A Moment to Dream
At Small Giants Academy, we’ve been running a series of NEST (Next Economy Strategy Team) workshops on storytelling for the future. We invited people to go through a visioning exercise in which they imagined an ideal world for themselves and their communities in 20 years’ time. Parallel to this, the Future Now Project has emerged, seeking to enable everyone across the country to have the experience of dreaming up a more beautiful world. Here we share five of those visions - visit thefuturenowproject.com to read more and take part.
Benson Saulo
I’m Benson Igua Saulo. While I live in Melbourne, I am a descendant of the Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara Aboriginal nations of Western Victoria, and the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. In 2021, my family and I will be relocating to Houston, Texas as I have been appointed a Consul-General to the US, the first Indigenous person to hold this position anywhere in the world.
In 2015 I wrote a piece called “Why I am excited to have a daughter” in which the first line contained a disclaimer for my mother stating that I didn’t have children on the way. I knew the title alone would elicit excited text messages about her availability to be a live-in nanny. The piece reflected on issues impacting the world around us, from conflicts to climate change, and the fear of bringing a child into such uncertainty. It also explored how society doesn’t truly value the lives of women and girls — touching on rates of violence against women and levels of income inequality — leading to numerous sleepless nights in which I felt overwhelmed by the realities that my future daughter could be born into.
Anais Ramo Saulo was born on December 9 2019. She joins a generation known as the “Iso-Gen” — babies who were born or spent a majority of their first few months in isolation. It is difficult to imagine a future in which she will be turning 20, given that I’m still coming to terms with the pace of the past eight months. But as I try to cast my mind forward to a world she will inherit, my thoughts get snagged on a line that has always stayed in the back of my mind: “Live your ancestors’ wildest dreams.”
The future that I want for my daughter is connected in our family’s past and infused with faith, hope and love which will sustain her as she steps out into the world. It is a future captured in a simple message: “To my daughter, you are the embodiment and continuation of two strong cultures. You carry a name that connects you to your land both near and far. Walk with courage and face the unknown with faith. Challenge injustice and break through barriers. Everything is within you. Breath. Connect. Dream.”
My message would end with the words her Grandfather once told me: “Never think the world is not yours.” As I write these words and imagine saying them to my daughter, deep down I feel a sense of unease. What if the future Anais inherits turns my message into empty words? Nevertheless, I am a strong believer that the future is created by the decisions we make today. So, it is up to us to create a world that truly values and shares Indigenous cultures and connections, builds resilience and courage in all of our communities, and creates a more equal and just society. Because ultimately, Anais is all our daughters, our sisters and our mothers — and they should never think that the world is not theirs.
Willow Berzin
Visions from Wurundjeri country, Brunswick, Melbourne. I’m a mother to a young son, and a designer creating new pathways for better ways of being and doing. I’m also one of the people behind building the Coalition of Everyone. My cultural heritage is a mix of Polish, Jewish, Latvian and Cornish.
I wake up in early summer 2040, and first notice a deep sense of peace. Apart from birdsong, it is quiet and there is stillness. I walk outside my house and down my street, there isn’t much traffic and nature is thriving everywhere. The light is soft and golden. Mostly, we are pedestrian now, and the central road is for electric bikes and public transport, self-driving cars are used minimally. Our city planning and buildings are intertwined with plants and trees, the designs of which are quite simple and beautiful, designed and built in symbiosis with nature.
The skies are clear, quiet; the air clean. People go about their errands without rush or panic. Every patch of earth has been given over to regenerating nature, incidentally ourselves along with it. Pollution, waste, road rage and GDP are things of the past. Local modes of living, distributed and decentralised energy, self-organising networks, community, purpose and belonging: these are the fibres for which we spend our time harvesting and weaving. We exchange a lot of what we grow in our gardens and streets with neighbours. Long lunches in backyards with friends, neighbours and family are a regular ritual.
We live very different lives now to before the pandemic. We spend far more time simply being than doing. We have a hyper-global awareness, while living and acting in a hyper-local manner. The news headlines for the day? Polar bear numbers are healthy this arctic winter. I take heart that the hard work we did in the 2020s was all worth it.
Looking back to now, it was the Great Transitioning decade of the 2020s, accelerated by the Great Pause, that catapulted us through the pandemic and into a better, safer, thriving and regenerative world. It led to a rapid and turbo-charged Renaissance in Humanity. As we turned our backs on the old toxic ways, we connected more deeply with who we really are. People now choose to embrace interests and passions as a way of life; what were once considered “hobbies” are now a means for gainful employment in the new economy. We redistributed wealth and power and have universal basic income, free education and childcare as basic human rights.
We no longer live under constant existential threat or weaponised fear, fuelled and inflamed by the void-filling illusions of the now defunct capitalist experiment and over consumption. Our central nervous systems are relaxed, our discontent quelled. Old paradigms of poverty, inequality, injustice, debt and ecocide are things of the past. The early 21st Century feels like a millennia ago; we look back at our recent history as if waking up from the dark ages.
Kaj Lofgren
I live in Newport in Melbourne with my wife and two young boys, on the lands of the Yalukit Willam people of Boon Wurrung Country that is part of the Greater Kulin Nation. My mother was born in Melbourne and my father was born in Sweden, from where I have inherited my name, a second language, and a strong belief in the potential of the next economy. I work as the Head of Strategy at the Small Giants Academy, a storytelling platform and education institution dedicated to the accelerated transition to a more just and sustainable society.
In 2050 my eldest son will be the same age as I am now. There are seven themes across my most hopeful vision for Australia in the 2050s. The first is that the natural environment is now regenerating at pace. Much damage has been done and it will take generations to repair, but the arc has turned, and we no longer view the environment as a resource to plunder. We have deeply understood, in a painful way through increased fires, floods and droughts, that we are an interconnected part of our environment. However, we have also rediscovered nature’s potential to nourish and replenish us and to create balance and peace in our lives.
The second theme relates to deep time and long-term thinking (with a nod to Roman Krznaric’s work in this area). In 2050 we have come to understand our long-history and have begun to integrate the wisdom of our First Peoples into our national story and our vision for the future. We have also come to prioritise long-term thinking across our economy. We have a Commissioner of the Future who assesses all policy proposals from the perspective of future generations. We have long-term incentives in business and have reformed the stock-market to limit short-term trading.
Thirdly, we have remembered that the meaning of the word “economics” is actually the art of household management. This has dramatically widened the measures of success beyond profit for businesses and GDP for nations. Our government’s primary responsibility is handing down an annual wellbeing budget, which comes ahead of the traditional budget each year.
The fourth theme is a revitalised and participatory democracy. We came through the turbulent decades at the start of the century with a newfound respect for the basics of our democracy. This evolution was in part driven by a new government program that funds a gap year for young school-leavers to volunteer in their local communities. It unleashed a wave of local democratic engagement that led to countless reforms of our parties and our institutions.
As our privacy disappeared in the digital revolution, our society woke up to the severe threats, not of the technology itself but of the monopolies and the centralisation of power they had created. Our public policy response, to dramatically limit the business model built on surveillance capitalism and data exhaust, broke apart the monopolies and unleashed a wave of new innovation centred around digital dignity and the public good.
In 2050 new houses are energy and water independent by default and older housing has been retrofitted to these same standards. We have understood the benefits of universally accessible and free public transport which have removed most privately-owned vehicles from the road. Limitations on housing as an investment option stabilised prices long ago and, alongside unprecedented investment in social housing, has largely ended homelessness and the housing crisis.
Finally, the widespread and deep respect for our Indigenous history, alongside the renewed celebration of the cultures who have come here, has finally broken the back of racism and structural disadvantage. Our shared sense of belonging is underpinned by the elevation and reinvestment in the arts, which sits alongside sport as the glue that binds our nation together.
Dr Anne Poelina
I think of this 'Dream' or 'Visioning' from the perspective that I am a Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Custodian from the Kimberley region of Australia. When I introduce myself, I say 'ngayoo yimardoowarra marnin' which means I belong to the Mardoowarra, the mighty Fitzroy River. I am duty bound to protect the Mardoowarra's right to live and flow! In my language we have a word Bookarrakarra, this is not the Dreamtime, but rather the Dreaming Time. A concept of fusing time from the past into the present, with the future being now in which we must act with wisdom and humility. This is important to Dream and Reclaim and Reframe the meaning of life.
I believe human and non-human beings have an equal right to life and that the meaning of life is inter-dependent on all things. Most importantly, a deep and continuing respectful inter-generational relationship of earth-centred governance inclusive of nonhuman beings with 'our collective commons, Mother Earth'. The meaning of life hangs in the balance of co-existence between all life. This balance and harmony with our living cultural landscapes is grounded in the values and ethics, and the belief that the law is in the land – it is not in man! Importantly, we need to govern and manage the 'commons' for the greater common good. The meaning of life is facing great uncertainty. We appear to be moving from climate change to climate chaos. I believe if we are to halt being swallowed up by a new dark age, we must maintain the resilience of our lives by strengthening our deep relationship by falling in love again with 'our commons’. Without an earth-centred governance approach to appreciate and value life and multi-species justice, we as human will not be able to sustain our humanity and the meaning of life in co-existence and harmony with our planet Mother Earth! It is time to bring in the ancient wisdom and First Laws to Dream a new Dream!
Will Richardson
I’m from Yarraville, Victoria, which is Boonwurrung and Woi Wurrung country. I am Managing Partner of the Giant Leap Fund, an impact venture capital fund. My mum was born in Malaysia and my Dad in Australia — his family originally hails from England and Scotland. I live with my wife and love of my life, Melanie, and our two children Arlo and Mae in a weatherboard home on a quiet street.
In 20 years’ time, our son and daughter will be 24 and 21. The Sun Theatre is the heart of Yarraville village, and since 2012, the street outside the theatre has been blocked off to cars and covered with astroturf as a place for people to meet, eat, drink and play. By 2040, all of the shop-lined streets in our village have become car-free, and covered with native grasses, plants and trees.
Beyond my immediate neighbourhood, the world has become a very different place. The practices of Indigenous Australians have been recognised as integral to our region’s culture, and now all young Australians undergo a right of passage overseen by community elders when they reach age 21. My youngest is preparing for this, and I look forward to accompanying her on her right of passage.
A change in our practices around work, and acknowledgement of past traditions, has seen a sharp drop in mental health issues. Where there are problems, they are met with compassion and care, rather than stigma. Addiction, while rare, is also managed in the same manner. Hospitals have been rebranded as places of care and healing rather than places of illness. The new average lifespan has increased from around 80 years old to over 100. People are having less children, by choice, and the population in Australia has naturally declined.
Thanks to COVID-19 showing the world the value of remote work, humans are naturally more scattered. Technology has helped us tame the most extreme parts of the planet. Snow-capped mountains, the ocean floor and even deserts now support human life. The negative impact of people being concentrated in cities has been reduced, as human habitation has dispersed across the globe. Younger generations and the adventurous at heart are drawn to these new habitats. Our son is a DJ living in a pod in the Caribbean Sea recording ocean sounds for his newest record.
All energy is clean, and all travel is done via driverless taxi cars — nobody owns a car. Larger trips are undertaken using magnetic energy, and travel times have been reduced exponentially. You can travel from Melbourne to LA in an hour. There have been giant leaps in our understanding of the complex web of life, and how things interrelate, and as a consequence, life is more secure for future generations and the planet as a whole.