How to exercise radical imagination

In an uphill battle to deliver services for the public benefit, it is common for those working in charities to become burnt out. Falling funding, increasing costs, and climbing demand, along with experiencing the vast, complex crises of today’s world, can damage our wellbeing and ability to drive change. 

Radical imagination is the process of envisioning a different future and taking pragmatic steps to bring that future into being. It recognises that the future we are currently heading towards isn’t as inevitable as it seems. And it involves courage, hope, and determination to transform society for the better.  

In this article, we explore five steps to practicing radical imagination, helping to envision and build a better future. 

Be expansive 

A key part of radical imagination is being able to see beyond the conditions of the present moment and into a wildly different future. And there are many ways to expand your ideas of what’s possible. 

Creating mental and emotional space allows imaginative thinking to begin. According to researchers Rob Hopkins and Rob Shorter, this means slowing down, opening up, connecting with the natural world, and feeling welcome and safe to participate with others. While external circumstances can impact our mental and emotional space, helpful practices include morning pages, mindfulness, and resting. 

You can also stretch your imagination by engaging with science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism, and speculative fiction stories. Transporting yourself into different realities can help expand your idea of what the future in our world could possibly look like. 

Work collectively 

As YouthxYouth explains, “Collective imagining moves us to explore and envision a world that reciprocally exists in the best interest for all, forgoing systems that exist on the basis of oppression, power imbalances, and injustice.” 

This involves centering the voices and visions of those experiencing the most oppression and inequity. Build support and create space for their ideas and strategies to flourish, recognising that living an imaginative life can be made harder when your basic needs aren’t met and when you are experiencing stress or trauma. 

For the “mind and soul” of a community to thrive, it requires an appropriate physical gathering place. There are examples around the world where this has been achieved. 

Creating collaborative pacts is a way to respectfully bring together the strengths of different actors to bring ideas for change into reality. A pact can involve public authorities, citizens, local businesses, universities, and civil society organisations. 

Question everything 

Our present and future realities are not set in stone. It may seem that there are a limited number of choices, none of which lead to an ideal situation, but looking further and questioning the status quo can help us realise that we have more power to change things than we realise. 

The Impossible Train Story can help us reframe our idea of the future and our own power to shape it:

Travel through time 

Creating change means understanding the present in relation to both the past and future. How did the events of the past shape the conditions of the present? What are the possibilities for the future, and how might we get there? 

“Understanding the past requires an honest historical reckoning, honouring the struggles of those who came before us, and taking stock of social change strategies used throughout time and across continents,” says the Everyday Activism Network. This can help you consider what is “at the root” of current problems, providing a strong basis for moving forward. 

To look to the future, we explore two strategies below. 

The Time Machine 

The time machine is a way to create “memories of the future”. Close your eyes and imagine travelling forward in time ten years, into a future where every possible positive change has been made. Explore in-depth what this future would look like, feel like, smell like, and sound like to you.  

Next, reflect upon the conditions that would produce this world, how obstacles might be overcome, and what role you might play to get there. 

Interestingly, the shared visions that people imagine are usually very similar. It’s possible to collectively experience new futures through the Transition Town Anywhere activity, wherein facilitators carefully lead groups through a sequence of exercises to build a 3D settlement in which to trade, celebrate, talk, share, plan, eat, and connect.  

The Children’s Fire 

When making a decision that could impact the future, light a candle to represent all life on earth and the next seven generations. Informed by the seven generations principle practiced by many indigenous communities, contemplating future generations in decisions helps to expand your awareness of the long-term impacts. 

Before launching into the decision-making process, take two minutes of silence to contemplate the next seven generations of human life, along with the interconnected web of life on earth today. 

Take action

Each person’s actions matter in creating the world we live in. Going with or against the grain is a choice we each make on a daily basis.  

The practice of prefiguration is living the future you wish existed, but today. This means embodying the kinds of behaviours, relationships, and structures you wish were our reality, bringing about more of that kind of change as a result of your example. 

Finally, creativity, resilience, and community can help sustain transformative change.