💫 The August Spark

This is the monthly newsletter from Bemari where we talk about how to not get lost in sustainability. This summer we invite you to take the time to imagine your ideal future.

One of the most challenging aspects of working in sustainability can be that nagging, creeping sense that the future will be unavoidably bad. 

We all know the world’s on track for 2.9C of global warming and that 1 million species are on the brink of extinction. We also know that not enough is being done to combat these crises. Consequently, our brains tell us the future is going to be bad. Very bad. Especially as we’re already seeing the negative changes in our present.

But, at the same time, we must remember:

1. Our future isn’t linear, so it can’t be accurately predicted. The future is the cumulative result of all the actions we collectively take everyday. It therefore can’t be inevitable, as our actions change daily and we don’t know, for sure, what actions we’ll all take tomorrow.

2. The future will arrive into our present whether we want it to or not! So we may as well work out how to get excited about what’s around the corner. 

In the last few months, we’ve noticed a common theme amongst the various conversations we’ve had with companies and individuals on sustainability, and at the sustainability conferences we’ve attended. 

The theme is this: there is no agreed vision of what a “sustainable” something is. Be it a product, business, economy, tourism, lifestyle. There always seems to be a clearer articulation of what these things are not (e.g. don’t have plastic in) rather than what these things are. 

As such, it can feel hard to get a sense of where we’re collectively heading, rather than just away from. 

Not only this, when we have seen visions of sustainability, they’ve either had all the creativity sucked out of them, so as to be deemed ‘realistic’, OR they’ve been so creative, the audience mood has been one of cynicism and skepticism. 

We’ve noticed this trend more broadly: people are struggling to imagine a positive, exciting future that is radically different from today. There’s a consistent fear that the future must be bad, as we’re being told there are terrible times ahead: climate change, nature loss, breakdown of social cohesion.

But, like we’ve said, the future is coming whether we want it to or not and it’s in our power to make it, not just good, but great. 

So this summer, we invite you to put down the eco-grief and climate anxiety; the anger at politicians and CEOs for not moving fast enough and the constant feeling we could all be doing more. 

And instead take the time to reflect on the question: if there were no limits or restrictions, what is the future you want to arrive in your present? 

This may feel wishy-washy but, if we don’t know what future we want, how can we: 

• Expect anything different to what we have today?

• Know what to change in society and business to enable our ideal future to become a reality?

• Design businesses and operating models that exist within our ideal world rather than just the world we have today?

We’re not asking what’s the future you don’t want. For example ‘I don’t want war or climate change’.

We’re not asking what are the mechanisms you think will get to the future you want. For example ‘I want mandatory nature accounting on all commercial activities’ or ‘I want to embed regenerative practices across my business’ or ‘I want tighter restrictions on immigration’. 

We’re not asking for scenarios. Don’t go into ‘scenario planning’ mode, just put all restrictions and practicality to one side and allow yourself to imagine the future you ideally want to realise. 

Instead we’re asking you to: 

• Choose whatever point in the future you want

• Focus on imagining a future for either: 

  • The type of environment (built or natural) you want to be living in. What can you see when you walk around? What can you hear? What are you doing?

  • A specific topic e.g your ideal transport system 

  • A whole sector approach e.g. cosmetics sector (but remember NOT to go into solution mode or fall back on what could realistically be achieved). 

We’ve been increasingly asking clients this question and notice there is a slight catch 22. 

People usually respond with the future they think is going to happen, or they say what they want is so far-fetched it isn’t possible, so why bother saying it. 

However, if we want a future that’s different from the one we feel is inevitable, we need to push ourselves to imagine on a much greater scale, what we feel the future could be.  

The Future Cone is a useful tool for explaining why pushing our imagination is important. 

The Future Cone categorizes future scenarios into three buckets:

• Status quo: this is a future world that feels like a continuation of today. It’s what would likely happen unless there is an extreme disturbance or turmoil. 

• Realistic future: this is a future world that feels different from today, but is highly plausible and very familiar. If you mentioned ideas in this bucket to your friends/colleagues they’d be like ‘cool idea’ or ‘yeah I’ve heard they’re thinking of doing that/done that in Amsterdam’. 

• Radical future: this is a future world that would feel very different (in a good & exciting way) to the world today. If you mentioned ideas to your friends or colleagues they’d laugh and say ‘dream on!’ or ‘I just don’t see that happening in our lifetime’ or ‘no government / business would ever do that’. 

The white band is where the preferable future lies. It straddles the radical and realistic spaces. This is the Goldilocks spot: where your big ideas are tempered just enough to make them realistic (don’t focus on here yet).

We’re inviting you to focus on imagining what your radical ideal future would be. Our challenge to you, is to think BIG but stay juuuuust on the right side of sci-fantasy. 

• So a transport system comprising totally of public transportation and bicycles would be a radical idea;

• A transport system comprising totally of hoverboards would be a smidge too far. 

Here are some tips for getting started:

1. Get inspiration from out of the box thinkers. You want to feel challenged yet excited by (some of) what they’re saying. You won’t agree with all of it and if the ideas feel slightly bonkers but resonate then you’re on the right track. Here are some ideas to get you started, but really just go down a Google wormhole:

• Rob Hopkins: the master of futures thinking, who we highly rate here at Bemari

  • Listen to an episode of his podcast From What Is to What Next? 

  • Read his Manifesto for the Future

  • Read his book From What Is to What If

• Solarpunk: a movement based on radical optimism that envisions and works toward actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. 

• Degrowth: or the version closer to the realistic camp: post-growth. Both are models exploring futures where societies & ecologies thrive without reliance on economic growth. 

2. Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and reflect on some of the best ideas you’ve read about. Do you wish any of the ideas were real and living around you, even if they feel farfetched? If yes, when you get home, write it down. 

3. Observe nature: are there any ideas you would borrow from nature if you could? For example no waste or a collectively maintained balance? No need to think about how it would be done or what the current limits of bio-mimicry are. If you like a principle from nature, write it down.

4. Keep the question in the back of your mind over summer and when an idea comes to you write it down. 

If you start going into realistic mode or ‘how do we make it happen?’ mode, just notice this and put the thoughts to one side. That approach is for September not August :) 

This approach works for you as an individual but would also work for your business and sector. 

Let us know what futures you imagined!

Meme of the month

Recap of Good News this month

Is there an advice that has been very helpful to you and you think others would find helpful too? Please share by emailing [email protected].