Chelsea Green:
How to Fall in Love with the Future

There are an infinite number of possible futures that lie ahead of us—quantum threads stretching out into the distance. In this special event and launch of his new book How to Fall in Love with the Future, Rob Hopkins, cofounder of the international Transition Network, invites us to travel to future worlds we would actually want to live in.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of daily life, Rob responded the way a lot of people did: by starting a podcast. But it wasn’t any ordinary podcast. In each episode, Rob and his guests would “time travel” together to the year 2030—walking down imagined future streets, talking with imagined future neighbors, visiting imagined future local businesses. While Rob’s guests came from all walks of life—economists, politicians, bakers, comedians, novelists and more—they all shared a willingness to suspend their worries about the future long enough to mentally inhabit and then describe a world they were thrilled to be a part of.

What Rob discovered was no less profound: this simple exercise of visiting a positive future forced him to rethink the work he’d been doing as a climate activist for decades. How to Fall in Love with the Future is the result of that radical disruption—and Rob’s deep dive into the people and movements throughout history who have used visions of the future to inspire positive change on a large and dramatic scale. From the life and writings of musician Sun Ra and the history of Black utopian movements to the latest neuroscience on what goes on in our minds—and hearts—when we “time travel,” Rob brings essential new thinking to anyone overwhelmed with dread and anxiety for the future. He asks us to consider: what would the world look like if we all got to work imagining—and then building—a world we were deeply in love with?

Rob’s book, How to Fall in Love with the Future, will be available to buy in person from Newham Bookshop on the day.

This event is held in partnership with Chelsea Green Publishing.

Age Recommendation:

16+

Price: *All ticket prices below include a £1 booking fee*

In person (advance): Standard £10 • Living Support £7 • Students £7 • Members FREE

In person (on the door): Standard £11 • Living Support £8 • Students £8 • Members FREE

Online: Standard £7 • Members FREE

Access Information

This event is in the Brockway Room, which is located on the ground floor.

All the ground-floor rooms are fully accessible by wheelchair. Main Hall (street access, step-free), Brockway Room (street access, step-free), Bertrand Russell Room (street access, shallow ramp). There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.