Future Outlook Archives - Seeding Our Future

Are schools teaching what our youth needs to learn?

August 12, 2026 by Alan Heeks

Book blog: The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

July 8, 2026 by Alan Heeks

Book blog: The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett You’re unlikely to find this delightful, uplifting book in lists of Thrutopian fiction, but it deserves a place. Unlike most Thrutopian novels, which paint a detailed picture of an imagined future, The Secret Garden teaches us a vital skill, showing how carrying a positive vision can … Read more

A skimpy guide to Thrutopian fiction

July 8, 2026July 7, 2026 by Alan Heeks

I’ve only just discovered Thrutopia, so this blog highlights the books I’ve read which broadly fit this category. In fact, the term Thrutopian was coined recently, by Rupert Read of the Climate Majority Project, to denote books which explore how humanity might get through the climate crisis. Here are my tips:

Visit Thrutopia at Hazel Hill Wood

May 29, 2026 by Alan Heeks

Unlike the rose or gloom of utopia and dystopia, Thrutopia offers visions of a fairly positive and possible future, which recognises the chaos we’re in currently. Mostly Thrutopia is found in books and movies, but you can also find it in a magical Wiltshire wood. Hazel Hill is the 70-acre conservation wood and off-grid retreat … Read more

The Ministry for the Future: Kim Stanley Robinson

May 20, 2026 by Alan Heeks

A gripping gateway to future possibilities This is a big book in every sense: 576 pages long, spanning decades in time and most parts of the world in place. MFF is often cited as a leading example of Thrutopian fiction: meaning that it offers us a picture of the future which is realistic but at … Read more

Losing control – the nomad way of living

August 24, 2026March 3, 2023 by Alan Heeks

A different approach to future happiness One of my big life-changing experiences was co-leading a dozen retreats in the Tunisian Sahara with Bedouin guides. They had grown up as true nomads, moving around the desert with their camels and goats, but now living mostly in a town because many desert wells had dried up. Our … Read more

How Everything Can Collapse: by Servigne and Stevens

August 12, 2025November 20, 2020 by Alan Heeks

If you want to understand how our future could unravel… I highly recommend this book: it will give you a clear sense of why societies might well collapse, what that could look like, and to some extent how we could prepare for this, or adapt if it happens. Originally written in French, the book has … Read more

Taking extra good care of ourselves

April 10, 2026February 27, 2025 by Alan Heeks

Taking extra good care of ourselves Why it really matters now I’m guessing that this theme will resonate with many of you as it does with me. We are having to cope with a climate that has become much more abrasive: and I’m referring not only to the weather, but to politics and plenty more. … Read more

Is Britain heading for a food emergency?

February 21, 2025 by Alan Heeks

Probably… and how can we prepare? By food emergency, I mean a prolonged period of serious food shortages, and/or extreme food price inflation. Many of us already know how fragile Britain’s food security is, and how flimsy the long-standing Government strategy is: ‘Leave it to Tesco.’ We currently import 46% of our food, and supply … Read more

Book blog: The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler

January 21, 2025March 2, 2023 by Alan Heeks

Communication insights from an octopus If you’d like to appreciate the upsides of present times through a book about a dysfunctional future, this novel could suit you: but that’s only half its story. Without being at all didactic, Ray Nayler draws us into a deep exploration about the nature of consciousness and reality. The four … Read more

Current Events

Inner strength for stormy times: how soul resilience helps | November 25

Wednesday, November 25 7.00 – 8.00pm UK time: free webinar with Alan Heeks This interactive workshop will help you explore what soul resilience could mean for you: what your spirit or higher self wants for you, how to find some steadiness and clarity amid the climate crisis and digital overwhelm, and ways to nourish your inner self. Alan has been exploring this issue for 30 years, and the webinar draws on his forthcoming book: Soul Resilience: inner strength for climate anxiety and digital overwhelm. Free, but advance booking essential. Group size limited to 24 people. To apply for your free place, follow this link.

Light in the Darkness | November 13–15

A men’s peer group in the Welsh hills 13–15 November 2026 | Trwyn Tal, Llanthony Valley, Wales This weekend is a chance to find your light and nourish it, in the face of the darkening season and the worries of the world. We will draw support from the fellowship of the group and the magical landscapes of the Llanthony Valley. This will be a peer group for a maximum of six men, enabled by Alan Heeks and Mark Smalley. The weekend may include group processes, walking, meditation, solo time and enjoying each other’s company over shared meals. We hope to gather younger and older men so that we can share insights and support across generations. Our venue: Trwyn Tal in the Llanthony Valley, Wales Accommodation: £190 for men aged over 35 or on a higher income; £90 for men under 35 or on a low income. Food purchases and cooking will be shared. Travel: Pick-up may be available from Bristol, Abergavenny or Hay-on-Wye. For more information or to book, contact Mark Smalley: or 07764 335 688 DOWNLOAD FULL DETAILS

A Sufi Garden – Monthly Online Group

Wednesday, November 4, 2026 7.30 – 9pm: free online event The Sufi Garden is a life-affirming evening of meditation, body prayer and poems, led by Alan Heeks and Karim Hadden. No previous experience needed. The theme for November 4 is: Greeting life with gratitude: Rumi reminds us that sorrow prepares us for joy and compares being human to being a guest house where, he advises, we should be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. In this evening, through our usual combination of dance, song and embodied spiritual practices we will both acknowledge our sorrows and open ourselves to the transformative power of gratitude to harmonize the music of our lives and increase our capacity to live in community with joy and courage. For more information and registration, see here.

Featured Blog

Are schools teaching what our youth needs to learn?

On official life expectancy, today’s teenagers could expect to live into the 2080’s. Do we really think schools are preparing them for the troubles ahead? Changes to the National Curriculum move at glacial speed. A major review is being implemented, reaching classrooms in… 2028. Whilst there are some positive changes, many experts are critical, seeing them as too timid and too slow. More details here. Schools Week magazine says the new curriculum still sees pupils as “vessels to fill with knowledge”, where the real need is to use and filter data from real life, AI and elsewhere. Simon Jenkins in the Guardian urges a move away from formal exams, which prioritise memorising facts, to continuous course-based assessment. As a non-expert in education, I am amazed that there seems to be almost no trialling of more innovative approaches, and am exploring whether this could happen in a couple of Welsh secondary schools. Wales sets its own curriculum, and is usually more open to new approaches than Whitehall. The context for our youth is getting tougher all the time. A major study recently showed how deep and widespread are concerns about climate and the future among 16-25-year-olds, across the world: see more here. The impacts of social media are still being understood, but include a big rise in narcissism among young people, and a decline in social skills. My suggestions on how to educate young people come from my broad explorations of resilience and wellbeing in the face of climate change and other future challenges: Community cultivation: I share the view that Western cultures are too focussed on individuality. And many surveys show that high social media activity has made many young people self-centred and narcissistic. In the turbulent times ahead, the skills for both practical actions and emotional support in groups will be crucial, but most people of any age lack these skills. What’s needed includes ability to express your own strong feelings clearly and cleanly, and hear others’; to compromise, collaborate, negotiate; to resolve or live with conflicts and differences in values. Also to understand a community’s need for cohesion, find ways to include diversity, rituals, and lots more. Wouldn’t it be great if schools and colleges taught these skills? Resilience and self-care: life is getting more abrasive and alarming, so we’re all going to need more physical, emotional and soul resilience. This can be learned. Self-care means an understanding of how to manage stress, and how to calm and nurture yourself – including support from others. For general resilience resources, see www.seedingourfuture.org.uk, for soul resilience, see www.soulresilience.net. Nature affinity: my hope is that every child and teenager gets experiences and knowledge that help them feel in community with all Nature, instead of seeing it as a dead asset for human use. The growth of Forest Schools is a hopeful sign. Facing climate change: by this, I mean not only teaching the science, the future outlook, the choices that could be made, but even more importantly, the emotional capacity to live with and grow through the fear, overwhelm, and other feelings this must arouse. The Climate Psychology Alliance have developed some good processes for this, and the Work that Reconnects is also relevant. Change-making: the younger generations need to know how to work for positive change, within political and economic systems that often look indifferent and in service to the rich. There are learnable skills of using the law, claiming your rights, gathering public support in your local community, using online petitions and more… Imagination and creativity: in his excellent book, From What Is to What If, the founder of the Transition Network, Rob Hopkins, shows how the abilities and the creative space to imagine a better future has been largely squeezed out of the education system and many other places. We have to re-enable imagination, and link it to creative expression of all kinds: this is a vital part of positive change-making. For my summary blog on Rob’s book, click here. Practical survival skills: we know that climate change is likely to continue for many years, and the impacts beyond 2040 or 2050 are probably severe, maybe a lot sooner. Survival skills can range from basics like having emergency food and torches, through coping without mobile phone networks, to how to do basic plumbing, carpentry, etc. Another key element in this is how to grow and cook your own food. This pairs well with the resilience and self-care mentioned earlier. If you’re interested in role models for what this could look like, here are a few: Black Mountains College, in Wales, for further education; United World Colleges, for secondary education and beyond, internationally; Efterskole in Denmark, for 14-18-year-olds; Agora in the Netherlands for a pupil-led approach; and the Steiner Waldorf schools do well in teaching creative and social skills.