Fireside-Chat with Rob Hopkins : The power of imagination towards a postgrowth society

What would the world look like if we all got to work imagining - and then building - a world we were deeply in love with? Together with Rob Hopkins we explored new ways of looking at the future. During our last Postgrowth Fireside Chat he inspired and motivated us to stay hopeful in moments where progress feels slow or even invisible.

Rob Hopkins and Laurène discussing the power of imagination. Own image.

Rob Hopkins  is a pioneer in sustainability, community resilience, and the power of collective imagination. He’s best known as the co-founder of the Transition movement, which began in Totnes, England, and has since inspired thousands of communities worldwide to reimagine and rebuild their local systems in response to climate change and fossil fuel dependency.

The power of collective imagination

Rob argues that to build a desirable future we need to work more closely with the people around us, like municipalities and local social enterprises and build strong coalitions. By finding new ways of working together we can recover faith and grow our capacities to do extraordinary things.

“Longing on a large scale is what makes history.” (Rob Hopkins)

By telling stories about a beautiful future, we can draw people to these attractive visions and inspire them to take steps towards them. “Longing on a large scale is what makes history” (Rob Hopkins). There needs to be an interplay between creatively imagining futures and creating them with the knowledge and skills we have today. The race to the moon in the 1960s was a scientific breakthrough. But without the movies, cartoons, art and storytelling about what the moon landing could look and feel like, such an ambitious mission would probably not have been possible. We can already see the fruits of these dynamics as new systems are emerging everywhere. But we must collectively practice our imagination to cultivate hope and motivation.

Time travelling for survival

For Rob, imagination isn’t just creativity — it’s a survival tool, a catalyst for unlocking sustainable, equitable futures. He defines imagination as “the ability to see things as if they could be otherwise”. To make us feel the power of imagination, Rob took us on a time travelling journey. We imagined a future that resulted from us doing everything we could have possibly done. After the exercise the room was vibrating with hope and happiness. We need to recognize these moments and transform our rage into courage. We need to understand them as the beginnings of something beautiful and desirable.

Time travelling with Rob Hopkins. Own image.

Taking action

“The things you’re doing right now that might feel very small and not as effective as you’d like - those are actually the seeds of what comes next. People in the future will have so much gratitude for the work you did in these times when it felt like nothing was moving, when you kept going even though it may not have felt like anything.” (Rob Hopkins) In moments where progress feels slow (or even invisible) for many change workers, it’s easy to question whether what we do really makes a difference. This quote is a powerful reminder: it does.

If you missed the event or want to rewatch the whole conversation, you can find it here.

A big thank you to Rob Hopkins for this uplifting perspective!