BEFORE YOU READ ON: The following posts might change the way your brain works. In a good way, of course! Want to know why? Then just keep reading.
In our new feature, we explore the connection between imagination and a sustainable future. We speak with visionaries, embark on daring journeys through possible futures, and explore how we can bring our imagination to life even more fully.
Our imagination plays a far greater role than we realize. It constantly supports us in our daily lives, automatically filling in the gaps in our perception and helping us find our bearings. (You can read more interesting background information on the topic of imagination here in the Fact Check.)
What if our future now depended on it as well? Far too often, we use our imagination (to varying degrees, depending on our personalities) to envision the devastating consequences of a climate collapse. We probably use it much less often to imagine the opposite: the world we would like to live in, where we overcome the climate crisis and bring about positive change.
Where will such ideas lead us when they give us momentum? This is the question Rob Hopkins, founder of the global Transition Town movement, has often asked himself. Among other places, in his new book “Imagine…”. However, we must first overcome the current slump in imagination. After all, our imagination and creative thinking have been on the decline since the 1990s. Paradoxically, we have become slightly smarter since then (our IQ has risen slightly), but at the same time less imaginative [1].
Hopkins attributes this trend to the abundance of digital distractions, our educational system, our media culture, and our lack of connection to nature. In fact, children in the UK spend less time outdoors each day than prison inmates in the US. Hopkins aims to reverse these negative trends. In this interview, he takes us on imaginative flights of fancy and explains how we can reignite our imagination.
There is one thing that everyone featured in our magazine’s special issue seems to agree on: we need better stories about a better future—as an alternative to the lack of vision in our time. In his novel *Utopia 2048*, Lino Zeddies shows us what that might look like in his novel “Utopia 2048” [2]. The main ingredient of his story: an appealing future that is tangibly real and does not rely on doomsday scenarios.
Zeddies has already experienced, in small glimpses, much of what the future might hold. In his story, he pieces these puzzle pieces together into a larger whole: a real utopia. His two main characters wake up in 2048 after 30 years of self-induced coma. In the book, readers cycle alongside them on bike highways through a green Berlin, travel to Sweden by zeppelin, and spend a virtual day at the Singapore Zoo with a good friend.
In this interview, Lino Zeddies talks to us not only about the background to his novel, but also about the next steps toward that future.
We would have already arrived there—in a better future—if change came more easily to us. And if our comfort zone weren’t so cozy. Of course, we don’t want climate collapse or mass extinction either. Shrouded in vague fears of change and loss, our imagination often fails us. We lack the incentive—the reward.
Katharina Rogenhofer, the young face of the Austrian climate movement, knows how to tell compelling stories about this reward. For example, in her book *If Nothing Changes, Everything Changes* [3]. She shows what lies ahead if we stand up courageously for our future now. Her specialty: weaving personal stories with climate information in an authentic and emotionally resonant way.
In our conversation, she tells us about the happy moments she looks back on after three years of full-time climate activism, how to get through to politicians who lack vision, and what she’s particularly looking forward to in a climate-just world.
Speaking of which: politics without a vision. Will sustainability really take us back to the Stone Age? Of course not. In this article, we address this widespread fear of the future and have some fun uncovering aspects of the Stone Age that are actually relevant today and ripe for a revival.
The “Future Wallpaper” brings to life what many people find hard to imagine (see related article). The scraps of wallpaper were collected during conversations with climate heroes and scientists. We spoke with people who have concrete ideas about what is sustainable and what isn’t. The images and stories that emerged leave you wanting more (see related article). Bring on that future!
Would you like to have a different vision of the future? No problem—after all, the future is wide open to you. As long as you keep your imagination sharp.
That’s why, to wrap up this post, we’re sharing a simple exercise that can help you imagine your own world as a “better place to live.” It only takes a few minutes and a little imagination to get started. You can do this exercise anywhere: while waiting in line at the supermarket checkout, walking your dog, at train stations, in waiting rooms, and so on.
Our imagination is a precious treasure that we always carry with us. When we consciously cultivate this power, we unleash its magic. Eventually, reality may catch up with us.
“Be careful what you wish for. It might just come true.”
(Word of wisdom)
[1] Kim, Kyung Hee (2011): “The Creativity Crisis: The Decrease in Creative Thinking Scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking,” Creativity Research Journal, 23(4), 285–295.
[2] Rob Hopkins (2021). Imagine… Löwenzahn Verlag.
[3] Lino Zeddies (2021). Utopia 2048.
[4] Katharina Rogenhofer (2021): If Nothing Changes, Everything Changes. Zsolnay Publishing