Sign In Join Now
User Accessibility
  • Increase Font

  • Invert Colours

Search for a Book Browse Books Menu
From What Is to What If Cover Play Sample

Sample may contain unsuitable content.

Stream / Download

Audiobook streaming provided by:

OverDrive Logo

Share this book:

From What Is to What If

AuthorRob Hopkins

NarratorThe Author

Duration7h 22m

CategoriesAdult Non-Fiction, General Non Fiction

PublisherChelsea Green Publishing

VersionUnabridged

  Save to Wish List
  Add to Favourites List

"Big ideas that just might save the world"—The Guardian

The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it's more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it.

In these times of deep division and deeper despair, if there is a consensus about anything in the world, it is that the future is going to be awful. There is an epidemic of loneliness, an epidemic of anxiety, a mental health crisis of vast proportions, especially among young people. There's a rise in extremist movements and governments. Catastrophic climate change. Biodiversity loss. Food insecurity. The fracturing of ecosystems and communities beyond, it seems, repair. The future—to say nothing of the present—looks grim.

But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly—for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network—with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves.

We do have the capability to effect dramatic change, Hopkins argues, but we're failing because we've largely allowed our most critical tool to languish: human imagination. As defined by social reformer John Dewey, imagination is the ability to look at things as if they could be otherwise. The ability, that is, to ask What if? And if there was ever a time when we needed that ability, it is now.

Imagination is central to empathy, to creating better lives, to envisioning and then enacting a positive future. Yet imagination is also demonstrably in decline at precisely the moment when we need it most. In this passionate exploration, Hopkins asks why imagination is in decline, and what we must do to revive and reclaim it. Once we do, there is no end to what we might accomplish.

From What Is to What If is a call to action to reclaim and unleash our collective imagination, told through the stories of individuals and communities around the world who are doing it now, as we speak, and witnessing often rapid and dramatic change for the better.

0 (0 Reviews)
0
0
0
0
0

Related Titles

Soap Making Cover

Soap Making

Author: Nancy Ross

Soap Making

Author Nancy Ross

Narrator Sangita Chauhan

Duration 55m

Want to learn how to make soap at home with step by step instructions? Here is a preview of what you'll learn... The methods of soap making What ingredients do I need to get started? The equipment needed to make soap Picking out the type of fat you would like to use Picking out the lye you will use Much, Much, More! Here is a preview of some of the...

View Book
So You Want To Talk About Race Cover

So You Want To Talk About Race

Author: Ijeoma Oluo

So You Want To Talk About Race

Author Ijeoma Oluo

Narrator Bahni Turpin

Duration 7h 44m

A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. In So You Want to Talk About Race, Editor-at-Large of the Establishment Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in...

View Book
Save the Cat! Cover

Save the Cat!

Author: Blake Snyder

Save the Cat!

Author Blake Snyder

Narrator George Newbern

Duration 5h 25m

Here's what started the phenomenon: the bestseller, for over fifteen years, that's been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny, and candid look inside the movie business. Save the Cat is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, others include t...

View Book
Self-reliant Gardening Cover

Self-reliant Gardening

Author: Janet Williams

Self-reliant Gardening

Author Janet Williams

Narrator The Authors

Duration 5h 1m

Whether you are looking for a backup disaster plan or you just want to live a more self-reliant lifestyle, homegrown food and remedies offer you the freedom of choice to take care of yourself. To start with, this comprehensive program will show you how you can have homegrown, garden-fresh fruits and vegetables anytime and anywhere you want. Think o...

View Book
This Is Your Brain On Music Cover

This Is Your Brain On Music

Author: Daniel Levitin

This Is Your Brain On Music

Author Daniel Levitin

Narrator Daniel Levitin

Duration 11h 46m

Brought to you by Penguin. Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our spec...

View Book
Finding Ultra Cover

Finding Ultra

Author: Rich Roll

Finding Ultra

Author Rich Roll

Narrator Rich Roll

Duration 9h 47m

An incredible but true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations ever In October 2006, the night before he was to turn forty, Rich experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he saw where his sedentary lifestyle was taking him...

View Book
How To Be An Antiracist Cover

How To Be An Antiracist

Author: Ibram X. Kendi

How To Be An Antiracist

Author Ibram X. Kendi

Narrator Ibram X. Kendi

Duration 10h 44m

Not being racist is not enough. We have to be antiracist. In this rousing and deeply empathetic book, Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center, shows that when it comes to racism, neutrality is not an option: until we become part of the solution, we can only be part of the problem. Using his extraordinary gifts...

View Book
Knitting For Beginners Cover

Knitting For Beginners

Author: Darla Singer

Knitting For Beginners

Author Darla Singer

Narrator The Yuw

Duration 7m

Do you enjoy knitting or would like to learn how? Learn how to create beautiful patterns in no time at all! Whether you are on the road, at home, or anywhere else you can knit in your spare time, anywhere you want. - Make patterns in just a few hours. - Learn how to knit. - Learn stitch patterns. - Create hats, sweaters, socks, gifts, items for you...

View Book
Woodworking Cover

Woodworking

Author: John Hammer

Woodworking

Author John Hammer

Narrator Jim Johnston

Duration 1h 42m

Start Your Journey Towards Woodworking Today With This Handy Guide That Will Teach You The Techniques And Skills You Need As A Beginner To Master This Craft Woodworking Is A Hobby That People Have Been Enjoying For Years. While In The Past It Was Used More As A Way To Make Furniture And Other Things That You Needed In The Home, It Is Now Something...

View Book
How To Make Fabric Accessories Cover

How To Make Fabric Accessories

Author: Khyria Cepe

How To Make Fabric Accessories

Author Khyria Cepe

Narrator Courtney Lucien

Duration 47m

Wanting to have those beautiful earrings and charming necklaces that you see on magazines and online stores, but you don't have the budget? Read through this guide and find out how you can start making fabric accessories on your own.

View Book