SLYCAN Trust and Resilience Frontiers (RF) — the foresight initiative under the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — are proud to announce the launch of “Glimpses of Transformation: Creative Approaches for Crossing the Frontiers of Resilience”.
Using the storylines of the RF’s eight transformative pathways as a guide, submissions should offer a glimpse of a desirable future — one that ventures boldly beyond the limits of current forecasts, projections, and imagination.
The Scent of Mint follows Malika, a young girl growing up in a future France that has embraced sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, and food democracy. Through school gardens, local food networks, and family meals, she experiences a world transformed by collective action and care for the living world.
At the heart of the story is Malika's relationship with her grandmother, whose cooking, stories, and love are inseparable from the scent of mint. Blending themes of memory, culture, food, and environmental justice, the story reflects on how the legacies of past decisions continue to shape lives, even in a more sustainable future.
New Fires, Old Seeds follows Meredith and her daughter Annalise as they travel through the remnants of a climate-altered Great Lakes region years after a catastrophic event known as ‘The Burning’. Moving between past and present, the story weaves together memories of family, loss, curiosity, and survival. Through conversations, campfires, and the enduring legacy of a loved one, it explores how people carry grief across generations and what possibilities for renewal might remain in a damaged world. At its heart, the story reflects on resilience, responsibility, and the fragile seeds of hope that can emerge even after profound loss.
The Mother of the Sea reimagines the Inuit story of Nuliajuk, the powerful sea spirit and guardian of marine life. Through a retelling of this traditional narrative, the story explores themes of loss, transformation, resilience, and the deep relationship between people and the natural world. Rooted in Indigenous knowledge and oral storytelling traditions, it reflects on reciprocity, respect for nature, and the consequences of environmental harm. As oceans and glaciers face growing pressures from climate change, the story offers a powerful reminder of the responsibilities that connect human communities with the living world.
Kathe Kovak & The Pro Ks imagines a future in which engineered microorganisms successfully reverse climate change and restore damaged ecosystems. Celebrated as a breakthrough in environmental science, the Pro Ks transform polluted landscapes and give humanity a second chance. Yet, the story gradually asks a more challenging question: can technological solutions alone address humanity’s relationship with the natural world? Through themes of innovation, unintended consequences, collective responsibility, and ecological balance, it explores the complex boundaries between human ambition and nature’s own processes.
Aloi, you. imagines a future where sustainability is woven into everyday life, from living architecture and ecological engineering to community-centred education and urban ecosystems. In this world, environmental restoration is no longer an aspiration but a lived reality. Through the experiences of a group of young friends, the story explores friendship, curiosity, identity, and the possibilities of growing up in a society shaped by care for both people and the natural world. At its heart, it reflects on the relationships, hopes, and connections that continue to define human life in a changing future.
All submissions will undergo an initial eligibility screening to ensure compliance with the conditions, including originality, word count, and submission requirements.
Eligible entries will then be reviewed by a panel of experts composed of experts in climate change research, and creative writing.
Selected pieces are published and showcased at Climate Event Hub on the sidelines of UNFCCC SB64 in Bonn.
Short fiction pieces of 2,000-3,500 words are accepted, from a wide variety of voices using a wide variety of forms, including non-linear, non-binary, dendritic, circular, or experimental narratives and story structures.
Only one entry is permitted per participant, and all entries must be original, previously unpublished works in English.
Participants retain full copyright of their submitted work. By submitting an entry, participants agree that, if selected, SLYCAN Trust and Resilience Frontiers may publish, display, or otherwise showcase the work in connection with the climate fiction contest and related communications.
Selected pieces will be published and showcased at our Climate Event Hub on the sidelines of the UNFCCC June Climate Meetings (SB64) at The Stage Gallery in Bonn, June 3rd-10th, 2026.
A non-profit think tank working on climate change, sustainable development, finance, entrepreneurship, technology, climate risk management, biodiversity conservation, and social justice including gender and youth empowerment.
A unique UN-catalysed initiative which lets us shake off the limitations of today’s systems to think and act in ways that create a resilient, thriving future for humanity and nature by harnessing tools like frontier technologies, indigenous knowledge, and good environmental stewardship.
