(gentle music) (gentle music) - Everyone have their character sheet set up?

- I'm a folk hero.

- I'm playing a fighter.

- My character, she's a bard.

- I am a rogue.

- I am a druid wood elf.

- I'm playing Zela Silver Tongue.

- [Marcy] All right, everyone, close your eyes, and take a big breath in with me (inhales) and breathe out.

(exhales) You match the rhythm of sleep that your characters have fallen into.

Lying at the base of forest covered hills where you have just finished up another misadventure together, and you gasp awake.

You hear the sound of a harsh laugh and voice that says, "Come closer."

(thrilling music) (gentle bright music) - Humans are playful.

Play is how we learn new rules.

It's how we try out new roles.

But play is something we're told to forget as we get older.

Adulthood is full of problems that are not fun.

And you know what else is not fun?

Climate change.

But what if the tools that we have as adults are insufficient to address it?

(gentle bright music) (exhales) What if imagination and play aren't just distractions but solutions?

My name's Charles Loi.

I'm a filmmaker who began to see that the California we grew up in is disappearing.

Climate change demands new solutions and new stories.

My friends and I set out to find those narratives starting in our own backyard.

Maybe to solve our biggest problems, it's time we took play a little more seriously.

(upbeat music) (game chimes) - [Announcer] "Climate California" is brought to you in part by: Crankstart, a San Francisco based family foundation that works with others on critical issues concerning economic mobility, education, democracy, housing security, the environment, and medical science and innovation; and by the Community Foundation of Sonoma County.

(upbeat music) Additional support provided by donors to the Center for Environmental Reporting at NorCal Public Media, a complete list is available.

And by the following.

(upbeat music) "Climate California" is made possible by contributions to your public television station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(game chiming) (everyone claps) - [Charles] Mycelium Youth Network takes a playful approach to preparing youth for a climate-resilient future.

One of their approaches, role-playing games or RPGs.

Each player takes on a unique character with different backstories and skills.

The group goes on a shared adventure led by a game master like Marcy Brown.

- We'll be playing in the theater of the mind.

You begin to see this redwood bark kind of start to part.

- Can I take my trident out?

- [Marcy] Yeah, you can brandish some weapons.

And a person steps out of the tree right in front of you.

And as this person steps out of the tree, they say... - I represent the redwoods, and I need your help to stop a great evil that has changed the land.

- [Marcy] Yes, Utari.

- I would like to ask who or what entities have been cutting down the grove people?

- [Grove Person] Strangers have been chopping us down and replacing us with eucalyptus trees.

Their leader goes by the name of Frank Cravens and he's preparing to unleash devastating fires to clear the land for profit.

- Will you help me?

- Yes!

- I'll show you the path.

- [Charles] In role-playing games, players co-create their story and its outcomes.

Kind of like real life, but with more magic.

(upbeat music) - The Mycelium Youth Network is kind of like built on the idea of hope and radical imagination.

Because a lot of times there's just, like, this huge sense of, like, doom and inevitability.

And by reframing these climate change issues through gaming, we can kind of make them more approachable and also kind of, like, make the space for collaboration.

- Dutch historian Johan Huizinga wrote about the innate playful side of human nature called homo ludens.

He noted that play happens in a closed space with its own rules, a sacred space.

(gentle music) Play is one of the closest things to ritual we have left in our culture.

(gentle music) It isn't just something we do for fun, it's how we've always made sense of the world.

It's where we test ourselves, our courage, our ingenuity, and our capacity to cooperate.

- Our campaigns can last six weeks to 20 weeks, and that's a lot of time for a character to evolve.

As they, like, fail together, they succeed together.

- That's true.

They're kind of designed to be team games.

- Yep, and people will also like fill different roles, and so they kind of learn to kind of figure out their own unique way to solve problems.

(gentle music) There's a role for everybody in "Dungeons & Dragons."

And if you can't find it, make it.

I homebrew a ton of stuff.

Homebrewing is like when you make your own material.

And people always make characters with little pieces of themselves that they may not even realize that they're putting in.

- [Charles] Those little pieces of yourself, that's your contribution, your voice.

We met up with Diandra Marizet Esparza, director of Intersectional Environmentalist.

IE amplifies voices that have historically been left out of environmentalism, even though they're often the ones hit hardest.

(upbeat music) - [Diandra] Alexia's actually one of the people that we're collaborating with right now, 'cause she works for a legacy organization in Austin, Texas.

- We're trying to actually build a community solar farm in Montopolis for East Austin.

Well, I have, like, all the ideas.

I think it's just the time to, like, break it down.

So here's my problem, I actually have too much data.

- So here's where the strategy comes into play.

- Yeah.

- We want to follow where you all think is best.

- Yeah.

- Our goal is to develop four assets, three posts, one reel.

- Mhmm.

- The point of view of the post is that there are solutions such as X, Y, Z, but no accountability for city council members to adopt them.

- Yeah.

I just love this new program that you have, and, like, how you all are always uplifting, like, grassroots.

And, like, you all are obviously so good at, like, narrative and, like, culture, and storytelling.

- We're trying.

- No, these are really, really important skills that I think sometimes in the grassroots we just don't have the energy to focus on and so we then don't end up developing these skills.

It's just so applicable everywhere.

- Yeah, it's funny that you say that.

'Cause when we first started IE, we realized, well, we can be the ones that work with everyone on the ground.

- [Charles] Influencer and climate activist don't usually go together.

Diandra had to homebrew her own role.

- Before helping build and found the organization, I actually was working in fashion.

What I ended up finding was kind of the inner workings of how the fashion industry serves as this really extractive industry.

I started learning all these wild things about supply chain systems and how it poisons waterways and soil systems for artisanal communities all over the world.

And, yeah, I think it drove me to start asking more questions, and it kind of sparked my sustainability journey.

- [Charles] So we went on a sustainability journey with her.

- I'm Diandra.

It's nice to meet you all, thanks for letting me crash today.

I'm excited to learn with you all today.

- We joined up with Mario Ordonez Calderon, who founded an environmental education group, Un Mar de Colores.

- We're going to drive out east to Cuyamaca State Park.

Who's been to Cuyamaca State Park before?

- I have.

- Yeah!

Have fun.

- See you all soon.

- [Charles] Access to nature, especially for kids, isn't equal.

Un Mar is trying to change that.

- What are some reasons we're going to want to stay on the trail?

- Because you could get lost.

- We do have rattlesnakes out here, so we want to be careful and stay on the trails.

(upbeat music) - Single-file line.

(upbeat music) - Slow, slow, slow.

- Snake.

- Snake.

- Oh, that is a snake.

It's a rattlesnake, be careful.

- Back up, back up, back up.

- Right here.

- Yeah.

I'm going to get all my little kiddos back where Mo is, okay?

- This is going to be an amazing story to tell.

Just imagine, "Oh yeah, we were all on a hike, we saw a rattlesnake."

That was so cool.

- Yeah!

- Okay, Arlo, come on through.

Stay on my right, cool.

And then, walk up to Brianna.

- So I'm just, like, trying to be as careful as I can.

- You guys walk to my right, right here, and then walk all the way up to Brianna the park ranger.

Stay together, and then keep our eyes open.

Right?

- Yeah.

- Okay, guys, this little area right here is safe to come and put your feet in if you want.

- [Group Member] Oh my god!

Wait, how do I get in?

- It's cold.

- Oh my god!

- Three.

- Two!

One!

- Oh!

Not yet.

- A thunderstorm's coming.

- If you're going to get in the water, get in now, because we probably have, like, five minutes.

(gentle upbeat music) (water splashes) - Well, it's been a very eventful trip today.

Rattlesnakes, thunder.

♪ Thunder, feel the thunder - You got the full experience today, folks.

- Yeah, everything.

- Well, thank you so much for all your curiosity along the way.

- Big round of applause for Brianna, please.

- Thank you, Brianna.

(everyone clapping) - [Charles] But play isn't just for children, it's for everyone.

We met up with CalDEC, the California Doughnut Economics Coalition.

Today, they were doing restoration work in my hometown, San Jose.

One of the event leaders was Indy Rishi Singh.

(upbeat music) - Everybody who's doing the work to try to address climate change, they're all burned out.

- Yeah.

- Everybody's burned out.

- Yeah.

- And so the burnout's happening because people are not having fun.

(upbeat music stops) - [Charles] I felt so seen.

(upbeat music) - Everybody's just so, so, like, stuck, right?

And so if you can't laugh and you can't play, you can't move past it.

So I went to medical school, I burned out.

So I went on a journey to understand well-being.

And, for me, it's all comes down to joy.

Like, can we access joy and all the neuroplasticity around joy and laughter?

So we're kind of like just reimagining how do we do the work.

Like, look at it labor, right?

- Yeah.

- So how do we make it a fun experience, and not just like, oh, you're just working, you know?

- Yeah, this is fun.

(upbeat music) I think we chose the hardest path.

- I know!

Charles, what were you thinking?

This is the worst path.

- I was following you.

- If you guys can, put your hands on the grass and on the soil, and take a couple of deep breaths, and just remember our relationship to Gaia, to Mother Earth, the cacophony, the symphony of life.

- [Charles] By sheer coincidence, this event was happening in a park not far from where I grew up, but, back then, it was just unused farmland.

Now, it's a public garden.

Maybe this is what I was missing as a kid, this connection to nature.

Turns out I wasn't alone.

Diandra and Mario faced similar challenges when they were kids.

- I was raised in a house of three different families.

So it was my aunts and uncles, my family, and then my other pair of aunts and uncles.

But there wasn't much like relationship with the outdoors as recreation, you know?

'Cause I remember the first time I got hurt surfing, I was surfing Malibu and got tumbled over the waves.

My fin actually cut me in two different places on my arms.

- Were you scared to call your mom?

"Mijo."

- Yeah.

Yeah.

I was so scared.

And my dad, like, just naturally got a little frustrated.

He's like, "Why are you doing things you don't know how to do?"

(everyone laughing) And I'm like, "Yeah, okay, thanks, Dad."

- Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

Anytime I do stuff like that, I can't tell my mom until after.

- Yeah.

- I don't know if you hear this a lot, but something we hear a lot is, "Well, so much of what prevents communities of color from, like, going outside is just, like, a fear of it, and it's kind of hard to systemically address that."

I'm like, "I don't think that's true at all."

Like, "What is that fear rooted in?"

So when I think about my mom, for example, one of the first things she says is like, "Mija, you're going to have to go to the doctor, and, like, healthcare sucks," and like this, and this, and that.

And I'm like, "That is a systemic barrier."

The fact that if you hurt yourself and you don't feel like you can fall back on certain systems the way that other people might feel like they can, right?

- Yeah.

- If you hurt yourself, you need care and attention.

Time, energy, resources, money, access to things that people feel like they might not have.

- [Charles] What Diandra and Mario were talking about was systemic barriers.

How we understand systems, how we model them matters.

This is something that CalDEC is working on here in California.

- How do we interact with the natural world in a way that is sustainable, is truly sustainable, that the natural world will thrive for hundreds of years while we're living in it?

So, on the outside, we have the ecological ceiling.

So this is the danger zone, right?

Inside we have the social foundation, and those are the things we need to have a thriving life.

As long as everybody has enough here and as long as we're not going over here, we're in the doughnut, which we call the safe and just place.

- Doughnut Economics started as a book by Kate Raworth, and its framework has been adopted by local governments around the world.

In Doughnut Economics, there are two rings.

In the inner ring is basic human needs no one should fall through.

In the outer ring is planetary boundaries, none of us can afford to go outside them.

And in between both circles is where the game is played, where we can make choices to promote human thriving on a thriving planet.

It's part of a growing shift to rethink our assumptions about economics.

For example, the assumption that humans make perfectly rational choices.

This model human called homo economicus is calculating, self-interested, and fictional.

(game fail chiming) Real people don't always optimize.

We're messy, we misjudge, we care about others, we're playful like homo ludens.

And if you've ever met a human, we want more than just making money.

What if we weren't just consumers, workers, or investors, but also caretakers, citizens and stewards of the planet?

In fact, Kate Raworth argues that we are all economists now, to which a fair response might be, "Do we have to be?"

But economics shapes every part of our lives, and so residents here are taking up her challenge.

- But we've already started developing some groups that are going to be focusing on different aspects.

- We're told, right, that tech companies are driving the GDP.

But, you know, they represent maybe, like, 20 to 30% of a $300 billion GDP economy that is San Jose.

Just San Jose, which is crazy, right?

Just all of Northern California is like 1.5 trillion.

I think the state is trying to, they actually want to listen.

It's an interesting time.

- A lot of people are afraid of what changing the economic system entails.

Doughnut Economics is agnostic about growth.

What's your take on how people are going to react to Doughnut Economics?

- I mean, I've presented Doughnut Economics in rural areas with farmers.

I've brought it to business communities.

Doughnut Economics actually fits many different perspectives.

The main thing that it antagonizes is this idea of infinite growth.

In the medical condition, if you just say everything is growth, that's a tumor.

But then for the GDP, and for ecology, and for our resources, we're like growth, growth, growth, that's literally an illness.

I think the hardest part is turning what we're doing into action.

There's depressing news, systemic frustration, but like that's the frustration I feel we need to get past.

Because, the thing is, what if that's on purpose to keep us feeling like we'll never win?

So for us to face this with any sort of resilience, we need to really activate the inner child, the play-based, problem-solving faculties that actually we've been given through the evolution of mankind.

- One of my fears was that people would look at this episode and feel that we were trivializing- - Hmm.

- Climate change, trivializing the challenges that are coming and, like, some of the tragedies are going to happen.

How do you feel about it?

- Oh, absolutely, I mean, totally not trivializing.

Actually, in fact, maybe this is how we need to face it, is you can only play when your reptilian brain is relaxed, so, you know, your food, your shelter, your safety is taken care of, and then you activate the play.

What play allows us to do is to imagine into the future, and that's where we invent.

And so, for us, it's not about trivializing, it's actually about creating the space within our heart and our bodies that we can actually show up physically, and emotionally, and maybe spiritually, I think.

But we have to open up.

Like, you literally can't do the work if you're closed off.

Like, you guys just saw the work was joyful.

- Yeah.

- But we did hella work, you know?

- Yeah.

- Look around at the trees, that's a lot of work.

- [Charles] So in the interest of working hard, we decided to have a little fun.

For research.

Mario took us surfing and brought along Leslie, one of Un Mar's former students who's now become our teacher.

(upbeat whistling music) (game chimes) (upbeat whistling music) (game chiming) (waves whooshing) (game twinkles) (upbeat music) (waves crashing) (game fail chiming) (upbeat music) - Climate science can only take you so far.

At the end of the day, you have to change behavior in these individuals.

And what changes behavior is exposure to, like, different experiences.

Without that first bit of, like, inspiration, or warmth, or joy that you might experience in catching a wave, it's hard to sell the idea of, like, protecting this place to anyone, you know?

- You're so right.

Like, academia can only take us so far, and clearly it has to be so much more beyond environmentalism just being studies, datas, charts.

It has to include our communities and the cultures that help us connect to the environments.

It's really amazing to learn about all the behind-the-scenes struggles of grassroots organizing that people don't often see.

Us having to navigate and juggle so many things, like how we're impact reporting, how we're proving that we can scale, how do you translate that into the digital storytelling space?

- You're such a bright mind, and, like, you see things in a way that no one else in a room sees things, and I think that's just been so helpful for us.

- So what is the meaning behind the name Un Mar de Colores?

- Yeah, Un Mar de Colores means "an ocean of colors."

And what inspired me to name the organization that was that the ocean can be an array of different colors on any given day.

Some days it's like bright purple, and bright orange, and bright red, right, depending on, like, the sunset and the hue that it gives it.

Or on cloudy days, you see it being gray, metallic blue, and things like that.

So as the ocean reflects an array of different colors, I wanted the surf lineup to be that as well.

So specifically start representing more Black, Indigenous, people of color in the surf lineup.

- [Charles] There are things kids can only learn by being in nature and not by sitting in a classroom.

In the surf line, the water's cold, the salt stings, you get pummeled by the waves.

But then you get back up again.

The waves are powerful, (waves crashing) but so are you.

(gentle upbeat music) - A lot of times and in a lot of structures youth can have their power, like, taken away from them.

And this is a space that I want them to feel their power and, like, be able to take that agency, take that power, and translate it into, like, their real world.

- Maybe that's the real problem with homo economicus, it leaves out humanity.

Homo ludens reminds us that humanity is a collective endeavor shaped by our cultures, our creativity, and our choices.

- I love kind of seeing where youth will take me on the adventure rather than, like, where I'm going to take them.

- [Player] We have to decide what we're going to do.

- [Marcy] All right, players, we return to our darkly lit forest where you find yourselves engaged in combat against two eucalyptus trees.

- [Player] I think we should probably just burn these trees.

- [Player] I'm going to do a ray of frost.

- Can someone give me a nature or survival check?

(suspenseful music) - All right, okay, I got an eight.

- [Marcy] Suddenly the ground shakes beneath you.

- Stop!

- And a representative of the Mycelium emerges.

- The eucalyptus are not your enemy.

Frank is.

We must band together, for a time of great change is upon us.

Are you with us?

- Yes!

- [Marcy] As you reach Frank, who is preparing to incinerate the entire forest, he turns and says... - You are far too late.

This forest is mine to control and will make me rich beyond belief.

- [Marcy] Frank, casts sickening radiance.

- [Players] Oh!

- Mars is down.

- You'll never defeat me.

- [Marcy] Frank feeds his twisted ritual and continues to gather power.

- No!

- Ah!

- Arius, it is your turn.

- This is when I need a natural 20.

Please, please, please.

- You can do this.

- I got a 19.

- That hits.

Frank is hurt badly.

(players cheering) - Azala, it is your turn.

You can control flames.

You can do damage to Frank.

- Because there's still fire.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I'm going to control flames, and then I'm going to make the flames more low to the ground.

- Perfect.

So roll your d20.

- Okay.

14!

- 14, perfect.

The flames die down, leaving Frank open to attack.

(blast whooshes) Netto, it's your turn.

What would you like to do?

- So I want to jump behind him, and I'm open to suggestions.

- Knock him out.

- Knock him out.

- Roll your d20.

(thrilling music) All right.

Frank Cravens is no more.

(players cheering) (game graphic thumps) (gentle exciting music) - Play allows us to lean into failure in such a way that we can build anti-fragility.

- There's always space to play, there's always reasons to play.

You need to be able to, like, envision the world that you want to live in before you can actually build it.

- What I see my niche is, is just getting specifically kids from BIPOC communities exposed to, like, the wonder and the joy of wave riding, of playing in nature.

And then, from there, catalyzing climate resilience and climate protection.

- Culture in and of itself is the only thing that can actually weave morality into the fabric of society.

(thrilling music) (gentle music) (waves crashing) - Marcy, thank you for playing with us.

- Thank you for playing with me.

Roll initiative.

(Charles laughs) - Climate change is a situation, one that's kind of all-hands-on-deck.

So what role will you play?

If you can't find one, make one.

If you're not sure, game it out.

And if you're worried, join the club.

The stakes couldn't be higher, but the rewards couldn't be greater.

We have to remember to play.

Why?

So we can fail.

And we fail, so we can win.

(thrilling music) (game fail chiming) Sometimes.

But with any game, you can't win if you don't play.

(gentle thrilling music) (water splashing) (game twinkling) So let's play.

(game chimes) (upbeat music) (waves whooshing) (upbeat music continues) (waves continue whooshing) (upbeat music fades) (waves whooshing fades) - [Announcer] You can visit our website for more information, related educational materials, and additional resources.

(gentle music) It's all at ClimateCalifornia.org.

"Climate California" is brought to you in part by: Crankstart, a San Francisco based family foundation that works with others on critical issues concerning economic mobility, education, democracy, housing security, the environment, and medical science and innovation; and by the Community Foundation of Sonoma County.

(upbeat music) Additional support provided by donors to the Center for Environmental Reporting at NorCal Public Media, a complete list is available.

And by the following.

(upbeat music) "Climate California" is made possible by contributions to your public television station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music)