Select Page

RESILIENT FUTURES : HOW EXPLORING THE UPSIDES AND DOWNSIDES IN THE YEARS AHEAD CAN HELP US TO RAISE OUR RESILIENCE AND THRIVE

Many people find the pressures of daily life and work so intense that the outlook for the years ahead feels too much to consider. If you compare the challenges and uncertainty of today with five or ten years ago, surely it has increased, and will rise further? The aim of Alan’s Seeding our Future project is to help people, neighbourhoods and essential public services to recognise the gifts and problems of the next 10-20 years, and to learn to raise their resilience to continue thriving.

We are currently setting up several pilot projects to explore a range of resilience skills and processes, aiming to share these more widely after the pilot phase. For full information on the project see www.futurescanning.org.

Flourishing through change: Alan Heeks comments “I define resilience as the skills to bounce back, learn and grow through challenges so that we stay happy most of the time, and don’t just cope or survive. As daily life and work, plus the world in general, get more complex, crazy and uncertain, I see resilience as crucial to wellbeing.

Resilience has been a big focus of my work since 2012, and this has led me to be increasingly curious and concerned about the future outlook. It seems that most of us can only just cope with the present, and don’t want to contemplate what further challenges and upsides could be ahead of us. The climate crisis is just one of the major challenges where we need great courage and creativity to respond well. I’ve initiated the Seeding our Future project to explore the new or deeper skills we will need in the next 10-20 years to stay happy amid the changes ahead.

 

WANT TO KNOW MORE? See the project website

The project was initiated by Alan Heeks in 2017, building on his earlier research on resilience, and his work with Wisdom Tree. The project is operating in partnership with the Schumacher Institute, and is exploring collaboration with a number of other organisations. New approaches are very welcome.
VISIT THE SITE

Exploring Super Resilience

Alan describes how we all need resilience and learning from nature can help us.

Natural Happiness Blog

2022 Climate Outlook: pray for miracles

2022 Climate Outlook: pray for miracles

Jan 7, 2022 |

The holiday time around New Year 2022 has been a chance for some of us to reflect on the outlook for the climate crisis, and it's not a cheery prospect. I have been digging deep to find some constructive responses. In reviewing current information, I was startled to...

read more

The Work that Reconnects: a way to face the future

If you’re working with hazardous materials, you need good methods and equipment. The future really is hard to face: it can easily feel bleak and overwhelming. Many people feel pain and despair about the state of the world and the environment, and blank out to avoid...
Read More

Resource Toolkit – Change the Story

If you’re setting an intention for positive change, changing the story is an important part of shifting you or someone else out of a habitual response. One of my biggest insights since turning 60 has been the way repeating stories shape our lives. The older we get,...
Read More

Nourish Your Roots: The Tree Test

Life and work get more confusing year by year, and that’s unlikely to stop in future. Spending time in Nature is a great way to reduce its stress and find clarity, but what do you do when you have to make a decision, in your workplace or at home, within the next few...
Read More

Composting: the upsides of your downsides

Imagine that you can tap into a major new source of energy and insight, that’s already within you: it’s free, abundant, and just needs a bit of effort to process it.   What’s more, you’ll be creating benefits out of problems that drain energy and pollute your inner...
Read More

Mapping your wild margins

This matrix can help you recognise and value wild margins in yourself, or you could use it for a group such as a work team. Start by listing a few activities, skills, interests which may seem marginal and unproductive. Then explore how they could help you, and how you...
Read More

Cycles of progress map

This tool is an invitation to map your progress over time, including the ups and downs, and to celebrate both, and see if there are any cycles involved.   During my 20 years in business management and my Harvard MBA studies, progress was always defined as linear...
Read More

Friendship Tips

Cultivating a garden takes some dedication and skill, and friendships need this too. One of the big improvements in my 50s and 60s has been more and better friendships.  These friendships oil the gearbox of life: lubricating changes and crises which could be...
Read More

Resource Toolkit: Personal Energy Audit

This can be a powerful process to help you understand your sources and uses of physical, emotional, mental and inspirational energy. Gardeners and farmers manage the energy mix for their land, and you can do this for your personal ecosystem.   Asking yourself “How’s...
Read More

Resource Toolkit: Creative Conflict Resolution

Many challenges involve conflict. This process is one I’ve used often myself, and have taught in training groups. You can use the gist in minor conflict, and the full process in major ones. Here we move on to human skills which can help you to compost difficult...
Read More

The Seven Seeds of Natural Happiness

How can you stay happy when there’s too much change and uncertainty?  Are there ways to bounce back and thrive if life is getting you down?  Natural Happiness uses skills from gardening and organic farming to help you cultivate your own wellbeing. The Seven Seeds...
Read More

Contact Form