Thursday 4th of September
6.30 to 9.30pm
Join Sarah Housley, author of DESIGNING HOPE: VISIONS TO SHAPE OUR FUTURE and Emily Buchanan, climate campaigner and author of debut novel SEND FLOWERS, and hear them talk about their new books and discuss visions for the future, acts of resistance and why we should have hope in the face of the climate crisis. The event will be chaired by Paul Behrens, author of The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science (The Indigo Press, 2021).
Sarah Housley is a design futurist and trend forecaster, and the former Head of Consumer Tech at WGSN. She has consulted for numerous brands on topics ranging from the future of water, to the changing role of pets within the home, and our future relationships with robots, and spoken internationally at events including Dutch Design Week.
She has contributed to BBC Radio 4 and CGTN, as well as print and digital media including The Globe and Mail, South China Morning Post, FT Weekend, The Guardian, Dezeen and British Vogue. She teaches Futures & Innovation at the London College of Fashion.
Emily Buchanan is an author and environmental activist from Thanet. She studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a first-class Creative Writing dissertation. She worked for Greenpeace as a Creative Campaigner before freelancing as a graphic designer and illustrator for non-profits. Notable campaign wins include the UK fracking ban, Shell abandoning its search for oil in the Arctic and most recently, the UN agreeing to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. Emily wrote her first novel at twelve - a bedtime story for her little sister - and has been telling stories in one way or another ever since. She lives in Norwich with her pianist spouse and a brood of four-legged friends.
Paul Behrens is the author of the popular science book, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science (Indigo Press, 2021) which describes humanity’s current trajectory and possible futures in paired chapters of pessimism and hope. His research and writing on climate, energy, and food, has appeared in scientific journals and media outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Thomson Reuters, Politico, Nature Sustainability, Nature Energy, PNAS, Nature Food, and Nature Communications. He is an editor and author of the interdisciplinary textbook Food and Sustainability (Oxford University Press, 2020). Paul won International Champion in the Frontiers Planet Prize in 2023.