‘How to Fall in Love with the Future’ trainings

Inspire and unleash your organisation’s radical imagination… 

“Rob belongs to the now critically endangered subspecies ‘Homo Imaginatus’, infamous for their ability to time travel. Time travelling is contagious, and has since Rob’s visit been observed across our city, spreading fast”.

Jacob Rask, Bloxhub, Copenhagen.

Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement and author of ‘From What If to What Next’, will lead your team on a deep dive into the radical imagination and how to unlock it in the work you do on the scale the world demands, transforming your team into Imagination Catalysts. On this training, which can run over one or two days, you will learn to:

• Build your collective imagination muscle through a series of engaging activities
• Time travel to the future that turned out OK and experience it with all your senses
• Become adept in the difference between ‘Yes, but’ and ‘Yes, and’
• Take a ‘Walk of What If’ to expand the ambition of your organisation’s next steps and move beyond short term thinking
• Bring energy, humour and playfulness to the big challenges of our time
• Generate hundreds of inspired ideas and then turn some of them into immediately workable proposals

To organise Imagination Catalyst training for your organisation, contact Rob at rob (at) robhopkins.net

Testimonials

“Rob’s Imagination Catalyst training was transformative for our annual meeting. His approach focused on the power of imagination, inspiring us to reframe challenges through positive thinking. During the Museum Leadership House 2023 in Nice, Rob led 30 global museum leaders through a series of exercises that generated unexpected results, particularly around how museums can take a proactive role in addressing climate change. We came up with 75 “What if Ideas” on how museums can start acting already today to protect our planet. Best outcome is that some of these ideas are already in the process of implementation”.

Sofia Widmann, Founder & CEO, Museum Booster GmbH

“Rob’s imagination-driven approach to understanding and addressing the climate crisis is inspiring and really promotes engagement and creativity rather than the paralysis and despair which can often result from exposure to the reality of our situation. Our team are still talking about the session and Rob’s “yes… and” exercise has now been adopted across the company”.

Kate Chapman, London Marathon Group

“I had the chance to participate in Rob Hopkins’ Imagination Training at the Campus de la Transition in March 2023. What a wonderful experience! I’ve attended several conferences on the topic of new imaginaries, and there are many books on the subject as well, but I had never experienced a workshop like this, which helps us actively project ourselves into a desirable future with our whole being. The balance between theoretical input and practical action, the small group work, Rob’s quirky humor, and his creativity allowed me to have an incredible experience. To bring about a desirable future, we must first make it concrete in our minds, bodies, and hearts. And that’s exactly what Rob Hopkins’ Imagination Training does. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone or any group seeking or in need of inspiration. And if you’re still in doubt after reading my testimony, don’t forget this: he’s been to the future, we won. ;)”.

François Gicqueau, Campus de la Transition, Forges, France.

“I love Rob’s emphasis on the stories of possibility: of the warm socks in the lush valleys below, after the dangerous descent from the mountain of overconsumption, of streets filled with food, life and connection. His work is a celebration of what if, what could, and still can be done if we refuse to settle for “unambitious pragmatism” and dare to be “ridiculous” and audacious enough to meet the scale of the challenge ahead with our sleeves rolled up and imaginations ablaze.  We are all looking forwards to Rob’s next visit from the future we made”.

Jacob Rask, BloxHub, Copenhagen, Denmark.

“It is always a pleasure to work with Rob Hopkins – who can enliven any room with his energy, insightful provocations and fresh perspectives.   Rob’s work allows us to dream into the future and opens up a space to think differently. His exceptional work gives participants an opportunity to be bold, challenge the current narrative and to find new ways forward.  This is coupled with practical and pragmatic exercises to ensure participants can take their experiences forward into their work and daily lives”.

Alicia Carey, Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking.

“Rob is an exceptional speaker and facilitator.  He inspires his audiences and takes them on a journey, giving people the courage and  energy to step into the new. He brings a wealth of stories, digging into his deep expertise in sustainability and the transition movement.  We were lucky to have him with us.”

“In January 2024, the CLIMACT team organized a truly joyful and transformative workshop with Rob Hopkins. This vibrant day was designed to ignite the imagination and creativity of our 45-person team. Through playful activities, mapping sessions, time travel exercises, and the ’10 Ridiculous Ideas Challenge,’ we explored future scenarios and possibilities with renewed energy and innovative thinking. The highlight of the day was the ‘What If?’ brainstorming, where participants delved into visionary concepts. This workshop not only fostered a sense of unity and inspiration but also equipped CLIMACT with fresh perspectives and actionable strategies to tackle climate challenges”.

François-Olivier Devaux, CLIMACT, Brussels.

“We were truly amazed by Rob’s Imagination Workshop—a 4-hour session that gave our new project participants a powerful boost. It was the perfect way to unleash our creative potential and break free from conventional thinking. What initially seemed like wild, “crazy” ideas quickly transformed into realistic, actionable possibilities. Together, we envisioned transformative changes for the Arrábida region in Portugal, imagining how it could become a beacon for regeneration and transition. The flow of ideas was inspiring and energizing, we are thankful for the possibility of opening other perspective to see the situation. Rob’s use of humour and fantasy helped us step away from a purely pragmatic approach, making us realize that everything is possible. He showed us the real-world examples proving that bold ideas can indeed come to life. The workshop was a powerful, inspiring experience that will undoubtedly shape our future work. We highly recommend this workshop for boosting the energy, inspiration and imagination in the work of the companies and organisations”.

Viktoriya Slobodchikova, Biovilla Sustentabilidade, Portugal

“Our MA in Regenerative Economics course is unique, exposing our students to holistic science, phenomenology, and a range of thinking and practice that one ordinarily wouldn’t associate with economics. We do study the work of economists, too, of course, and a range of thinkers across many fields. A key faculty we try to develop is the ability to occupy many perspectives and to appreciate many ways of knowing. In this regard, we deeply appreciate what Rob has to teach us. His way of storytelling and developing embodied experiences for students frees the imagination – in fact, it emboldens it and turns it into a superpower. Really, it creates the conditions for the students to discover this superpower within themselves. This is Rob’s gift as an educator. We can’t wait to work with him again”.

Jay Tompt, Schumacher College.

“There was a real buzz in the room during the session and we’ve gone away with lots of ideas to use in workshops locally. Feedback from people on the day included from a council officer who suggested that politicians (both local and national) should have the opportunity to experience this workshop and from local artists who have been inspired to develop approaches to engaging people creatively with the potential futures ahead of us.”

Rachel Marshall, Lancaster Food Futures.

“We organized a public conference and a workshop with Rob, which set in motion a new dynamic in our approach to sustainability. Thanks to his positive focus, centred on the power of imagination, people were able to test and identify innovative ways of taking actions towards transition. At the city level, the event was an opportunity to initiate a new approach, “What If?”, which aims to facilitate collective action in favour of climate issues, biodiversity and social cohesion, at street level.”

Julie Wuerfel, Head of Sustainability and Participation Unit, Ville de Lausanne, Switzerland.

“What came out of the day was positive energy! Participants found inspiration to take action and wanted to share it with others afterwards. Two citizen-led Transition initiatives were born thanks to this day. The interactive, fun and offbeat format of the workshop was well appreciated. We highly recommend experiencing a creativity workshop with Rob!”

Elsa Carton, Co-fondatrice du réseau transition Hauts-de-France

“A breath of fresh air, that’s what I felt when meeting Rob Hopkins and joining his workshop. As environmental activists, it’s easy to feel like hope comes and goes, and sometimes even fades completely. That’s why the community is so important for us, we need to be surrounded by people who will support us in harder moments. After envisioning the future with Rob, a future that’s so beautiful, where we put relationships and nature in the center, I feel so much empowered, hopeful, serene. Whenever I feel down, I’ll remember the excitement and pure joy that I felt during the special “What if…” exercice, and for sure it’ll reignite my energy. It was truly an honor to host such an inspiring and high-quality workshop in our Cooperative !

Aurore Delaunay, Vice Presidente of the Environmental NGO Transitar and member of the cooperative Rizoma, Lisbon.

“Rob is a smart, warm and highly-engaging facilitator. We were fortunate to have him facilitate our two-day European Planetary Crisis Summit. He put together a cohesive structure that led us on a deep dive into the topic of the climate emergency and explore how our Buddhist organisations could act as catalysts for change. Under his skilful guidance, he harnessed our collective imagination, generating hundreds of ideas and then focusing on the ones that would have the most impact. We closed the Summit with quality actionable and thought-provoking plans. But also a sense of engagement, connectedness and strong spirit of collaboration. Rob was an invaluable partner who orchestrated, like a seasoned conductor, this amazing experience. We feel both fortunate and deeply grateful”.

Ven. Thubten Drolma, Executive Director, Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.

“I still regularly think about Rob’s approach to thinking past the short term and making everyone feel comfortable and find their own clarity. I find myself thinking of today’s work co-leading a culture charity with this workshop in mind.  I really enjoyed Rob’s workshop and know you will do too”.

Zak Mensah,  Co-Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Museums Trust.

“We held a workshop with Rob Hopkins last year for our design and development teams. Thanks to his creativity and the effectiveness of his method, both structuring and inspiring, Rob has been able to stimulate our team’s imagination and open up a space for constructive and positive dialogue, looking towards the future”.

Balenciaga, Paris.