How to Fall in Love with the Future

Join Friends of the Earth for an end of year event for supporters, donors and friends.

Where: Teacher's Club (36 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1)

When: December 12th, 6pm - 9pm

The event will focus on themes from Rob Hopkin's latest book 'How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller's Guide to Changing the World'.

Author/book intro: Rob Hopkins approaches the future with excitement by promoting imaginative thinking and "time travel" to desired future scenarios, rather than focusing on dread or anxiety. He encourages cultivating a collective longing for positive futures and using hopeful imagination to inspire action and real-world change. His work, including the podcast "From What If to What Next" and book "How to Fall in Love with the Future," aims to shift public perception from overwhelming dread to one of possibility and engagement with building a better world.

"What if we saw the purpose of our activism as being to help people cultivate longing for the future, for a different future, a future that may be on the outer edges of possibility but it's still possible, it's there and we still could do that. So that's why I talk about falling in love with the future." - author Rob Hopkins

See below, our guest panel who will be joining us to discuss themes from the book that we've been inspired by.

Faten Alsourani is a Palestinian lawyer and human rights advocate from Gaza, Occupied Palestine, now based in Ireland. She works in the field of human rights and international justice. Faten currently works with Trócaire, advocating for climate justice and justice in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and with Front Line Defenders, documenting the targeting of human rights defenders, including activists, journalists, and healthcare workers in Gaza. Her advocacy is deeply rooted in personal experience, as her own family has endured profound loss during Israel’s ongoing genocide on Gaza.

Eric Ward is a US civil rights strategist, philanthropic leader, and cultural activist with nearly four decades of experience at the intersection of racial justice, democracy, and culture. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of Race Forward and is a Senior Fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 2021, he became the first U.S. recipient of the Civil Courage Prize, awarded for resistance to hate violence.

Dr. Eoin Galavan is Clinical Director for Kyrie Therapeutic Farm, a residential horticultural recovery oriented mental health setting. Eoin is a Senior Clinical and Counselling Psychologist in the HSE, North Dublin Adult Mental Health Services. Eoin is a founding member of the Psychological Society of Irelands Special Interest Group 'Addressing the Climate and Environmental Emergency', and active member of Irish Doctors for the Environment.

We welcome you to stay around after the discussion for a post-event reception with Friends of the Earth staff and fellow supporters to continue the conversation and celebrate the possibilities we’ve imagined together over a hot drink and sweet treat.

In a world that often feels uncertain, this evening will all be about how to utilise our creativity and collective imagination to dream of a better world, and to explore how we can bring those dreams to life together.

Teachers's Club, Dublin