Hopeful Futures

Society

Hopeful Futures

The Hopeful Futures project invited a group of Londoners to deliberate on and reimagine what a climate-adapted London could look like by 2050, and the steps we can take to get there. The project had a particular focus on adapting to rising temperatures, and explored how to integrate lived experience testimony and creative practice to support constructive and future-focused conversations on climate change.

Participants took part in four in-person deliberative workshops at Science Gallery London in September-October 2024, bringing together 27 residents from the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. Participants created visions for well-adapted neighbourhoods, principles to underpin their visions and a prioritised list of policy options. We also worked with six residents from these boroughs who acted as peer researchers, generating lived experience testimony that was fed into the workshops around how people in the area were coping during heatwaves.

The Hopeful Futures team brings together researchers and practitioners from across King’s, including the Policy Institute, the Department of Geography, King’s Culture, Science Gallery London, and Department of Political Economy, along with partners from London Councils, Policy Lab, climate teams from the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets, and artists Angela YT Chan and Jo Brinton.

The wider project team included:

Agathe de Canson – London Councils
Angela YT Chan – Freelance artist
Anna Poppa – Department of Geography, King’s College London
James Porter – Department of Geography, King’s College London
James Wright – Policy Institute, King’s College London
Jen Wong – Science Gallery London
Jo Brinton – Good Studio
Marypaz Ventura-Arrieta – Policy Institute, King’s College London
Rod Dacombe – Department of Political Economy, King’s College London
Stephen Bennett – Policy Lab
Suzanne Hall – Policy Institute, King’s College London
Zara Regan – Policy Institute, King’s College London

This work is funded by King’s College London’s Climate and Sustainability Seed Fund.

Reports

‘Feeling the heat?’ In September 2024, six residents from Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets came together after documenting their experiences, and those of their friends and family members, during a heatwave. Acting as ‘peer researchers’, they produced photos, videos and diary entries that captured how they experienced high temperatures in August 2024. They worked with the team at KCL and Jo Brinton from Good Studio to discuss their experiences, and those of other people in their networks, to produce a short output summarising their collective experiences. This zine is the outcome of that discussion. The zine was featured in the Vital Signs exhibition at Science Gallery London. The exhibition ran from 13 November 2024 – 17 May 2025.

Media

During September 2024, residents of Southwark, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets gathered at Science Gallery London together with artists, policymakers and researchers to explore their vision for the future and explore policy priorities. This video features the voices and photographs of the workshop participants and was produced by Angela YT Chan.

Aims

To test novel approaches within deliberative settings, to open up more hopeful, constructive and future-focused conversations about policy choices on climate change.
To develop visions and priorities for what a well-adapted London could look like from local residents, tackling a gap identified by London local authorities.
To complement existing KCL investments using culture and creativity to engage the public on climate and sustainability, to open dialogues and set new research agendas with our local communities.

Methods

Literature reviews: We conducted two literature reviews to inform the design of the deliberative workshops. The first explored arts-based interventions focused on climate change and the evidence of their impact. The second systematically identified different types of stimuli used in deliberative settings.
Peer research: Across August 2024, six Londoners living in Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets documented life in London on hotter days. They produced photos, videos and diary entries that captured what they saw and experienced, interviewed friends and family members, and reflected on how their area might change if we continue to see hotter, drier summers. The peer researchers came together in a debrief workshop to share their experiences and identify common themes. The group’s collective findings were presented in person at the deliberative workshops by two of the peer researchers.
Deliberative workshops: Our workshops aimed to generate hopeful, imaginative and future-focused conversations about the types of adaptive actions residents from Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets would like to see, to live well with climate change. We focused on exploring what policies should be prioritised locally over the short-, medium- and long-term to enable future generations to adapt well to the impacts associated with climate change. Expert presenters during the workshops included partners from the local authorities and London Councils, in addition to two peer researchers. The middle two workshops were led by artist Angela YT Chan. Angela collaborated with the research team to deliver workshops where participants creatively envisioned what their local borough might look like in a well-adapted future, utilising future visioning and speculative fiction.

Roundtable: The roundtable stress-tested and refined ideas arising from the workshops, and how they can be operationalised by specialists working in climate change adaptation.