I call into work. I’m working a half day today, as part of my three-day work week. Adopted nationally ten years ago, the three-day work week, together with the introduction of Universal Basic Income, has resulted in measurably lower levels of anxiety and stress across all income classes. People spend free time working on community projects and enjoying their lives. Some of my colleagues are away today. A scheme was recently launched where up to 10 percent of staff from any company, at any given time, are embedded in the local community, offering managerial, marketing, financial planning and project management skills to organisations that are working in various ways to support residents and make our community more resilient.

Rob Hopkins About – Rob Hopkins

The Transition Companion: Making Your Community More Resilient in Uncertain Times. Green Books (2011)I love this book. It is an extraordinary, reality-based report on people around the world applying the power of imagination to rebuild relationships and create a fulfilling, creative, and possible human future together. An essential read for all who care. When I reach home, I visit with several of my neighbours, who are sitting outside chatting. We hear an owl, and notice the bats swooping overhead. The move to designate our city a National Park City slowed the decline of biodiversity to the point of recovery by reunifying previously fractured wildlife corridors, green spaces, and woods, so that I now regularly notice new kinds of insects and louder and more complex birdsong. With so much around me moving, changing and thriving, I settle down to sleep with a feeling that the future is rich with possibility. I love this book. It is an extraordinary, reality-based report on people around the world applying the power of imagination to rebuild relationships and create a fulfilling, creative, and possible human future together. An essential read for all who care.” —David C. Korten, author of Change the Story, Change the Future and When Corporations Rule the World For example, ART can be a promotor and facilitator of imagination. Some of the most moving examples in ‘’From what is to what if’’ are about people with mental problems or illnesses who find themselves with the help of art. Like Rosalie, one of the participants of the Art Angel project in Scotland, who says: ‘’It’s a place you come and you’re not bipolar, you’re not depressive , you’re not this or that. You’re an artist, working on your piece of art. You’re learning things, you’re thinking about what you’re going to be doing next, learning about other artists, going to an exhibition and building up your interest and passion for art… Recovery isn’t about regaining what you had before. It’s about developing a new life, and new things that are going to help you to get well, have an enhanced life, be part of something, part of a community’’ (p45). Trying this out first with your group will help you to feel comfortable with running this session online, in preparation for expanding it out to wider local participation.

The Book – Rob Hopkins

People like Rob Hopkins give us the courage to move forward. By setting an example, he shows us that we are right to place our hopes in a future in which men and women can act as stewards of their environment. The many stories in this book are evidence of the fact that for some people this future has already become a reality.” —Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris

Episode Twelve: What if criminal justice resources were instead invested into communities of colour?

We do have the capability to effect dramatic change, Hopkins argues, but we’re failing because we’ve largely allowed our most critical tool to languish: human imagination. As defined by social reformer John Dewey, imagination is the ability to look at things as if they could be otherwise. The ability, that is, to ask What if?And if there was ever a time when we needed that ability, it is now.

From What Is to What If’ - FoodFutures Rob Hopkins: ‘From What Is to What If’ - FoodFutures

Imagination has had a hard time recently. Among other things, it is blunted by an economic system that prioritises profits over people, by technologies that distract us and monetise our attention, and by a political system that insists there is no alternative to inequality and austerity. Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope you’ll agree that it’s worth it. From What Is to What If was printed on paper supplied by Sheridan that contains 100% postconsumer recycled fiber. We’ll be hosting a seed-funding Q&A at our upcoming webinar on 11th November in which we will introduce the ‘What If’ components of our Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain in more detail.

Rob Hopkins has long been a leader in imagining how we could remake our societies for the benefit of nature and humankind. His new book is a powerful call to imagine a better world. It should be widely read and appreciated. -Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; lead negotiator, Paris Climate Agreement

Podcast – Rob Hopkins Podcast – Rob Hopkins

There are also ways in which we can redesign our societies in such a way that more room and importance is given to our imagination. Hopkins highlights the important of more time for imagination in education, democracy and econ From What Is to What If is a call to action to reclaim and unleash our collective imagination, told through the stories of individuals and communities around the world who are doing it now, as we speak, and witnessing often rapid and dramatic change for the better. We know Transition groups are doing fantastic work responding to the challenges of climate crisis, social injustice and inequality. We also know that there are very real capacity and resource needs for doing this vital work, and even more so under the changing circumstances of Covid-19. In our community, the kids seem to have radically different feelings about school than they did ten years ago. The education department’s decision to eliminate testing, to give ample space for unstructured play and to provide students with opportunities within the community to acquire meaningful skills that enable them to live happy and healthy lives by their own definition means that most kids here now love going to school. My son, for example, recently upped his cooking skills by spending a week at a local restaurant. Rob Hopkins has long been a leader in imagining how we could remake our societies for the benefit of nature and humankind. His new book is a powerful call to imagine a better world. It should be widely read and appreciated.”— Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; lead negotiator, Paris Climate Agreement

Episode Sixteen: What if we took play seriously?

Times of great change invite us to rethink where we are at and what might need to be transformed in our communities. The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it’s more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it. This is just one of the many examples in this book where art plays a vital role in increasing imagination, helping people in many other ways in the process. People like Rob Hopkins give us the courage to move forward. By setting an example, he shows us that we are right to place our hopes in a future in which men and women can act as stewards of their environment. The many stories in this book are evidence of the fact that for some people this future has already become a reality.