Utopia Dispatch

In this episode, George and Sarah speak to Rob Hopkins, author of the book From What Is to What If: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want. Rob is well known for his work as co-founder of the Transition Network and many other related initiatives. His latest book is strongly linked to our ability to solve the climate crisis and is a call to action to reclaim and unleash our collective imagination, told through the stories of individuals and communities around the world who are doing it now. In this conversation we hear all about why he wrote it and what he found along the way. Find out more: - Rob's podcast From What If to What Next - https://www.robhopkins.net/podcast/ - From What is to What If - https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/from-what-is-to-what-if/ - Untitled project - https://untitled.community Also listen to: - Episode 1.3 - Just Build It

In this episode, Sarah interviews Leila Fortunato, volunteer Director of Banister House Solar which is a community-owned and managed solar energy project in Hackney, London. Leila talks about her journey to becoming Director of a community solar project on her local housing estate, and all the benefits that projects like this can bring to communities. The Banister House project was launched with help from Repowering London, an organisation that has been empowering communities across London to fund, install and manage their own renewable energy supply. Find out more: - Banister House Solar: http://www.hackneyenergy.org.uk/banister-house/ - Repowering London: https://www.repowering.org.uk/ - Community Energy England: https://communityenergyengland.org/ - Community Energy Scotland: https://www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk/ - Community Energy Wales: http://www.communityenergywales.org.uk/

Join George as he explores one of the most important strands of the climate crisis; climate justice. It's a phrase that crops up again and again, but what does it mean and how does it inform how we should respond to climate change? Without understanding it, can we ever arrive at anything worthy of being called a solution? To help us understand, we hear from Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins about the origins of global climate injustice and the imperative for incorporating this understanding into our actions. Leon is a lecturer on the Global Sustainable Development Programme at the University of Warwick. His research looks at the social and political relations of climate change, with a particular focus on the Caribbean region, and he investigates what climate justice means in the context of global historical, and present, inequalities. Links - [Bio] Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/schoolforcross-facultystudies/gsd/aboutus/peoplenew/drleonsealeyhuggins - [Twitter] Dr Leon-Sealey Huggins https://twitter.com/Leon_Ayo - [Book Chapter] 'The Climate Crisis is a Racist Crisis‘: Structural Racism, Inequality and Climate Change, Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/103485/13/WRAP-climate-crisis-racist-crisis-structural-racism-inequality-climate-change-VoR-Sealey-Huggins-2018.pdf - [Article] ‘1.5°C to stay alive’: climate change, imperialism and justice for the Caribbean, Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2017.1368013 - [Article] Extreme weather linked to CC https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate/climate-and-extreme-weather - [Data] Cumulative carbon emissions https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions#cumulative-co2-emissions - [Data] Emissions by region https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions#emissions-by-world-region - [Wiki] Cyclone Idai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Idai - [Wiki] Hurricane Irma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma - [Wiki] Colonialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism#Premodern - [Article] Philip Hoffman https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/2015-10-07/how-europe-conquered-world - [Article] Apartheid in Global Governance https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2019/10/16/apartheid-in-the-global-governance-system - [Site] CARICOM Reparations Commission http://caricomreparations.org Music - April 16 by Nathan Cheetham https://soundcloud.com/nathancheetham/april-16 Sound Effects - distant blasts by suburbanwizard https://freesound.org/people/suburbanwizard/sounds/455513/ - marching concrete loop by stib https://freesound.org/people/stib/sounds/240732/ - ganpati celebration in street clapping chanting horns cowbell distant surf india by kyles https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/451417/ - tykki laukaus big gun cannon 76 mm single shots gunshots by ylearkisto https://freesound.org/people/ylearkisto/sounds/332935/ - atlantic ocean waves by tim-kahn https://freesound.org/people/tim%20kahn/sounds/197714/ - vanhan ajan sota taistelu miekkailu ancient old time battle combat horses snorting and galloping men shouting and barking fencing swords clanging mix by ylearkisto https://freesound.org/people/ylearkisto/sounds/258207/ - marchingband by daveincamas https://freesound.org/people/daveincamas/sounds/43799/ Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they continue to search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this episode, the team talks to Mariama Kamara, Founder and Director of Smiling Through Light, and Leila Fortunato, volunteer Director of Banister House Solar - two brilliant women putting solar energy in the hands of the people. Mariama grew up in Sierra Leone, and set up a company as a way to empower local women through selling solar lamps, bringing clean, renewable energy access at the same time as creating employment and income opportunities in rural areas. Leila lives in Hackney, London. She talks about her journey to becoming Director of a community solar project on her local housing estate, and all the benefits that projects like this can bring to communities. Links: Smiling Through Light: https://twitter.com/smilingmk Mariama’s article in The Beam: https://medium.com/thebeammagazine/women-in-sierra-leone-the-invisible-force-of-the-energy-transition-2c309e3bdf39 Banister House Solar: http://www.hackneyenergy.org.uk/banister-house/ Repowering London: https://www.repowering.org.uk/ Sound Effects - hamster in a jar by Liancu https://freesound.org/people/Liancu/sounds/344728/ - Rat in the attic, possum in the roof by Darius Kedros https://freesound.org/people/Darius%20Kedros/sounds/276857/ - alarms by guitarguy1985 https://freesound.org/people/guitarguy1985/sounds/54048/ - hamster2 by ondrosik https://freesound.org/people/ondrosik/sounds/165906/ Photo by Rohan Makhecha on Unsplash

Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they continue to search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this episode, the team talks to Natasha Parker from Global Action Plan, and Claire who runs the blog Wantless. Natasha's work connects the environment and our mental wellbeing, through consumer culture. She runs programmes at Global Action Plan and does research at the Centre for Sustainable Prosperity investigating how all this stuff isn't good for the planet, and might not be so great for us either. Claire has lived experience of the all consuming power of our materialistic world. She tells us the story of her journey in to the world of debt and back out again through a more mindful and minimalist relationship with material goods, which she writes about on her blog. Links - Global Action Plan: https://www.globalactionplan.org.uk - Wantless: http://www.wantless.co.uk - Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP): https://www.cusp.ac.uk - Simplicity Voices: http://simplicityvoices.com Sound Effects - toolbox by yadronoff freesound.org/people/yadronoff/sounds/320385/ - van-stationary by vinci7 freesound.org/people/vinci7/sounds/451266/ - wild-boar-grunting-growling by theveomammoth11 freesound.org/people/theveomammoth11/sounds/492655/

Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they continue to search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this episode, the team talks to Prof. Mike Berners-Lee, author of the book There Is No Planet B. Mike tells us how the climate crisis is just one symptom of a series of connected human issues which are defining our time as the Anthropocene. He walks us through issues such as food, transport, energy and economics, and argues for changes that will keep us in balance with our planet. Links - Mike Berners-Lee https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/about-us/people/mike-berners-lee - There Is No Planet B https://theresnoplanetb.net - How Bad Are Bananas? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7230015-how-bad-are-bananas Sound Effects - Blips and Blops by prim-ordial https://freesound.org/people/prim-ordial/sounds/382948/ Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

In the fifth episode from the STIR to Action festival, we hear all about how the new economy can drive sustainability and form a new political power with Paul Chatterton and Grace Blakeley. Paul Chatterton is a Professor of Urban Futures at the University of Leeds and author of the book, Unlocking Sustainable Cities. He talks to us about the idea of sustainable cities and how the new economy can help to unlock them. Grace Blakeley is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, economics commentator at New Statesman, and author of the book, Stolen: How Finance Destroyed the Economy and Corrupted our Politics. In this conversation, she tells us the story of how the political left in the UK is forging a movement that brings together people and politicians, to create a new politics of democratic socialism. The STIR to Action Festival: Playground for the New Economy ran in July 2019 and featured a packed programme of thinkers and doers running workshops and giving talks about the new economy. Find out more about their New Economy Programme of training with the link below. Links Paul Chatterton: - Profile: https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/geography/staff/1015/professor-paul-chatterton - Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulChatterton9 - [Book] Unlocking Sustainable Cities: http://unlockingsustainablecities.org/home.html Grace Blakeley: - Profile: https://www.ippr.org/about/people/staff/grace-blakeley - Twitter: https://twitter.com/graceblakeley - [Book] Stolen: How Finance Destroyed the Economy and Corrupted our Politics: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43455150-stolen STIR to Action: - Website: https://www.stirtoaction.com - Workshops: https://www.stirtoaction.com/workshops

Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they continue to search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this episode, the team look into the crystal ball of possible Climate Futures with James Goodman, former Director of Futures at Forum for the Future. Spoiler alert: there are some bleak futures coming our way if we don’t act now. But don’t despair! This episode also features Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of the sustainability agency Futerra and the Climate Optimist movement, and author of The Happy Hero. Here she tells us about the psychology of optimism and gives us some reasons believe that a better future is possible. Links - James Goodman https://twitter.com/JamesTGoodman - Forum for the Future https://www.forumforthefuture.org/ - Solitaire Townsend https://twitter.com/GreenSolitaire - Futerra http://www.wearefuterra.com/ - Climate Optimist https://www.climateoptimist.org/ - The Happy Hero http://www.thehappyhero.org/ Sound Effects - Explosion by iwiploppenisse https://freesound.org/people/parademics/sounds/156031/ - Marching Boots by klankbeeld https://freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/sounds/172369/ - Distant Machine Gun by unfa https://freesound.org/people/unfa/sounds/245602/ - Evolvo Orb by lampeight https://freesound.org/people/lampeight/sounds/277151/ - Distant Bombing by filo-rossi https://freesound.org/people/filo-rossi/sounds/342136/ - Dystopian Future FX Sounds 7 by burghrecords https://freesound.org/people/burghrecords/sounds/388750/ Episode Photo by Marc Schulte on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/a2g3LM0cGFg

In this fourth episode from the STIR to Action festival, we hear all about community ownership and how to put power back in the hands of communities. Nathan Brown from Co-op Culture and Cooperantics and Tom Carman from Ethex take us through the nuts and bolts of community ownership and community shares. They tell us what it's all about, and why it’s so important for moving towards an economy that is fair, inclusive and democratic. The STIR to Action Festival: Playground for the New Economy ran in July 2019 and featured a packed programme of thinkers and doers running workshops and giving talks about the new economy. Find out more about their New Economy Programme of training with the link below. Links - Tom Carman - https://twitter.com/timtomdon - Ethex - https://www.ethex.org.uk/ - Nathan Brown - https://twitter.com/nath_brown - Cooperantics - https://www.cooperantics.coop/ - Co-op Culture - https://www.culture.coop/ - STIR to Action New Economy Programme - www.stirtoaction.com/workshops/

Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they continue to search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this episode, they hear from Joanna Haigh and Ajay Gambhir from the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London to learn about the science behind climate change and how we can mitigate the crisis. Joanna Haigh was Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London, and co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change until early 2019. She has been working on atmospheric physics for over 40 years and is a renowned expert in the field. She has researched many impacts on the climate including radiative transfer in the atmosphere, climate modelling, radiative forcing of climate change and the influence of solar irradiance variability on climate. Ajay Gambhir is a Senior Research Fellow, also at the at the Grantham Institute. His research looks at how society can transition to a low-carbon economy, considering the technologies and measures required to do so. He has advised the UK government and his research has a particular focus on the processes that drive down low-carbon technology costs, thereby making their deployment more cost-effective. Links - Joanna Haigh https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/j.haigh - Ajay Gambhir https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.gambhir - UK Emissions Over Time http://www.emissions.leeds.ac.uk/chart1.html - Global CO2 and Other GHG Emissions https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions - EPA Emissions by gas and sector https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data Episode Image - Warming stripes by Climate Lab Book https://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2018/warming-stripes/ Music - Grayse (intro) by Nathan Cheetham - https://soundcloud.com/nathancheetham/grayse-intro-1 - Dramatic SFX by brian1967 https://www.pond5.com/artist/BrianAGrafProductions SFX - Rain and Thunder by parademics https://freesound.org/people/parademics/sounds/204340/ - Fire forest inferno by dynamicell https://freesound.org/people/Dynamicell/sounds/17548/ - Howling wind by inchadney https://freesound.org/people/inchadney/sounds/157204/ - Rain and thunder atmo by parademics https://freesound.org/people/parademics/sounds/204340/ - Plastic creak by dheming https://freesound.org/people/dheming/sounds/274977/ - Black Sea Waves by Black_River__Phonogram https://freesound.org/people/parademics/sounds/204340/ - Cassette tape deck open close rewind clicks by kyles https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/450524 - Fast reverse vortex by earclash05 https://freesound.org/people/earlcash05/sounds/280222/ - Pop Sound by Deraj https://freesound.org/people/deraj/sounds/202230/

In this third episode from the STIR to Action festival, we hear about mental health and the economy, as well as new decentralised, collective ways of working. Sally Zlotowitz, from Psychologists for Social Change tells us about the ways in which the economy invisibly shapes our mental health and what needs to change. Nati Lombardo and John Gieryn talk to us about Enspiral, the collective that is exploring new ways to work that centre on trust, respect, and openness, sharing money, information and control, all while working on things that matter. The STIR to Action Festival: Playground for the New Economy ran in July 2019 and featured a packed programme of thinkers and doers running workshops and giving talks about the new economy. Find out more about their New Economy Programme of training with the link below. Links - Psychologists for Social Change http://www.psychchange.org - Enspiral https://enspiral.com/ - STIR to Action New Economy Programme https://www.stirtoaction.com/workshops

The team are back. Join George, Ollie and Sarah as they search for the people, stories and ideas that can help us to solve the climate crisis, and build a better future at the same time. In this first episode, they hear from Rob Hopkins about the link between the power of imagination, and the very real threat of the global heating. Rob Hopkins co-founded Transition, a movement to rebuild communities in the face of economic instability and climate breakdown by taking practical steps to reduce energy usage, increase self-sufficiency, build local connections and boost wellbeing. Over the last two years, he has been writing a book which looks at our collective crisis of imagination when it comes to reimagining the future in the face of the climate crisis. In this episode he tells us about the challenges and inspiring solutions that he has come across on his journey. Links - http://robhopkins.net - http://transitiontowntooting.blogspot.com - https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/from-what-is-to-what-if/ - https://schoolcuts.org.uk Music - September 12 by Nathan Cheetham https://soundcloud.com/nathancheetham/september-12-project-loop-4 Sound Effects - Fanfare by humanoide9000 https://freesound.org/people/humanoide9000/sounds/466133/ - Suspense Cue by plamdi1 https://freesound.org/people/plamdi1/sounds/95062/ - Slow Doom Vortex by SLC Bagpiper https://freesound.org/people/SLCBagpiper/sounds/407123/ - Old Phone Ringing by cvp1965 https://freesound.org/people/cvp1965/sounds/275053/ - Phone Pick Up by Kyles https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/454105

In July, George and Sarah packed their camping gear and headed to the STIR to Action Festival that featured a packed programme of thinkers and doers running workshops and giving talks about the new economy. In this second episode from the festival, we hear about framing the new economy and a house building revolution. Daniel Stanley, from Cohere tells us all about framing, storytelling and messaging to make the new economy movement more inclusive. Irena Bauman and Matt Murphy, from an organisation called Massbespoke, bring us big ideas about how technology and new business models could bring customised house building to everyone. Links: - http://coherepartners.com - http://massbespoke.com - https://www.stirtoaction.com/workshops Credits: UD Logo: Liam Smale

The first episode of Utopia Dispatch Live! In July, George and Sarah packed their camping gear and headed to the STIR to Action Festival. Like any other festival it had big tents in a field, toilets that smell unfamiliar, and music. However, its main feature was a packed programme of thinkers and doers running workshops and giving talks about the new economy. In this episode, find out what the new economy is, and listen to some of the people helping to shape it. You'll hear from Cat Ainsworth from DotProject, about alternatives to tech giants like Spotify, and from Yvonne field, from Ubele, about diversity and inclusion in the new economy. We also feature Hazel Sheffield who has reported on grassroots new economy initiatives through her project Far Nearer. Links: - https://dotproject.coop - https://ublele.org - https://farnearer.org - https://stirtoaction.com/workshops Credits: Music: Phil Calado UD Logo: Liam Smale

The climate crisis is a terrifying monster of our own creation. The question everyone is asking: Can we stop it? We have the capabilities, but there are barriers. The changes that need to happen in our lives and societies are huge, and there are people, governments and organisations who are resistant to taking action because they would rather maintain the status quo. People are rising up to shift the course of history, but we need more than fear to build the future. We need a vision. What does the new world we want to create look like? If we choose the right solutions to the climate crisis, we can not only avert catastrophe, but take humanity to a better place than we're in right now. Join Utopia Dispatch for our next series, A Climate of Hope, as we search not for a plan to simply survive, but for one where humanity can thrive on our planet.

In this episode we interview Indra Adnan and Pat Kane, co-initiators of the Alternative UK, a new political platform to reimagine politics in the United Kingdom. Through political laboratories and meet-ups across these islands, they are launching a "friendly revolution". To find out more about the Alternative UK visit thealternative.org.uk

In this episode we interview Niels Koldewijn from the Elos Foundation and Instituto Elos - a social education organisation based in Brazil that strengthens people’s capacity to realise their dreams and transform their reality. We talk about how to imagine the best possible world and the tools to make it possible - starting within your own community. https://www.elosfoundation.org https://institutoelos.org

In this episode, we interview Darren Webb, a lecturer in Education at the University of Sheffield and all round thinker on all things utopian. We talk social and poltical crises, different facets of utopianism, and practical considerations about how we get to a better future. To see more from Darren you can find him on Twitter @dlcwebb or find research by him on his the University of Sheffield website page.

George speaks with Ruth Potts, campaigner, writer and educator, about our crisis of imagination and why we need to build more joyful, appealing visions of the future.

George speaks to Alex Williams about his book Inventing the Future - Postcapitalism and a World Without Work, co-authored with Nick Srnicek.

George speaks to Olof Gränström about the need to take a fact based view of the world, and how things might be a little bit better than you thought they were. Olof is part of the Gapminder Foundation.

In this episode the team wraps up the series by speaking to people who empower communities to reimagine their collective futures and make change in the UK, the Netherlands and Brazil. Utopia Dispatch is the podcast talking to people with thinking big ideas and taking radical action, to figure out what a better world might look like. Follow us as we embark on our journey into humanity's possible brighter futures. This episode features: Indra Adnan - Alternative UK Pat Kane - Alternative UK Niels Koldewijn - Elos Foundation Music: George Richardson Louis Reader

In Episode 1, we heard about the need to start putting forward a new vision of the society that we want. Here, the team tries to understand how the idea of Utopia can be used as a tool for transforming the way we think about the world and to enable change. We explore some of the ins and a few of the outs, and start to see that unleashing our collective imaginations might just be what we need to wreak joy throughout the universe. Utopia Dispatch is the podcast talking to people with thinking big ideas and taking radical action, to figure out what a better world might look like. Follow us as we embark on our journey into humanity's possible brighter futures. This episode features: Darren Webb - University of Sheffield Ruth Potts - Red Pepper, Bread, Print & Roses Music: George Richardson Louis Reader Sound effect credits from freesound.org: Beautiful Ambient Melody - PatrickLieberkind Farmyard Noises - acclivity Tape Calculator - tomlija

Ever get the feeling that the world could be a little bit better? Fed up with war, poverty, inequality, climate doom, and more? So are we. Utopia Dispatch is back, and taking on the small task of radically reimagining the future of human society, while somehow managing to keep our spirits up at the same time. No biggie. This is the first episode in a mini-series that explores why we should seriously consider alternative futures. We start off by challenging our assumptions about how bad the world really is, by looking at some cold hard facts about humanity's progress. With those in mind, we hear about recent history to understand the emergence of the dominant ideology of our time, and what we need to do to start thinking about creating something new. Follow us as we embark on a journey to figure out what a better world might look like, by talking to people thinking big ideas and taking radical action. This episode features interviews with: Olof Granstrom - Gapminder Foundation Alex Williams - Lecturer and Author Music: George Richardson Louis Reader