The Visionaries

Media debates on what the future will be like can be enormously frustrating. Many are little more than show trials. The most outspoken, and often least helpful, pundits argue the extremes: living like cavemen or embracing a world that feels more like science fiction than fact. Either way, the sense of what we might stand to lose feels like a terrible act of surrender, underscored by the fact that so few of us are sure of what constitutes a ‘good idea’ for the future of mankind anyway.

Perhaps that is why, even though our very survival is in question, we tend to look at the crises that are facing us in a superficial way. Giving up the car or the supermarket or the long-haul flight becomes a sentimental journey too far.

So we think small, act small, and ultimately feel frustrated with how little power we seem to have to shape a better future.

To face the future confidently we need to think bigger and outside our usual frames of reference. We need to share our achievements and keep inspiring each other. These big thoughts aren’t likely to originate with politicians, nor with businessmen. So where will these ideas – sustainable, ground-up, human, humane and, perhaps most importantly,...

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