Mike Kauschke in Dialogue with Rob Hopkins

In the midst of our many crises, the future can look like something to avoid or to fear. But Rob Hopkins sees the future as a field of possibility. The co-founder of the Transition Town Movement, which brings change to the concrete, local human level, sees his work for change rooted in our power of imagination. When we can imagine a new future and long for it, it will be the strongest motivator to act.

He created podcasts and trainings in which he travels into the future with his guests or participants to the world people want to live in. For him this changed his attitude as an activist and made him investigate the power of a love for the future, that he explores in his new book “How to Fall in Love with the Future”

Rob Hopkins says, “In my work I try to help people to imagine what a low carbon future could be like, if we take the fear out of it and cultivate a longing for it. Imagination allows us to generate longing. Longing is one of the most powerful and precious things that we have right now. As activists we often think, we just need to give people a sufficiently terrifying report and they're going to change the world. But that’s delusional. We're only going to create a different future if we long for it first.”

To awaken people to this power of imagination Rob Hopkins runs “Imagination Catalyst” trainings for organizations as diverse as Balenciaga, London Marathon Group, local councils and Museum Booster. He says about this work:

“We need to be able to fill people's imagination with possibility, stories, longing, desire and a belief that is about moving towards a future that's so irresistible and delicious that we have no choice. If it feels like we're being dragged away from something irreplaceable, we're not going to do it. So, we have to create that kind of longing. And that's the work of imagination, music, poetry, storytelling and art.“

In this inspiring conversation, Rob Hopkins explores the power of imagination, community, and collective vision in shaping a sustainable and hopeful future. He shares insights on how time travel, art, and diverse voices can ignite collective longing and action to address climate change and societal challenges.

www.robhopkins.net

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“Confucianism is a learning civilization rather than a missionary one. The Analects by Confucius opens not with commandments or conversion, but with the delight of learning: ‘To learn and practice constantly—is this not a pleasure?’ Learning is seen as an inner fulfillment rather than a rule imposed on others. Moral influence arises from ongoing self-cultivation, allowing character itself to become a quiet source of resonance.

Therefore, Confucianism is a dialogical rather than dialectical civilization. It aims for understanding rather than victory, resonance rather than domination. This outlook makes it an inclusive civilization, not a closed one, capable of coexisting with differences without erasing them”, says Jianbao Wang, Director of the Center for the Humanities and Business Ethics at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and student of the renowned philosopher Tu Weiming.

In this Radio evolve we will speak with Prof. Jianbao Wang about the ethics and spiritualty of Modern Confucianism, and the relationship and differences of Western and Chinese philosophy and spiritual thinking.

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Ecovillages have been around for some decades, giving rise to many different communities around the world and in Europe. In many ways they provided fertile ground for new experiments in ecological farming, in living together, in decision making and dialogue and how to deal with human diversity. But many of the hopes for ecological and social change that fueled the founding of Ecovillages have not been manifested in the way many people hoped for. It seems there are various backlashes in social and ecological dimensions of Western societies. How do Ecovillages respond to this dynamic? How does this change their approach or self-understanding? What are the challenges and potentials for Ecovillages in these difficult times we are in? How can Ecovillages be places of building trust together?

In Radio evolve we speak about these questions with Dario Ferraro, a project manager, facilitator, and filmmaker who divides his time between Vilnius, Lithuania, and the Torri Superiore Ecovillage in Italy. Dario is active in the European Ecovillage Network, whose annual gathering is taking place this year at the Nature Community near Regensburg with the theme “To Dare to Trust”.

More information: www.ecovillagegathering.org

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