“I want to be able to look you in the eye and say, ‘When I became aware of the existential threat of climate change, I did all I could.’”
DearTomorrow is an award-winning climate storytelling and public engagement project that invites people to write letters to those they love living in the future. These letters enable us to explore how we think and feel about the climate crisis, why it is important, and what actions we will take to ensure a safe and secure future. Our engagement model draws upon research into the power of legacy, storytelling, visual imagery, and trusted messengers.
We’ve collected over 2,000 unique personal messages in the US and across the globe, and have reached millions of people with our personal climate stories. Through our organizing tools and partnerships, we’ve engaged schools and universities, churches, libraries, local businesses, NGOs, community organizations, and art museums.
Our idea is simple: we must talk about climate change from a place of love. All messages are published now at deartomorrow.org and shared through social media, community events, and immersive art exhibits. Our stories and approach have been showcased through published books, high profile speaking events, and media, and have been used to launch other organizations, advise leaders on storytelling strategy, and much more.
DearTomorrow offers a new model for climate engagement, one rooted in social science with an emphasis on empowerment, collaboration, experimentation, and creativity. Over the past six years we have expanded our digital project into an ambitious creative engagement and immersive audio-visual public arts initiative, and our work now sits at the intersection of climate arts and storytelling, climate communications, eco-anxiety, legacy and futures thinking, and public engagement. With our innovative model and proven track record, DearTomorrow is poised to scale.