This civilisation is dying, but people carrying the seeds of a new one will survive it. How can we navigate our way among vast possibilities that lie beyond the coming end of business as usual? A first step is accepting that our renewed imagination and action is required. 

While there are scientifically-based guesses we can make, we find it is not easy for people to agree on what a realistic future could look like: how bad or good can things really get? What exact scenarios do we need to prepare for? And yet, in an unravelling complex system, it is impossible to predict the exact shape things will warp into. Logic is useful, but too limited here. The imagination is what nature gave us for sensing how complexity unfolds. Lets use it!

We began this inquiry last year (see closing reflections from it here), and have decided to deepen it.

We’ll ask uncomfortable questions: the belief that transition must eradicate global injustice and inequality is high among progressives, but to many this sounds like an invitation to utopian failure: ending in oppressive state interventions. By Thrutopia we mean creating a best-actually-possible, though “imperfect”, future through bold and inspired pragmatism. There, full-scale collapse may be averted, but injustice, markets, and inequality will probably continue to exist, even if much reduced. How do we use ideas from across the political spectrum to achieve this? Our enquiry will be based on convening discussions about alternative futures while keeping an open mind, which includes grappling with politically diverse perspectives. 

Questions:

• How do we cultivate the ability not to ‘bullshit ourselves’ when engaging with future scenarios?

• Why is it crucial for thrutopian imagination to extend beyond the progressive bubble? How to achieve this?

• At what other moments in history was collective imagination captured by a shared dream, and what did people do to make it come true? 

• How to engage with progress and tech? When does it stop serving us and other beings? When does too much spiral into addiction to an illusion of control?

More about Furnace Brook

It was crucial for us this year to gather in a place where we could witness and support people who are undertaking a thrutopian experiment. Apart from the grazing goats on premises and on-site tap-room (providing real ales brewed by none other than our host Di!), just a few hours South of London, Furnace Brook will greet us with eighty acres of farmland, lakes, meadows & old farm buildings that are becoming a home for thriving wildlife, regenerative farming & a growing family of nature-based enterprises.

Its vision is to connect people of all ages with nature & with each other. Furnace Brook partners with local farms & schools to help children understand where their food comes from, supports local residents to grow produce for their community & facilitates a Community Gardens Network to engage older adults, isolated individuals, young people & those navigating mental health challenges.