It gave me clarity on my own sense of optimism and resilience against being despondent … and a sense of what I’m empowered to change and therefore, how to live life well and let go of any boom or bust notion of change making” Episode One: What if birdsong drowned out the traffic? Occasional other treats, such as our interview with Tom Carnac, other videos and podcasts just for you, treats like our upcoming interview with Rutger Bregman and others, and the opportunity to ask the What If questions that shape the podcast. As we began floating this idea with our friends and the wider community, the term ‘Transition’ arose to describe the intentional act of shifting from high resource use, high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, extractive business practice and fragmented communities to communities with a healthier culture, more resilient and diverse local economies, more connection and less loneliness, more biodiversity and more time, democracy and beauty. ¹² 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. I moderate these comments and share details with relevant team members, as well as making them publicly visible here.

From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins | Waterstones From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins | Waterstones

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. I pass what used to be one of the district’s supermarkets, most of which closed down about ten years ago. The explosion in community food production and rapid shift of community investment led to a withdrawal of support from supermarkets, which precipitated the collapse of the industrial food model over the space of only a couple of years. The building was repurposed and became home to a variety of local food processors, small-scale manufacturing and a training centre linked to local schools. The place is buzzing. Our former supermarket houses a mill that processes locally grown grains, as well as a sawmill that processes locally harvested timber. What had been extensive car parks are now intensive food gardens – modelled on those that surrounded Paris a hundred years ago – and they provide local food for local markets. What Is delved into what is happening right now during the pandemic, what it has uncovered and taught us, and what inspiring responses Transition groups and collaborators have already developed. Exactly the book I needed right now. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that cynicism was just a tactic people used to shut down conversations when they didn't know the answer or when they didn't want to change their view of the world. This book uses extensive examples to show how people can and do improve their lives and their communities every day by not being afraid to dream and act and make change. Often these changes start small and grow into something bigger. But they can also start with mass movements and people taking democratic control of their cities.

Episode Fourteen: What if we were to respond to the debt crisis with art and playfulness?

Stress reduces the functioning of the hippocampus. A paradox: When we need our imagination most, to get us out of stressful situations, its full possibilities tend to elude us. In From What Is to What If, Rob Hopkins spotlights dozens of individuals and organizations around the world who are actually, defiantly doing work to make the world a friendlier, happier, more imaginative, playful, and sustainable place. But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly—for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network—with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves.

From What Is to What If:Unleashing the Power of Imagination From What Is to What If:Unleashing the Power of Imagination

One might say that human societies have two boundaries. One boundary is drawn by the requirements of the natural world and the other by the collective imagination. Chapters: taking play seriously, the importance of imagination to health, following nature's lead, reclaim our attention spans, change schools to improve imagination, become better storytellers, ask better questions, leaders prioritise imagination, and what if all of the above happened at once? 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 It sounds made up, doesn’t it? It is. Mostly. ⁴ The story is my imagining of the near future, a story of How Things Turned Out OK.ISBN 978-1-60358-905-5 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-60358-906-2 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-60358-907-9 (audiobook) 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. I’ve come to believe we desperately need stories like this – stories of How Things Turned Out OK – because if there is a consensus about anything in the world at this point, it seems to be that the future is going to be awful. And with good reason. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that the world’s temperature warmed by 1 degree Celsius over the past century. To avoid exceeding 1.5 degrees, they say, we would need to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030, and to zero by 2050. ⁵ And their findings are actually pretty conservative. Others argue that even staying below a 2-degree increase would, in reality, for ‘developed’ nations such as those in the EU, necessitate cuts of 12 percent a year, starting now, far beyond the EU’s current target of 40 percent by 2030.⁶ Our thanks to National Lottery Players, and The National Lottery Community Fund for enabling us to Bounce Forward! 2 Comments Stories of Transition: How a Movement of Communities Is Coming Together to Reimagine and Rebuild Our World

From What Is to What If – Kosmos Journal From What Is to What If – Kosmos Journal

The second revelation is that, if we are content to muddle through, then why be anchored to current ways of doing things? Why don't we experiment to try things out? If they go wrong, then we can muddle along on any case. If we take this view, then we are empowered to dream about alternative states of affairs. It's a useful way to counter the fear of failure, which often acts to paralyse our actions. At last, a design for our dreams. I believe we have a debt of honour to take action. Please read this book and defy the herd. Are we golden or are we debris? -Mark Stewart, musician, The Pop Group and Mark Stewart & The Maffia Transition projects relating to local economy, community resilience, neighbourhood mutual aid, support for disadvantaged groups, local food growing and more.

It’s a great opportunity for your group to come together and really work through what is going on at present where you live. The process will help you to develop a shared vision for your community, as well as the areas/themes you would like to focus on during further community engagement. An inspirational manifesto, From What Is to What If offers a template for creating dramatic, positive change." Since 1970, numbers of birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals on planet has dropped by 60%. We lose between 150-200 species every day according to the UN. As we derive our language from the natural world, what happens to our quality of speech once we lose these species? By 2100, over half world's 6,000 languages will be gone. National Geographic lost 93% of food variety seeds in just 80 years. We've lost 85% of apple cultivars in the same time period. What are also the effects on imagination when food supply and shopping sources are all the same no matter the location? Are current generations living with low-level PTSD? Population struggling with trauma may be closer to 50%. Shouldn't we be measuring wealth by contentment rather than consumption? Milton Friedman wrote that only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change - but the actions taken depend on the results lying around, which means we need to be providing people with positive stories envisioning successful climate change adaptation and societal change. "We get so bogged down in staring straight into the abyss that we've lost our sight of heaven." The power of positive thinking - imagining the future and what it's like there - can affect behaviour and influences your decisions between now and the future. Functional imagery training should involve the future - like the Iroquois's 7 generations philosophy.