Reimagining our future

Many of us understand the gravity of the climate crisis and what needs to be done, so what’s standing in our way? What will it take for our future to be reimagined to enable all life to flourish? In this panel discussion, hear from researchers and communities from across Australia and India who are taking collective action to create real and sustainable futures.

The climate emergency poses a crisis of imagination, which poses a crisis for action. Knowing the causes of the climate crisis is only part of the challenge. Understanding the barriers to creating change and learning about the actions and solutions communities can implement is the next step. There are various barriers to communities taking action, including how they imagine what the future can look like. Dominant ways of imagining the future, such as ‘business as usual’, ‘technology will fix everything’ or ‘we are doomed’ leave people feeling that action is meaningless. How can we inspire communities to imagine the future differently?

Join us for this special panel discussion featuring researchers from the Grounded Imaginaries project and community leaders from across Australia and India who are transforming the future of their communities through innovative solutions. From the south-east coast of India in the Tamil Nadu region, through the foothills of the Himalayas, across the ocean to the small town of Moruya on the southern coast of New South Wales, we’ll hear the stories of communities forced to reimagine how they live in the face of climate change. From reforestation efforts to regenerative farming practices and community-led social justice initiatives, we’ll learn the creative ways that communities are taking action to tackle climate change on a local level.