Future Imaginaries: Unwritten Stories of Climate Change & Sustainability

I chose to take this course after participating in the impactful work being done at the Engagement Lab as a student employee, because I wanted to see the ELab’s collaborative work reflected in the classroom setting. I learned about how artists can create positive expressions of art dealing with topics such as climate justice, and also about how Chelsea, a community which I previously knew nothing about, is responding to environmental injustices.

Our first few meetings included a very informative bike tour of Chelsea and an open house at the headquarters of our partners, GreenRoots, where we learned about their day-to-day work. Through our partnership with the students in GreenRoots’ Environmental Chelsea Organizers (ECO), I was able to learn how growing up in an Environmental Justice community can affect the youth in Chelsea, especially in regard to their lack of access to green and blue spaces. I had not expected to see how engaged the ECO students were, both in their work with GreenRoots and in the community in general. 

Before taking this class, my understanding of environmental justice was framed through a broad and worldwide lens, with progress often seeming immovable and dire. This course really helped me to narrow the scope of that framework, emphasizing the importance and learning potential of engaging with a specific local community’s relationship to the changing climate. This reframing allowed us, in our short documentary 

, to co-create a more hopeful narrative, not only exploring the area’s issues but celebrating a community of young people who are actively working to make their future better.

We will examine different perspectives on the future, including optimism, hope, and agency, and discuss how these ideas can inform our understanding of the world and our place in it, as well as their potential to shape public policy and social change. We will examine the role that storytelling and media play in shaping our visions of the future, and we will discuss how to craft and communicate future imaginaries that inspire hope, action, and resilience. Through readings and other resources, discussions, and presentations and projects, students will learn to develop and articulate their own positive narratives about the future.

Jon Honea

Associate Professor, Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies; Director, Honors Program

Homa Sarabi

Director of Production, Safety and Sustainability; Affiliated Faculty, Visual & Media Arts

Servelio Majano

GreenRoots

ECO Member

Greandoll Oliva

Andie Fisher

Youth Programs Organizer

Johanna Flores

Arianna Perdomo

Darien Rodriguez

Troy Arnold

Emely Deodanes

Lydia Debenedictis

Community Member

Fall 2023 - Future Imaginaries

The Future of Food

A short film about food justice in Chelsea, co-created with GreenRoots

Teenagers standing with food prep in front of them on a kitchen counter

Chelsea Unearthed

A short film about the lives of youth in Chelsea

Teenagers standing by a body of water watching a sunset in Chelsea

Future Imaginaries Zine

A zine of words and images co-created with GreenRoots' Environmental Chelsea Organizers (ECO)

ECO Explorers Exploring Chelsea

An illustration of children playing in green space by a tree

A collage with different modes of transport surrounding the constitution of Massachusetts

A collage of different parts of Boston, separated by a green bridge

A collage with transit options surrounding a person's silhouette on a playground swing

A collage of graffiti, cement blocks, tree leaves, and an apartment complex

Studio participants at a community garden in Chelsea

A collage incorporating fish, crumpled blue paper, water pollutants

Studio participants on bike tour through Chelsea

A collage with daisys, children, a camera, a car, and other images 

This Website Is An Archive, As Of October 2024.

The Engagement Lab at Emerson College has closed its doors. Read the report detailing the ELab’s final chapter, read testimonials from our extended community, or dismiss this message to explore the archive.

Future Imaginaries: Unwritten Stories of Climate Change & Sustainability