From What If to What Next

Just 1% of the population own half the land in England, and citizens have a Right to Roam over only 8% of its surface. This deliberate exclusion has many bad side effects, not least its impact on our collective imagination. But it's only like this because some people imagined it like this. What if we were to reimagine this arrangement so that, like in Scotland, our Right to Roam actually enabled us to, er, roam? For this episode I'm joined by Kate Swade of Shared Assets and Guy Shrubsole, campaigner and author of 'Who Owns England?' and 'The Lost Rainforests of Britain'. I loved this conversation. Do let me know what you think... Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Today's podcast is something a little different. We're departing from our usual format a little to spend some time in deeper conversation with one of the great guardians of the collective imagination, Cyril Dion. If you've ever seen the film 'Demain' ('Tomorrow'), or his more recent film 'Animal', you'll know him, and his amazing work. He's also a poet, a collaborator with musicians, a writer, a journalist and much more. And his current work is focused on the need to tell positive stories about the future. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Today's episode is really rather beautiful, with Chloe Naldrett and David Micklem exploring the role of theatre in the great transition that lies ahead of us. I hope you love it. Do let me know what you think. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

It's hardly a surprise that we struggle to hold onto hope and optimism given that the news we receive every day is filled with so much misery, appalling human behaviour, despots, narcissists and hopelessness. So what if instead we lived in a world in which the majority of the news we encountered was positive news? Stories of change going in the right way? That's our question for exploration today, and my two guests, Sean Wood, CEO of Positive News, the online and print magazine for good journalism about what's going right, and Eliza Marshall, musician and champion for deep change, have been giving it a lot of thought. So lose yourself in what that future will be like. It's a treat. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

I'm posting this on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK. If we ever needed imaginative thinking about how to tackle the climate and ecological emergency, we needed it 30 years ago, but the second best time would be now. Today's episode brings together two people who believe that vital to the refiring of the collective imagination is the availability of life-long learning. We're joined by André Anderson who is Headmaster of Freedom & Balance, an art college for the artist in everyone, and Zahra Davidson is Chief Exec & Design Director at Huddlecraft: an ecosystem of support for peer-to-peer learning and action. Zahra started Huddlecraft to reimagine lifelong learning. It's a deep and fascinating conversation, I hope you love it, that it cools you down a little (!) and that you'll let me know any thoughts it stimulates Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

As the cost of living crisis impacts more and more people, and energy security becomes something far more widely discussed than it was 10 years ago, here is a vital conversation with two leading pioneers of the notion of community energy. Community energy is a movement that is spreading in spite of, rather than because of, government actions, but its potential is huge. What if by 2030 it was the norm? What might it unlock beyond simply kilowatt hours? I'm joined by Leila Fortunato and Agamemnon Otero to explore this, and you are in for such a treat... thanks as always for listening, and do let me know your thoughts on this episode. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

In the light of the UK government's recent appalling proposed deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda and their new policy to electronically tag everyone who arrives on our shores, as well as the massive growth in what we might call the 'immigration industrial complex' around the world, this week we are asking a vital, and rarely asked question, what if we just got rid of the idea of borders altogether? I'm joined by the brilliant Nandita Sharma and by Todd Miller, who have both been giving this a lot of thought for a long time. I think this is one of our most thought-provoking and mind-expanding episodes yet. I'd love to hear what you think. My thanks to you for listening, and to Ben Addicott as always for producing it. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

An odd question perhaps... yet in the hands of our guests, Belina Raffy and Sam Knights, a powerful and pertinent one. What if we were to harness the power of humour as a tool in the fight to engage people in the climate emergency? What can humour allow and enable us to do that other approaches don't? We had a lot of fun making this episode, and I hope you will have as much fun listening to it. As always, do let me know what you think, we love to hear your thoughts on these episodes. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Welcome to our 54th episode, our 54th journey into the future that is still possible, just. But before I tell you more, a suggestion, as you'll hear in the episode, that this episode will be a lot more enjoyable, and a fuller experience, if you listen to it in a space with fresh bread being baked. So if you've never made bread before, here is a link with an easy-to-make recipe. Good luck! And so to our episode. It's all about bread, and the role that good, nutritious bread, made from wheat grown well, could play in transforming the world around us. Our guests are Andrew Whitley and Catriona Milligan. They share with us a vision of a future that is delicious in so many ways. I hope you love this episode and do let me know what you thought, and what imaginings it inspired for you. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.

Here at 'From What If to What Next' we don't shy away from the big questions of our times! Today we are diving deep into the question of what we eat. Rather than debating whether veganism is a good thing or not, today we are stepping, with the help of our guests Tomi Makanjola (aka The Vegan Nigerian) and Dr. Melanie Joy, Founding President of Beyond Carnism, into that world that has already become vegan. What would it be like? How might it impact our imagination? How might it improve society in other ways. So today, do join me on a journey to a vegan 2030. It may surprise you. And I would love to hear your thoughts on today's episode .. do let me know. Please consider supporting the podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext and becoming a patron.