Quotable quotes
About futures, foresight, imagination, play, storytelling, experiences and more.
Theatre and arts-based approaches as a way to make climate action joyful
When falling down the internet "rabbit hole" recently, I came across a play that's currently showing in New York. "The Pocket Kids Park" is all about a group of young friends and park visitors in conversation about how to save their local city park, and how that space...
What can zooplankton teach us about climate action?
Zooplankton, tiny animals, are responsible for locking away as much planet-warming carbon as the annual emissions of roughly 55 million petrol cars. Just imagine what humans could do if we put our minds to it.
In the face of AI and chatbots, what skills do we need to stay human?
Long story short: mathematics, language and futures literacy. But why?
“Butt” what if? A provocation for the tobacco industry (and smokers)
Cigarette butts are a problem for individuals, the environment, and society. So could a deposit system be a possible solution?
Why curiosity beats certainty in futures work
One of the most hopeful things neuroscience tells us is that we are natural explorers. Curiosity isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s how learning happens.
Affordable homes: a thing of the past?
Amber Howard’s talking about affordable homes in Amsterdam. Innsbruck, where I live, is (apparently) now Austria’s most expensive city to live in. So what makes a place livable, for the people who already live there?
Why embodiment matters in futures work
I’ve been thinking about how I am often involved in creating multi-sensory, place-based futures with groups, and I’m reminded again of Miti Desai’s essay about her experience with the gurukul system of training. There is one moment from her writing that has stayed with me: a teacher peeling an apple slowly, carefully, attentively, and offering it as part of a conversation.
From audience to author
There is often a moment in the futures sessions that I facilitate when people stop asking, “Is this the right future?” and start asking, “What future are we willing to create together?”
Rethinking is a futures skill (and facilitation is how groups learn it)
One of the most useful ideas I keep returning to is Adam Grant’s from his book Think Again: in a fast-changing world, the real advantage isn’t being right. It’s being able to think again.
Comfort with uncertainty is a skill
I revisited Kristi Nelson’s reflections on deepening our comfort with uncertainty recently, and it got me thinking again about how, in futures and foresight work, uncertainty is often treated as a problem to solve.
Uncertainty is not a weakness. It’s the ultimate superpower.
I watched quantum physicist Shohini Ghose explain something that futures practitioners often feel in their bones: in quantum physics, uncertainty isn’t a measurement problem. It’s built into reality.
Telling stories at Innsbruck’s Botanical Garden | Frühlingsfest: der berg ruft
Performing under my storytelling name, Ziyadliwa, I will perform two short storytelling shows inspired by mountain and Alpine traditions at the 2025 Spring Festival.
Innsbruck Reads: April 2025 Books & Events
Monthly book club update for April 2025.
The Great Switch: Finding Non-US Alternatives to Online Password Managers like LastPass (European and Non-US Alternatives)
The Great Switch: Finding Non-US Alternatives to Online Password Managers like LastPass (European and Non-US VOIP Alternatives)I'm back with another instalment of suggestions for how to move away from US-based tech companies and towards European companies, open-source...
“Play is how we sneak past our inner critic and ask, ‘What if?’—before the real world shuts it down.”
“Play is how we sneak past our inner critic and ask, ‘What if?’—before the real world shuts it down.”Futurer, facilitator, storyteller