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EDC Project Awards Proposal – Refuturing Connections
One source of toxicity right now is how we have let our imaginations become hijacked by dystopian futures. The tragedy of the polycrisis is that we have lost the ability to imagine alternatives, and if we can’t imagine alternatives, we can’t create new systems that align humanity within planetary boundaries. This workshop is focused on creating an antidote to this toxicity by leading participants through a series of meditative and imaginative exercises focused on helping them imagine a healthy ecological future for Baltimore and beyond. Participants will have the chance to reflect and discuss, as well as brainstorm how they see the potential roots of those seeds emerging around them and how they may be able to build on that.
Since growing isolation is one of the factors feeding this toxicity, one important element of this event will be to build connections. Between meditations there will be a chance to share stories, discuss and reflect with other participants in small groups, as well as share contact information.
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6 Replies
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I love your idea for a collective future reimagining! Your meditative approach to this issue feels like such a needed reprieve. Taking the time to process our emotions while tapping into a collective creative energy feels so healing! This approach can have so many outcomes…
-creating new stories about our collective future (there’s not just one story!)
-channeling a new sensitivities to our surroundings (becoming more aware of the small things, appreciating beauty)
-reframing our challenges as opportunities
-creating a space for connection
Some books you may find useful:
-Adrienne Maree Brown- Pleasure Politics
– Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone- Active Hope
-Tricia Hersey- Rest Is Resistance
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Thank you for these resources Rachel!
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Hi Kate,
Just wanted to make sure you also saw the Solarpunk call at the Crow’s Nest (includes seperate, free programming call) https://www.crowsnestbaltimore.com/solarpunk-call We are very aligned in purpose!
crowsnestbaltimore.com
Call for Art Due March 03-- Solarpunk
Speculative artwork allows us to envision the future, but this genre is dominated by dystopia– notably cyberpunk and steampunk. In visual arts, dire warnings get lost in the allure of cybernetic partners and elegant Victorian costumes. “Solarpunk” was devised as … Continue reading
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Hi Alexi! Thanks for sending this on and it is great to see alignment in our work. We will review this as well and follow your work. 🙂
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There are several additional initiatives that have emerged creating space to share stories, reflections, and imagine a healthy ecological future. Below are some examples:
-Rob Hopkins – Founder of the Transitional Towns movement; argues that the practice of imagining the future in a vivid and sensorial way generates a deep longing for a future that galvanizes action to bring it into existence.
– Love Letters to the Future – PJ Manney and Laura Faye Tenenbaum focus on dismantling outdated, harmful cultural myths and replacing them with healthier narratives for the future.
–Presencing Series 2026 with Regenerative Futures Labs – A six-session journey that offers a pathway from inspiration to action; It allows individuals to make sense together, knowing that they are not alone, and provides frameworks and tools for application in one’s own context.
-As posted in an earlier reply, the Solarpunk movement is a movement of artists creating visions of a better future.
– Kim Stanley Robinson Ministry for the Future https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ministry-for-the-future-a-novel-kim-stanley-robinson/2b809daf36f1fccf – A near-future novel about a UN agency fighting climate change through radical policy and economic transformation, told through interwoven human stories across the globe.
The Capital Institute, nRythm, and RegenIntel fellowships are all bringing people together to discuss questions of what a regenerative future might look like.
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In order to help people utilize their imaginations in service of a desirable future, we are planning a 2 hour workshop designed to help people ground themselves in the present, build connections, and stretch their imaginations towards a sensorial experience of the future we could co-create together. This project is hosted by Kate Leftin, Claudia Menasche and Kathryn Korfonta and the outline of activities is below:
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Open networking with suggested discussion topics (20 minutes)
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Intros and opening script, how it relates to antidotes to toxicity and ecological collapse or repair (10 minutes)
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Sound bath (30 minutes)
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Break into small groups (2 minutes)
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Imagination warm up: 30 circles (3 minutes)
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Break into different small groups and do future visioning exercise (15 minutes to group up and do exercise)
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Discuss experiences (5 minutes)
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Prompts on how we can move towards this future today. (15 minutes)
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Is there any work currently in the space that we can build on?
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Are others doing similar work that we can collaborate on?
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How do our skills contribute to the future we’re envisioning?
Larger group discussion (15 minutes)
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Brainstorm 1 thing we can do in the next week
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How can lean into connections to build resilience against current toxicity
Closing (5 minutes)
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