argue that well-crafted adaptation-stories that also employ artistic narrative licence, may empower local actors by grounding climate change adaptation in their lived experiences and livelihoods. Moreover, the inclusion of visual artistic illustrations, especially when depicting recognizable local settings, can increase the stories’ ability to resonate with audiences. Incorporating storytelling into the process of making scientific knowledge more accessible and relevant can yield accounts that aid imagination and communication, while also fostering new ways of thinking that bring together perspectives and actors that are often overlooked. An added dimension to future viewpoints on adaptation concerns the context in which they are expressed. This can be introduced by relating stories to region-specific socioeconomic scenarios, themselves projected through narrative and artistic means.

We illustrate this through two examples set in Finland: one involving the renewal of a hospital and the other focused on dairy production. Both examples project future standpoints of different actors adapting to heat-related challenges. Co-creation with local actors was seen as instrumental in ensuring that the work addressed topics most relevant to the cases at hand in a fair and inclusive manner. We also show how artistic interpretation can provide powerful support for stories, but should be deployed with discretion to avoid unintended consequences that may undermine key messages.

[1] Pirttioja N, Abernethy P, Ahonen S, Fronzek S, Jouppila T, Jylhä K, Kautto N, Luhtala S, Palosuo T, Rimhanen K, Ruuhela R, Saarremaa K, Carter TR, 2026 Adaptation-stories for imagining futures adjusting to a changing climate, Climate Risk Management, doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100785