Your say / Environment
‘Let’s map out our aspirations for what we want Bristol to be in 2040’
The day that the world woke up to the reality of a second Trump presidency in the USA, I had scheduled a mailout of invitations to a Utopian Futures event.
I thought that people are not going to believe in a fairer future now, let alone a utopia. I debated whether to persevere or to bury my head in my hands and retreat to my sofa.
Two things persuaded me to press the send button. Firstly, my 15-year-old daughter. She had spent the whole day in tears, her social feeds pinging with misogynistic and racist dystopias imagined by her peers.
is needed now More than ever
Secondly, these quotes from two of the books I’m currently reading:
“When times get tough we don’t give up, we get organised.”
It’s Not That Radical by Mikaela Loach
“Engineering is not enough to save city dwellers… Cities badly need renaturalised rivers, restored wetlands, rehabilitated tidal marshes and shady canopies of urban forests to withstand the climate crisis.”
Urban Jungle by Ben Wilson
Regular events now take place in the Cumberland Piazza, the largest open space in Hotwells – photo: Art Under the Flyover
This year, Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association (H&CCA) joined Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership’s Community Climate Action Project, funded by the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund.
The project has been working with community organisations throughout Bristol for the past few years to support communities to lead their own response to the climate and nature crises.
Eleven communities have already published community climate action plans, and many are progressing these, creating community led nature, energy, food and transport projects.
At H&CCA, we want to connect with as many people as possible who live and work in Hotwells, Cliftonwood and the harbourside to collect priorities for a greener and fairer future for all.
We have run public events at the Underfall Yard and Spike Island, and done workshops in Hotwells Primary School.
We will be working with social housing residents in early December and Holy Trinity Hotwells are hosting another public session on January 9.
People have been telling us about declining bird and insect populations, anxieties about development, fears of flooding and fears about plans to prevent flooding, drafty old, cold houses, speeding traffic and loss of trees.
It’s not all doom and gloom though; locals have come up with ideas for nature spaces, energy generation, flood prevention and redistribution of wealth.
Could Cliftonwood one day have lizards crossing Church Lane? – image: Emma Geen and James Ward
Utopian Futures is an event which not only shares some ideas and hopes through films, but also presents a workshop using a visioning methodology developed by facilitators Emma Geen and James Ward.
Transporting us into a version of the future we create together in a safe, inclusive environment.
Imagine, in 2040, we live in a city where we redefine wealth as a thriving, diverse ecosystem with affordable homes, a harbour that humans, otters and kingfishers can play in and a zero carbon transport system.
Join us to identify and celebrate the milestones that got us from 2024 to 2040 and map out how we achieved our aspirations.
We get to decide how we did things, how we overcame adversity, how we negotiated with local, national and global authorities.
Did we link with cooperatives across the world? Were we able to help with reparations for historical violence to people and ecosystems? Did we achieve a Just Transition?
Maybe we only focused on making sure our children had a safe journey to school, healthy food and an active lifestyle.
Maybe we were able to dream big and achieve a Utopian Future. All your ideas are welcome and will contribute to the H&CCA community climate action plan.
Remember, as Mikaela Loach wrote: “When times get tough we don’t give up. We get organised.”
If you live, work or visit our neighbourhood, join our collective imagining. H&CCA is providing refreshments, Watershed is providing a lovely warm space and the cafe-bar is open selling food and drinks.
Community Conversation #3 Utopian Futures takes place at the Watershed on November 25 from 6-9pm. For more information, visit www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/utopian_futures
This is an opinion piece by Anna Haydock-Wilson, an artist, filmmaker and producer specialising in community engagement and facilitation
Main image: ‘Hotwells Wetland’ by Emma Geen & James Ward
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