We Are The Possible

Climate, Café Culture and Change – COP31

He told me the story of the lion, the king of the forest. 'When he roared the whole forest went quiet. The fox, the wolf, the bear, even the wind stopped. 'One day the lion climbed the highest rock and looked down. The trees were gone, the stream had dried, there were no birds. He roared but there was nobody to hear him. What good is a king without a country?'

Excerpt from 'Tea on the Mountain' -

This bilingual anthology launched at COP31 in Türkiye links climate, café culture and change through a range of storytelling forms. It reflects on what we can learn from the past, the importance of the choices we make today, and the legacy we leave for future generations.

Focusing on coffee, tea and cacao enabled much bigger topics and stories to emerge. They connect past, present and future, questioning agriculture, food and water supplies, consumerism, alongside how community engagement and spaces are needed to share our climate stories, and what we need to do to restore and protect planetary health.

To build these narratives, more than 200 people, including scientists, health experts, academics, educators, translators, students, writers and artists, joined together in international, transdisciplinary creative writing workshops inspired by COP31’s host country, Türkiye’s, heritage of café culture. As a result, an editorial team have woven workshop participants’ submissions to best communicate their climate research, feelings and messages into micro and graphic style stories and poems.

The narratives demonstrate the power of collaboration and show how science, education, arts and heritage and culture can come together to communicate the realities of climate change, influence behaviour, and inspire individuals and communities to take action. The anthology also includes an appendix of solutions in relation to the topics.

We hope readers, when they next pause to enjoy a drink, think about all the ingredients involved, and what can be done to protect this now for future generations. These new narratives also unearth imaginations, memories and rituals, things we hold dear to our hearts.

To read the anthology, open the link to Isuu below – and choose the full-screen setting.

With thanks to The British Council and The Met Office for funding this anthology, and all supporters and contributors, including Planetary Health Alliance and Neuro Climate Working Group.

To read about We Are the Possible programme and other anthologies and outputs visit We Are The Possible · GreenFutures