The future now ?

Professionally I help others think about how the future may impact decisions they should take today. It is therefore unsurprising that I spend some of my private time doing the same thing. As a member of the “Blankense Future Forum”, we have many projects going, for instance on the future mobility needs of our bit of town. But not all projects are about ideas. A small group of us (taking inspiration from a couple of hard-working local citizens) have taken over the care of a handful of flower beds next to the village square. Some have been overgrown by weeds, most are abandoned and end up with rubbish on them. This last weekend we removed most weeds and are now waiting for a delivery soil to arrive – at which point, and with the kind support of the Loki Schmidt Foundation, we will cover these spaces with plants endogenous to the area. We are literally planting the future…

When talking of strategy with governments, NGOS and companies, I almost always say this is an organic process, one you have to plant seeds, watch how things grow, test new varieties (“probes”) and may need to cut out some plants if they go wild (“safe to fail options”). To co-create an ecosystem in a real public space is therefore doubly a pleasure – I am putting into practice the words I usually preach.