Character cards and facilitation materials for envisioning more-than-human futures

This repository contains the character cards and facilitation materials used in a participatory visioning workshop in the Northern Netherlands, as part of the DISTENDER EU Horizon project. The materials were developed to support encounters of empathetic imagining with nature and future generations as part of a structured visioning process. The character cards were designed by Jay Marisca Gietzelt in 2024 with contributions from case study partners Sterre Koops and Lotte de Jong. The facilitation materials were co-developed with Jay Marisca Gietzelt, Anita Lazurko, and Kasper Kok, elaborated upon in the associated manuscript (submitted 2026). All materials have been assembled and curated in this 2026 Zenodo release.

The repository includes:

• Character cards representing nonhuman entities (e.g., ecosystems, species) and future generations, designed to support empathetic engagement and reflection 
• A facilitation guide detailing the workshop process and facilitation steps
• A guided meditation used as part of the visioning process 
• Brief instructions for use and adaptation of the materials

Version 1.0 contains the materials as used in the Northern Netherlands case study. The character cards and facilitation materials are intended to be adaptable for use in other contexts and visioning processes.

These materials were developed in the context of a participatory research project and are shared to support transparency, replicability, and broader use of the method. Future adaptations of the materials for other contexts will be made available in subsequent versions of this repository.