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Designing Hope: Visions to Shape Our Future
When did we stop dreaming of a better future? What happened to the sci-fi golden age of the 1950s, when futurism flourished as a discipline and drove innovation?
As a society, either we struggle to imagine something good for the times to come or we fail to picture any future at all. Our world is in polycrisis; we face climate breakdown, societal fracturing, governmental collapse, war, and rising inequality.
The exciting outcomes we dreamed of, from the space race to the wonder material plastic, have brought contingent problems of their own. We haven’t yet developed mainstream and accessible new narratives to replace these failures, and if you ask someone to imagine ‘the future’, they’ll probably still picture flying cars.
Designing Hope resets expectations. Through the lens of four emerging futures, Sarah Housley shows us visions of hope that inspire action and critical thinking about how we’ll live in the decades to come.
As a society, either we struggle to imagine something good for the times to come or we fail to picture any future at all. Our world is in polycrisis; we face climate breakdown, societal fracturing, governmental collapse, war, and rising inequality.
The exciting outcomes we dreamed of, from the space race to the wonder material plastic, have brought contingent problems of their own. We haven’t yet developed mainstream and accessible new narratives to replace these failures, and if you ask someone to imagine ‘the future’, they’ll probably still picture flying cars.
Designing Hope resets expectations. Through the lens of four emerging futures, Sarah Housley shows us visions of hope that inspire action and critical thinking about how we’ll live in the decades to come.
- GenresNonfictionNature
150 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2025
12 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 28, 2025
Inspiring and thought-provoking — since hearing her talk, it’s all I’ve wanted to discuss. The book moves quickly through concepts, theories, and examples, sometimes with less nuance than I’d like, but that also leaves you wanting more. Overall, it’s energising, joyful, and motivates bold, hopeful thinking.
December 4, 2025
3,5/5
confesso que me interessei pelo livro pela capa, coisa linda, como resistir? fora isso, o argumento-base é pertinente: o futuro parece sombrio para muitos de nós, é possível conceber cenários positivos com base em tendências observáveis? se sim, o que nos reserva? o livro é bastante acessível e curto, talvez demasiado, e apresenta quatro cenários prováveis, aos quais vou dar a minha opinião enviesada (correta):
1) mais-que-humano: não, não é transhumanismo, mas sim uma nova relação com a natureza, mais horizontal e ecológica, que considere novos estudos sobre inteligência não-humana, novas ligações entre a natureza e a tecnologia, ou esforços como rewilding. como perfeito leigo nestas matérias, apoio tudo o que faça com que a ecologia transcenda o seu estado atual de hippie bullshit.
2) degrowth: fuck no, próximo.
3) solarpunk: estética excelente, ideia bonita, infelizmente não passa disso. mesmo assim, faz falta um cenário ao qual possamos aspirar. "vê o quão fixe seria um mundo futurista em que tudo é alimentado por energia renovável e a tua cidade parece um misto entre um filme do studio ghibli e o windows xp" ao menos é algo.
4) metaverso: escapism distópico para um simulacro hiperreal montado por tech bros, não obrigado. o otimismo com que é descrito roça por vezes o cómico.
no geral, insere-se num género de não-ficção que gosto de descrever como "conversation starters". em vez de pegar numa teoria que o autor acha engraçada e a tratar como panaceia, limita-se a atirar a hipotética pedra ao charco e dizer ao leitor "isto é fixolas, o que tu achas?" e, por vezes, é o que basta.
confesso que me interessei pelo livro pela capa, coisa linda, como resistir? fora isso, o argumento-base é pertinente: o futuro parece sombrio para muitos de nós, é possível conceber cenários positivos com base em tendências observáveis? se sim, o que nos reserva? o livro é bastante acessível e curto, talvez demasiado, e apresenta quatro cenários prováveis, aos quais vou dar a minha opinião enviesada (correta):
1) mais-que-humano: não, não é transhumanismo, mas sim uma nova relação com a natureza, mais horizontal e ecológica, que considere novos estudos sobre inteligência não-humana, novas ligações entre a natureza e a tecnologia, ou esforços como rewilding. como perfeito leigo nestas matérias, apoio tudo o que faça com que a ecologia transcenda o seu estado atual de hippie bullshit.
2) degrowth: fuck no, próximo.
3) solarpunk: estética excelente, ideia bonita, infelizmente não passa disso. mesmo assim, faz falta um cenário ao qual possamos aspirar. "vê o quão fixe seria um mundo futurista em que tudo é alimentado por energia renovável e a tua cidade parece um misto entre um filme do studio ghibli e o windows xp" ao menos é algo.
4) metaverso: escapism distópico para um simulacro hiperreal montado por tech bros, não obrigado. o otimismo com que é descrito roça por vezes o cómico.
no geral, insere-se num género de não-ficção que gosto de descrever como "conversation starters". em vez de pegar numa teoria que o autor acha engraçada e a tratar como panaceia, limita-se a atirar a hipotética pedra ao charco e dizer ao leitor "isto é fixolas, o que tu achas?" e, por vezes, é o que basta.
January 20, 2026
Excellent nonfiction look at various futures we could create from this point, all with mix and match potential to improve our lives/the planet. I was impressed that at no point did the book descend into dystopia, though it certainly admits that the changes might not be as good as we would like.
As a writer, I took away that it provides some very good tools for world-building in fiction and helps one to ponder what might and might not work in the real world. It's the first actual book I've bought this year, in my goal to keep buying physical books where I can afford to do so.
The possible futures it outlines are:
More than human, where society adapts to the fact that we're not alone on Earth. Rewilding. Nature and technology combining.
Degrowth, reduction in economic output, to stay within the limits of what the planet can provide. [My personal favourite, combined with the first option].
Solarpunk, a future made out of renewables, wind and solar power.
Metaverse, virtual worlds and how they can supplement reality.
Adopting one doesn't rule out another. As the blurb says:
"All four are possible. They present hope and they offer challenges. They might make the world more equal in some ways; they might also make existing inequalities and injustices worse, and introduce new ones.....two, three or four could co-exist and elements from all of them may well mingle...in the one future you eventually inhabit."
As a writer, I took away that it provides some very good tools for world-building in fiction and helps one to ponder what might and might not work in the real world. It's the first actual book I've bought this year, in my goal to keep buying physical books where I can afford to do so.
The possible futures it outlines are:
More than human, where society adapts to the fact that we're not alone on Earth. Rewilding. Nature and technology combining.
Degrowth, reduction in economic output, to stay within the limits of what the planet can provide. [My personal favourite, combined with the first option].
Solarpunk, a future made out of renewables, wind and solar power.
Metaverse, virtual worlds and how they can supplement reality.
Adopting one doesn't rule out another. As the blurb says:
"All four are possible. They present hope and they offer challenges. They might make the world more equal in some ways; they might also make existing inequalities and injustices worse, and introduce new ones.....two, three or four could co-exist and elements from all of them may well mingle...in the one future you eventually inhabit."
January 11, 2026
A compelling and thought provoking read, and I will admit, I am certainly the target audience for this. It is clearly written without too much jargon making it a super accessible text. It demands us to consider the future otherwise lose it, and it certainly gives the nudge some might need to start that imagination process. It did mostly read as a guide for what’s happening out there, which isn’t always the most interesting or relevant to readers, but sometimes, something caught the imagination!
November 29, 2025
Amazing book, a must read. We cannot build a future we can’t envision. Questioning our visions of the future and how to get there is critical in a world of chronic negativity.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews