From What If to What Next

This was such a beautiful conversation to be part of, with two old friends, and a story that I play at least a small role in.

In 2015, Transition Network, an organisation I had co-founded, undertook a transition of its own, from a pretty conventional management model to a non-hierarchical structure that distributed power, using Holocracy. We had to learn how to do it, and were brilliantly supported by Université du Nous, who support and advise organisations on how to do this.

For this episode of FWIWN I am joined by Sarah McAdam, one of the key people in Transition Network who made this happen and who now supports other organisations in making such shifts, and Guillaume Dorvaux, one of UDN's trainers who trained the team.

We're never one to shy away from the big questions, and to dive deep into the remarkable and far more delightful world that could yet be created if we do so. This week we are joined by two truly great guests who help us explore the question of what our economics system and thinking could look if we were to consciously and ambitiously decolonise it. You're going to love this one.

My guests are Prof. Sunny Singh, writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for decolonisation and inclusion across all aspects of society, and also Nonhlanhla Makuyana (they/them) a multidisciplinary artist, community organiser and educator, as well as co-director of the brilliant Decolonising Economics.

Such an expansive and rich conversation. I'd love to hear what you think of this one.

If you were one of those kids in school who stared out of the window most of the time, this episode is for you.

I'm joined by Kwesia X, aka City Girl in Nature (check out her many amazing videos), and by Ben Rawlence, author of three books, most recently The Treeline and founder and director of Black Mountains College.

It's a beautiful and thought-provoking conversation. Just how different could our education system be, and how would the imagination flourish if we made those changes? Classrooms? So last year.

Today's episode brings a big idea, like a really BIG idea, one that you may initially need to suspend disbelief in order to settle into but which, hopefully, by the end, you'll be fizzing with the possibilities of.

I'm joined by Della Duncan, Renegade Economist, host of the Upstream Podcast, a Right Livelihood Coach, founding member of the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, and so much more, and also by Jennifer Hinton, a systems researcher and activist in the field of sustainable economy who is currently a researcher at Lund University, in Sweden, and a senior research fellow at the Schumacher Institute.

This is a conversation that creates the space for you to really reevaluate some of the fundamental assumptions upon which our economy is built. As always, I'd love to know what you think...

This week I'm joined by two of the greatest practitioners of the imagination that I know. Dr. Penny A Hay is an artist, educator and researcher, Reader in Creative Teaching and Learning and Research Fellow Bath Spa University and Director of Research, House of Imagination. Signature projects include School Without Walls and Forest of Imagination. Ruth Sapsed is the Director of Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination (CCI), an arts and well-being charity that cultivates creative communities in Cambridgeshire and beyond. Their Artscapers report is essential reading for anyone interested in boosting the imaginations of young people, deeply inspiring.

This is a beautiful conversation, one that will open up all sorts of new thinking and insights. As always, do let me know what you think!

This episode of 'From What If to What Next' focuses on Utopianism, on our ability to imagine better futures. This is such an amazing conversation with two people who know more about Utopias than the rest of us.

Alex Zamalin's work first came to my attention through his book 'Black Utopia', which I hugely recommend, and which introduced me to so many great ideas and thinkers. And more recently, Gregory Claeys' book 'Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life after Consumerism', was similarly impactful, opening many new doors in my mind. To bring them together for a conversation? A dream come true. I hope you enjoy it. And I look forward to the podcasts of 2023 and where they might take us.

It's time for our Christmas special. We wanted to leave 2022 on a high, with a hugely inspirational story of imagination in action, of imagination going big, one that will leave your mind fizzing with possibility. Recently, Camden Council in London became the first UK local authority to offer Imagination Activist training to its staff. 32 people took part over 8 weeks in a course designed to expand their imaginations and to make them ambassadors for the imagination within the organisation. It was a huge success.

In this podcast we speak to Phoebe Tickell, of Moral Imaginations, who designed and taught the course, and Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council, to find out more. We explore what if every organisation did the same? I hope you're going to love this. As always, do let me know what you think.

The advertising industry is one of the key things driving the levels of consumption that are pushing us towards climate breakdown. But there are people within the advertising industry who are trying to push things in a different direction.

In this episode, we speak to Lisa Merrick-Lawless of Purpose Distruptors, and strategy director and writer Michael Hines, to enter into a future in which the advertising sector has stepped up as a key driver in the change we need to see. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts... In the podcast a couple of things are mentioned, the first is the Purpose Disruptors 'Advertised Emissions' report, and the second is their 'Good Life 2030 Documentary'.

This is not a podcast that shies away from the big and important What If questions, and today we're reaching out for one of the big ones of our time. Homelessness is one of scourges of our times, and is on the rise. But is it unavoidable and inevitable, or is it just the result of a series of decisions that could just as easily be made differently?

Our two amazing guests, Ana Rausch and Sam Tsemberis, are doing incredible work, which is already showing great results, using the 'Housing First' model. By the end of this podcast, you'll not only believe we can eradicate homelessness, but you'll also know how we can do that.

You're in for such a treat. Today's episode is about beavers, and what the future would look like if we allowed them to reshape the world in the way they are so incredibly good at. During the summer I went to Cornwall and fell in love with beavers, which inspired this episode. My two guests are Chris Jones, whose farm I visited to see the beavers, and Eva Bishop, whose work with the Beaver Trust is about promoting their wider re-introduction. This is such a beautiful conversation, and I challenge you not to also fall in love with beavers by the end of this episode.

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