Sometimes I look around and it feels like we are surrounded by a consensus that the future isn’t looking good. 

Take a moment. 

What do you feel (I mean really feel) when you hear that global biodiversity has decreased by 69% between 1970 and 2018? Or that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that to avoid exceeding 1.5 degrees of global warming, we would need to cut emissions by 45% by 2030 and zero by 2050, but that as of February 2024, we have already crossed over this critical 1.5º barrier into temperatures never experienced by human civilisations before. Did you also know that anxiety disorders have increased twentyfold in the past thirty years? 

I’ve heard it said we are living in a time of pre-traumatic stress. This contemporary psychological condition manifests itself as the anxiety that we experience when confronted with imminent and irreversible loss. It is both a symptom and cause of helplessness.

But what if… the one thing that could change the world faster and more powerfully than anything else, is imagination and storytelling? 

I recently came across Rob Hopkins (founder of the Transitions Movement) latest book ‘From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want’ and it so eloquently sums up why I do what I do as an artist and creative in the world. 

In the book, Hopkins asks us a series of questions that explore what we need to do to revive and replenish our collective imaginations, and through a plethora of endlessly inspiring real-life examples, he shares how whole societies and cultures can change - rapidly, dramatically and unexpectedly - for the better. It’s an uncensored call to action to reclaim and unleash the power of our imaginations to solve the problems of our time, and it makes me want to stand up and create - without delay! 

Storytelling is also, I believe, one of the most powerful tools we have to change the world. As Steve Jobs, founder of Apple so famously said: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller”. As humans, we are wired to make sense of the world though stories. It’s our primary mode of communication and moral navigation, we reason through stories (not just logic) and, consciously or unconsciously, we process the whole world through narrative. Whomever controls the narrative, therefore, has the power. 

We need to be deliberate. We need to examine those narratives we’re presented with every day, and we need to choose what future we want. I mean really want. What if it was so inspiring, imaginative, creative and wonderful, and the longing for that vision is so powerful, we were willing to do whatever it takes to get there? What if we threw everything we had into solving our global challenges, and that journey could be… fun?! To quote the writer Susan Griffin: “One might say that human societies have two boundaries. One boundary is drawn by the requirements of the natural world and the other by the collective imagination.” 

I think there is lot we can learn from younger generations when it comes to ‘playing’ our way out of crisis, but equally, I believe we need to do everything we can to nurture imagination in our young people. I was stunned to learn that, according to research, while creative thinking and IQ amongst our school-age children rose concomitantly from the 1960s, at some point between 1990 and 1998, the two separated, with creative thinking heading into a ‘steady and persistent decline’. 

Reflecting on my own life, even as an artist, it seems there is less and less time to simply reflect or act imaginatively. As someone who has made creativity their vocation, sometimes if I’m not careful, it can feel like my imagination is ‘farmed’ out to create a demand for things that no-one actually needs. It is co-opted into the service of our own extinction, inadvertently pushing our human and ecological systems to the brink of collapse. 

This is why I’m so careful to lead my career by my values. This is why I love to surround myself with people who are doing imaginative things in the world to make a real difference (have you seen what our very own Team Wilder have been up to recently?!) This is why I create images that help to tell a different narrative of what our collective story could be. This is why I need time in my life to play and explore and make mistakes, because I know if I don’t have that time, I’m not much use to anyone. This is why I do what I can to inspire others to spend time with their imaginations, and I’ve got some exciting events in the pipeline as part of my final couple of months as Biosphere Artist in Residence to do just this. 

When confronted with the Biodiversity or Climate Crisis, I have sat between the worlds of emotional-bypassing and the Deep Adaptation movement - opposite ends of the same spectrum - and I have come to the conclusion that all of us, artists or not, have a responsibility to both surround ourselves with and share, positive narratives of change if we want to have any chance of shifting the greater narrative of our planet. 

Maybe I’m wrong… but what if… 

Ali Hodgson is the current Biosphere Artist in Residence in collaboration with Manx Wildlife Trust, UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man and the Isle of Man Arts Council. You can find out more about what she has been up to on her residency here. To celebrate the end of her residency, Ali will be holing a series of events: 

REIMAGINING our Biosphere 

UNESCO Biosphere Artist in Residence end-of-year Exhibition

16^th - 20^th September 

Santander Work Café, Douglas 

A pop-up exhibition by Ali Hodgson celebrating the end of the year-long Biosphere Artist in Residence position in partnership with Manx Wildlife Trust and UNESCO Biosphere and supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council. The exhibition will include carefully curated collaborative work generated by players of the 'Biosphere Game', designed by Ali to reimagine our future together on the Isle of Man in relationship with nature. No booking necessary and the exhibition is open to all. 

REIMAGINING our Biosphere - Public Game Drop-in Session

2-5pm, 18^th September 

Santander Work Café, Douglas 

An opportunity for businesses and individuals, or anyone interested in sustainability and collaboration, to see the Biosphere Game in action and talk to it's creator Ali Hodgson about how it works or any of the other work Ali has been involved in as part of her position as the 2023/4 Biosphere Artist in Residence. 

Biosphere Builders: Creative Games for Change

2-5pm, 21^st September 

Kerroo Brewing Co, Port Erin 

Tickets: £12 and book your tickets here. 

Join us for an unforgettable afternoon of creative collaboration with Biosphere Artist in Residence Ali Hodgson, the Keird Collective and Manx Wildlife Trust as we co-create an installation map of our vision for a nature-positive future on the Isle of Man that will be filmed and animated in real time. Expect ice-breakers, creative challenges, new friends, drinks, snacks and DJs to entertain us while we play! (over 18s only)