Lagoonscapes

The Venice Journal of Environmental Humanities

Sounding Carbon Ruins: Speculative Design for Climate Futures

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Abstract

How do you teach the climate changed future? Can we sound it out to get our bearing in the present? In this article, we articulate our experiences teaching theories and methods (and devising examples) of climate futuring and ecopoetics. These are developed from practice-based work in designing, constructing and curating speculative climatic and environmental scenarios. Graeme Macdonald elaborates on his experience teaching, curating, and performing a Museum of the Future. Jonathan Skinner discusses teaching poetry as an instrument for sounding environmental change, addressing an expanded field for creative practice in the Anthropocene: with site-based exercises grounded in walking, listening, and the siting of attention through ecopoetics.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Oct. 14, 2025 | Accepted: Nov. 17, 2025 | Published Dec. 18, 2025 | Language: en

Keywords Climate ImaginariesFuturingSound StudiesSpeculative museumAnthropoceneEcopoeticsFieldwork