Mi’kma’ki 2030 – Restorying Climate Just Futures Event

Justification of research project

Storytelling is an important method of teaching and learning in many communities, but it is only recently that it has been recognized as a crucial dimension of climate change communication. Stories help us better understand the past and imagine possibilities for the future.

In this local context, the 2030 Declaration to support a just transition away from fossil fuels began by asking: What does climate justice look like in Mi’kma’ki in 2030? To explore this question, this project will bring together a network of artists, activists, and scholars in a series of virtual gatherings to co-learn, co-imagine, and co-inspire a just climate future. By centering Afro-futurist and Indigenous futurist lenses, the goal is to shift the conversation beyond the normative Eurocentric scientific and technocratic framework that dominates mainstream climate change discourse.

Research approach

As a research team, 21 meetings were held with the Collective to collaboratively discuss and design the project’s outcomes and platform. The Collective organized two gatherings of BIPOC artists to plan their artistic exhibitions. The research team co-produced a website with the Collective that hosted an art exhibition, available exclusively during Mayworks.

This artifact demonstrates that the exhibition took place:
https://mayworkskjipuktukhfx.ca/event/archives-continuum/

After Mayworks, the research team and the Collective co-hosted a public Zoom celebration event to engage the public in dialogue about the exhibition and the impact of the artworks.