Imagine a world without government, crime or pollution. Imagine a world where energy is free and cities feel like caring, sharing communities. Imagine a world where political decisions are based on their impact on the next five generations, not just with an eye to winning the next election. Imagine a world without intensive farming. Imagine a world where men finally take a back seat and women are in charge. A mad utopian pipe dream? Hippy nonsense? Or could it be achievable in our lifetime?
Join us for the first of two evenings, with special guests who have all explored these utopian ideas through their community work, books, travels and scientific research. Through entertaining talks and audience debate they will challenge the popular notion that the world is destined to go to hell in a handcart, in favour of a more optimistic vision for the future.
The Road to Utopia will re-invigorate your soul and send you home in the knowledge that it’s going to be ok after all.
With special guests:
Abi Aspen Glenncross
PhD student studying cellular agriculture at King’s College. Her specific research focuses on creating thick muscle tissue to produce a steak. She is passionate about farming agricultural products from cells rather than plants or animals and the need for a revolution in intensive farming.
David Bramwell
Author of The No9 Bus to Utopia, a memoir of a year he spent visiting some of the world's most extraordinary communities. He is passionate about tackling isolation ad loneliness in our cities and thinks he has an answer. David is also a Sony-award winning presenter for BBC Radio 3 and 4 and creator of Brighton's Catalyst Club, a night where everyday folk share their passions with a live audience.
Nichole Pohl
Editor of Oxford University’s Utopian Studies and has published and edited books on women's utopian writing.
Tobias Jones
Writer who has written about and lived in various intentional communities, Tobias founded a woodland sanctuary in Somerset seven years ago for people in crisis, marginalised by addiction, depression, PTSD and homelessness. The community was the subject of a column in the Observer, which became his seventh book, A Place of Refuge. He has written and presented documentaries for the BBC, and is about to set up another woodland community in Somerset.