Dutch citizens face increasing water-related climate risks, but awareness remains low due to past water management successes and ineffective communication. This project developed and tested a Collaborative Future Storytelling (CFS) workshop to help participants connect future risks to their daily lives through co-created stories.

Developed over five iterations, the workshop helps participants explore futures through personally meaningful locations. These locations serve as anchors, grounding future changes in lived experiences, making abstract climate risks more tangible and personally relevant. The stories explore these locations alongside possible problems in a turn-based, collaborative game. Created futures were rich in values, personal and explored wide systematic complications going further than only the physical problems.

Evaluation examined both participant-created content and the method’s effectiveness using criteria such as future understanding, engagement, and ease of participation. The results showed that the workshop helped participants meaningfully relate to future water risks to their lives, helping participants understand the risks.