Resilience and wisdom to stay happy in the years ahead
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 … Read more
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
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:
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
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
The Knoydart Peninsula is part of mainland Scotland, but so remote that there’s no road in: you either walk for two days, or catch a ferry from Mallaig on the West Coast. The community here raised £750K to buy the 17,200-acre estate from its negligent and bankrupt landlord in 1999, and it’s now a really … Read more
Improving food security and affordable housing supply There’s a widespread view that strengthening local communities will be crucial in the years ahead, to help us all to adapt to increasing levels of disruption, including food supplies, utilities, weather patterns, and more. One way to speed up this process is to create eco-hamlets, which would be … Read more
Another pioneering project in Wales Black Mountains College (BMC) is an exciting new project, which only started teaching in 2020. Whilst a lot of educational institutions are large, formal, and focussed on content which is abstract and past-based, this one is the opposite. The vision which Chief Executive Ben Rawlence and his team are manifesting … Read more
Lots of history, but here and now can be elusive Forming spiritual roots with the land where I’m living is important to me, so this is a progress report after two years in Wales. Wales does have ancient sacred sites: stone circles like Gors Fawr, and henges called cromlech. However, they seem less well known … Read more
Learning from Boiled Frog syndrome Climate psychologists tell us that humans aren’t good at dealing with complex, diffuse threats whose timing is uncertain. It seems we’d be great at handling a woolly mammoth attack, and our evolution is way behind reality. If you compare the latest five years to the previous five, what do you … Read more