Rationality vs. Imagination – Decision-making Skills for Shaping Climate Futures

Numerous political, economic and social decisions require imagination: revolutions feed on imaginations of alternative political systems; new energy technologies demand imaginations of different governance and infrastructure systems; climate change requires imaginations of radically altered, social-ecological futures. Lacking a coherent body of theory on the role of imagination in future-oriented decision-making, this presentation explores two issues. First, I offer a cursory review of existing theories of decision-making and discuss their strengths and weaknesses with regard to explaining climate-related decisions. Second, building on the concept of imaginaries, I discuss what kinds of socio-climatic imaginaries might be necessary to inform decisions related to climate change, and the potential role of science and art in shaping individual and collective imagination processes.

Brown bag talk; bring your lunch.