Imagining Otherwise: Climate Stories for an Unwritten Future
At CAPE we know that teaching climate change is not straightforward. Educators in schools face increasing expectations to address this critical issue, but often with limited time, confidence, and access to high-quality support. The subject itself is complex, evolving, and emotionally charged, raising important questions about what to teach, how to teach it, and how to support children and young people in making sense of the world around them.
That’s why we’re unveiling Imagining Otherwise: Climate Stories for an Unwritten Future, a new podcast designed to support educators by bringing expert knowledge and diverse perspectives directly into schools. The series creates space for reflective, high-quality discussion about climate change and education. It supports teachers and school leaders to explore how climate change can be meaningfully woven into the curriculum. The podcast responds to calls from children and young people for high-quality, ambitious and equitable climate change education. It is intended for those working to equip the next generation with the knowledge, understanding, and awareness needed to navigate a rapidly changing world.
Imagining Otherwise asks a radical question as the foundation of our conversations with guests: What if we imagined a world where climate change no longer exists? This guiding question opens new ways of thinking about education not through denial or fear, but through possibility and hope.
The first episode, Rooted in Place: Music, Art, and Climate, sets the tone for the series. Hosted by educator and storyteller Dami Dauda, the conversation features musician Robert Robertson of Tide Lines and Jamie Elliott from Tate’s Schools and Teachers Team. Together, they explore the intersection of climate change with place, identity, memory, and art. Robert speaks about the power of music to create a sense of belonging and emotional connection to the natural world. Jamie highlights how contemporary art can inspire children and young people to engage with climate themes in creative, critical, and collective ways. This conversation offers a departure from traditional climate discussions, it does not begin with urgency or advocacy, but instead takes a more reflective approach, grounded in human connection. It invites us all to consider how climate change is experienced, felt, and understood in everyday life. Neither guest claims scientific expertise, yet both speak with profound insight about themes such as thresholds, loss, recovery, and hope. Their discussion reveals that meaningful engagement with climate change need not always begin with activism or anger, but with reflection, creativity, and a shared sense of collective humanity.
Imagining Otherwise invites educators and school leaders to respond to the demands of children and young people for high-quality climate change education by considering themes of belonging, knowledge, and purpose. Each episode offers fresh perspectives on how to address climate change in schools, empowering educators to integrate climate change education with sensitivity, nuance and clarity. Over five episodes, the podcast explores how education can shape a more hopeful and meaningful response to climate change.
At CAPE, we believe every child should leave school equipped not just with facts, but with a deep understanding of the world and their place in it. Through this series, we hope to support that mission by bringing together voices that offer new ways of thinking. We invite you to listen, reflect, and imagine otherwise with us. Share the podcast with colleagues, spark a conversation in your school, and take the next step toward climate change education supported by new knowledge and reflections.
