When environmental policymakers are invited to imagine the future together, they don't just think differently, they feel differently, too.
That's the finding of a McGill University study published in Sustainability Science. It shows that participatory scenario planning, a collaborative process wherein members of diverse groups co-envision possible futures, can boost their empathy for future generations, as well as non-human life. The research was led by PhD graduate Elson Ian Nyl Ebreo Galang and Professor Elena Bennett from McGill's Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Bieler School of Environment.
"Through this process, we saw decision-makers become so much more empathetic toward non-humans like animals and plants, and especially toward future generations," said Galang, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University. "By sitting down together, listening to one another, and co-imagining futures, they began to care more deeply about those usually on the periphery of these discussions."
A human approach to environmental decisions
The team brought together government officials, NGO personnel, researchers and agricultural representatives in the Bay of Fundy area in Nova Scotia, which is shaped by a push and pull between dykelands and tidal wetlands. Participants were asked to imagine both hopeful and challenging futures for the landscape, ranging from thriving ecosystems supported by nature-based solutions to degraded environments driven by private interests.
"Several of the people we brought together had clashed in the past," said Galang. "When they took time to share personal stories about their relationship to the land, the room's energy shifted from tension to warmth and co-operation."
That spirit of collaboration helped make the exercise more than just a policy discussion. After the workshop, participants reported feeling more "sympathetic," "moved" and "compassionate" toward non-human life and people who will be living in the future.
Measuring empathy over time
To test whether these emotional shifts lasted, the team used a validated "Empathic Concern Index" before, immediately after and then three months after the workshop. They found that empathy for future generations and non-human life increased significantly immediately after the workshop. Moreover, the increase in empathy for future generation was retained even after three month.
A second scenario planning workshop in Quebec focused on the futures of wetlands, agricultural lands and urban greenspaces, produced similar results, suggesting that this empathy-building effect can be replicated in other contexts.
"Our goal was to find ways to change how people feel, not just how they think," said Galang. "If we want decision-makers to make choices that are sustainable for both humans and non-humans, we need to nurture empathy as much as knowledge."
Bennett said the project's success hinged on personal connection.
"Those personal invitations and careful facilitation meant participants understood why they were uniquely important to the process," she said. "Once they were in the room, Elson's special magic of listening and making everyone feel welcome helped people see that their input was truly shaping the conversation."
Toward more empathetic decision-making
The research, part of the NSERC ResNet project led by Bennett, highlights empathy as a vital but often overlooked ingredient in environmental management.
"Maybe what we need is more empathetic decision-making," said Galang, "and spaces where people can imagine the future together and, in doing so, change how they feel about the present."
About the study
Co-imagining future scenarios can enhance environmental actors' empathy toward future generations and non-human life-forms by Elson Ian Nyl Ebreo Galang, Elena M. Bennett, Gordon Hickey, Julia Baird, Gillian Dale, and Kate Sherren was published in Sustainability Science (2025).
This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
