From Awareness to Action: Storytelling for Large-Scale Restoration
We are flooded with climate awareness, yet awareness alone does not grow trees or restore landscapes.
This session explores one of the central challenges facing climate communicators and movement builders today: how do we convert passive awareness into active, sustained behaviour change? While public understanding of climate issues has grown significantly, many organisations continue to wrestle with the gap between knowing and doing.
The conversation will focus on the role of storytelling in bridging that gap. Participants will explore how positive, solution-oriented narratives can move beyond fear and fatigue, helping people see themselves not as spectators to a crisis, but as active contributors to change.
Using the ambition to regreen 100 million hectares by 2040 as a case study, the session will unpack what it takes to build a narrative that does more than inform. What kinds of stories create participation? How do we communicate urgency without triggering disengagement? And what does it take to build a movement around restoration at a meaningful scale?
Rather than searching for a single communications formula, the discussion will explore the creative, psychological, and practical challenges involved in turning attention into action.
What to expect
This will be a highly interactive conversation rather than a traditional presentation. Participants will be invited to share experiences, challenges, and ideas from their own work.
Together, we'll explore the relationship between narrative, behaviour change, and collective action, drawing lessons that can be applied across climate, nature, and social impact initiatives.
Who this is for
This session is for storytellers, climate communicators, fundraisers, campaigners, movement builders, and changemakers interested in how narratives can inspire participation and drive real-world action.
What you will get out of it
New perspectives on the gap between awareness and action
Insights into the psychology of participation and behaviour change
Practical lessons from building narratives around large-scale restoration
Ideas for communicating possibility without losing urgency
Connections with others working to turn climate engagement into collective action