perhaps this is poking the solarpunk bear (is the solarpunk bear a sunbear? please say yes), but i am confused by the idea of "lack of stories". do people really not know what they should do to live in balance with the land? it's kind of straightforward: you contribute and care for the land and the land cares for you. it's *not* easy. most of us in the west do not have the skills for it and don't have access to land (and even if we do get land, it may be poisoned or not able to support life very well..and part of the lack of skills is being unable to evaluate which land might be good for living with).

sometimes i get the feeling that "we need more stories" is a deflection from actually doing the things that need doing: building community, learning how to live with the land, learning how to set up solar and water and shelters, setting up solar and water and shelters, getting access to land, living with the land, helping others get access to land and live with the land, nurturing the land to the point where it can feed people, and on and on.

no one has a readymade story to help you, personally, get a little bit of freedom from capitalism. everyone has to figure that out on their own (or with their friends, because having other people do it with you makes it a lot easier!). but the story for how to live is the same: live in balance with the land.

to that end, the stories come from indigenous peoples and are very, very old.

anyway, i feel like i must be missing something in the "we need more stories" conversation, so feel free to let me know.

#solarpunk #offgrid #diy #stories

@mk30 Maybe it is about letting people have enough stories to catalyse them into action. Or to help them see themselves in the story. A bit like the USAF funding and recruiting Top Gun.
Folk could imagine themselves in that role.
We understand the world through stories. And safely explore the challenges.
Not everyone has a connection to the land, stories might help them build the framework to put themselves there.
I dunno. It’s hard to imagine when you are worn down, you can use a story instead
@Hellybootwader thank you for your thoughtful response.

@mk30 I think the answer is yes, people really do not know how to live in balance with the land. Others don't know that they want to, or don't realize it's possible. (We've had centuries of "Man vs Nature" tropes.) Others know what it looks like for *someone* to live in balance with land but not how *they* could. Stories can help with all of that: some will show what kind of better world is possible, some will show the kinds of changes we can work on right now, and some are just trying to get us to think about our relationships with nature and each other differently.

All those are story types are at least #solarpunk -adjacent, and sometimes I think that there will never be the One Perfect Solarpunk Story that manages to
- be set right now or in the immediate future
- not assume any technology that doesn't exist
- be rooted in real places and real present-day difficulties
- show how plausible collective action manages to push our world into a better future
because if someone managed to write a realistic story with that much fine-grained detail, they'd just go out and do it for real. Maybe that's what you're getting at, that just like tech won't save us, stories won't either: action will. But I wouldn't count out stories as stepping stones that move people first into the solarpunk circle and then closer to the center where the story becomes real life.

@owenbiesel thank you for your thoughtful response.

i also sometimes think it would be neat to do a survey where people share what solarpunk stories have most inspired them (ideally, inspired to action) in the past. for me, the main story was the part about "god's gardeners" in margaret atwood's "oryx and crake". i didn't so much care about the god part, but i found the vision very compelling.

@mk30 @owenbiesel have you come across Rob Hopkins “what is to what if” ? Real world examples of people choosing a different way to be.
positive alternatives based on community and care & imagination it was a book that I really needed at the time I read it.

Looks like he has a new book coming out https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/
“How to fall in love with the future”

My New Book

Coming June 17th 2025! The long-awaited follow-up to ‘From What Is to What If’. Upcoming book launch events:  May 28th. Hay Festival.  June 13th, evening. Moor Imagination Collective, B…

Rob Hopkins
@Hellybootwader I hadn't heard of these — thank you for the recommendation!

@owenbiesel @mk30 hey, we're trying to help write that story with @SolarpunkPrompts and https://storyseedlibrary.org/ :)

Sometimes you need to tell people about what you want to do in real life - to make it imaginable!

Welcome to Story Seed Library!

A library of Solarpunk art and story seeds helping you imagine a better climate future!

Story Seed Library
@mk30 this is so real 😭
Live it. LIVE IT. I believe that the only way you can have some of these experiences, make these connections, and have stories to tell, is through actual experience on the land, and the chronological passage of time. You can't just get more creative w storytelling; things have to actually occur to experience these changes in thinking and living.
Yes, it's definitely a sun bear. 🥰