The Coastodians: Imagining Coastal Futures Through Feeling

What does it take to imagine a future you can believe in—one you can feel?
That’s the question we explored with nine communities along Scotland’s Solway Coast through The Coastodians Project.

The aim was simple but ambitious: help people shape a vision for the future of their coast that includes not just facts, but feelings. A future that doesn’t just sound good in theory, but makes sense in your bones.

Solway’s coastal communities—shaped by fishing, farming, tidal rhythms and long memory—are already facing the sharp edges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and a shifting marine economy. So instead of bringing in a consultant with a slide deck, we used Feeldwork, our own emotional futures method, to help locals imagine coastal futures from the inside out.

Becoming the Coastodians

In a future visioning workshop, we invited participants to jump ahead to the year 2038. Not just to talk about it—but to be there. Inspired by Valencia’s centuries-old River Court, we asked: What if you were a Rural Coastodian of 2038, responsible for the care and stewardship of your part of the Solway?

With the river as an imagined more-than-human stakeholder, participants stepped into a game-based experience of the future. They debated decisions, managed trade-offs, and felt their way through climate dilemmas—not from the sidelines, but as active citizens of a coastal tomorrow.

We used tools from design fiction and speculative design to make it real: maps, role cards, prompts, props, and future headlines that gave shape to the imaginary. And crucially, we asked people to respond as themselves and as future caretakers. What values would matter? What habitats might return? What forms of work or care would define this coastline?

What Emerged

People got emotional. There were laughs, debates, a few tears. By stepping into the future physically and emotionally, participants unlocked a stronger sense of agency about the present. They spoke clearly about what mattered most: community-led conservation, local control over fishing and marine planning, sustainable livelihoods, and making space for non-human needs too.

Farming families, fishers, school kids, and retirees all contributed different angles. And the diversity made the outcomes stronger. What united them was a desire for balance: between human activity and nature, between present needs and future responsibilities.

We saw the power of combining old knowledge—traditional ecological wisdom, land-based insight, memory of seasonal change—with creative tools that helped people articulate new visions. Participants didn’t just talk about policy; they felt the stakes.

Why It Matters

This work didn’t end as an art piece or one-off workshop. It’s feeding into Natural Capital Engagement work with a local authority, helping shape how future investments in the region are designed and discussed. A short video captures the process here: Watch the Coastodians film.

We believe this kind of work—deeply participatory, emotional, and embodied—has a critical role in climate adaptation and futures thinking. Not because it delivers perfect answers, but because it builds collective muscle for imagining, caring, and acting.

The Coastodians Project is one example of how Feeldwork can shift the conversation—from analysis to experience, from top-down plans to grassroots futures. If you're working on a coastal project, community engagement, or climate strategy and wondering how to get people to care, we’d love to talk.

See this abstract at Futures4Europe in Vienna