At this crucial time in human-ecological history we see around us misuse of the imagination. Films, television, conversation and private rumination; we are surrounded by depictions of terror and apocalypse.

And yet we do not have to fall before the facts. There are a number of ways we can meet them. We are not suggesting delusion and denial of the evidence, quite the opposite, we are proposing using the greatest resource we have to actively meet these challenges, our imaginations.

Imaginal Futures, the deliberate and artful imagining of the future. What future would you like to see – could you communicate it as if it had already happened in the near future, or through the eyes of your great, great grandchild? Could you write it as a story, draw it as a picture or diagram? At this workshop we will invite you to imagine well, bravely, kindly, wisely. The times demand nothing less.

Dr Carla Stang is an anthropologist from the University of Cambridge and author of A Walk to the River in Amazonia. Together with mythologist Dr Martin Shaw, she created the MA in Myth & Ecology at Schumacher College, out of which the global collaborative project ‘Imaginal Futures’ emerged.

Simon Orman is FOCAL and RTS award winning documentary producer who specialises in rare archival artefacts, and Middle Eastern based films. His passion for  narrative and nature led him to his ongoing work as co-steward of the ‘Imaginal Futures’ project.