Throughout existence, having a positive vision of a future outcome has been a precondition for success. It is true in sports, business, politics, the arts, and any realm of endeavour. I would even argue that it is true in the animal kingdom.
And yet today, when we ponder the future, far too many people have retreated into negativity and fear, precluding the possibility of success.
Several months ago, I was invited to speak on “change the world” at a Nanaimo high school, with all the students on the floor of the gym. Before starting, I asked them: “When you think about the future of our world, what do you feel: hope or worry?”
Out of 400 students, only five put up their hands for hope. For the other 395, the feeling was worry.
It is easy to sink into a negative mind-space as the result of the daily deluge of bad news, whether it is about crime, drugs and homelessness, another grim climate prediction, another troubling mass seabird die-off or the latest terror attack. But considered historically, what’s new?
When I was a student, the predominant fear was of nuclear war, followed by nuclear winter. The risk remains, but because so many peace activists, politicians and diplomats held firm to a positive vision of a world at peace, and acted on that vision to break down barriers of fear and suspicion, many successful nuclear-arms reduction treaties have been signed.
Knowing how important a positive vision is, while being cognizant of the challenges, I have spent the last three years writing a book titled Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible. What emerged from my creative process was an ecotopian novel in which a young Chinese-Canadian called Patrick Wu visits a world brimming with innovation and hope, where the climate crisis is being tackled, the solar revolution is underway and a new co-operative economy is taking shape. But enormous danger still lurks.
To assuage the doubts of the perennially skeptical, I included more than 900 endnotes, providing evidence for the many innovations that Patrick encounters in aspects of life as diverse as banking, health care, education, farming, shopping, transportation and neighbours building strong communities.
I could never have created such a positive vision, in contrast to the fetid flow of Hollywood dystopias, without the knowledge that there are bankers, teachers, farmers, social-change activists, business people and so many others already creating this future, holding firm to the positive outcomes they want to realize.
At the public launch of my book, I will be honouring 15 Local Heroes for a Better World, because they are the wind beneath my wings.
I will be honouring Rob and Mark Bernhardt for their championing of the Passive House design, which requires 90 per cent less heat than a conventional building. I will be honouring Wendy Bergerud for her persistent campaigning for electoral reform to make our democracy more fair and democratic. I will be honouring Jill Doucette, for her leadership in creating the Vancouver Island Green Business Certification process and certifying the first 68 businesses, and Angela Moran for her leadership in urban farming at the Mason Street farm.
I will be honouring Jack and Lori Garcia Meredith for their leadership in bringing their neighbours together to build a stronger community; Ian Bruce, for his services to nature; Shivon Robinson and Denis Donnelly, for inspiring so many to sing and teaching so many to lead community choirs; and Will Horter, of the Dogwood Initiative, for demonstrating how effective grassroots community organizing builds the momentum needed to change the world.
All these themes are important in the future world I have imagined.
I will also be honouring Bernice Kamano, who works so hard to help First Nations communities and others to overcome barriers of poverty, hunger, violence and homelessness; Denise Savoie who, as well as serving as a city councillor and MP for Victoria, was one of the main instigators of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition and the Galloping Goose Trail; Judith Cullington who, as a Colwood councillor, has demonstrated persistent leadership for a more sustainable region; and Nicole Moen, for her efforts to build a sharing, living economy that restores human relationships and natural ecosystems.
Meanwhile, back in Nanaimo, at the end of my presentation about a host of positive ways in which change is happening in the world, I asked the students the same question: hope or worry? This time, 200 students put their hands up for hope.
Guy Dauncey is an ecofuturist who lives near Ladysmith. The free public launch of his book Journey to the Future: A Better World Is Possible and celebration of 15 Local Heroes is at the James Bay Community Centre, 140 Oswego St., 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23, in partnership with the Victoria chapter of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association.
