📢 💡 🎉 Let me introduce Pro(to)topia a mission-driven consultancy, whose new website, www.prototopia.eu, we are launching today! “Imagination is part of the organism’s pragmatic attempt to get maximum grip on its changing environment. (…)” Stephen T Asma, professor of philosophy and cofounder of the Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia College Chicago We are bombarded each day with news of climate-related disasters and conflicts, and we are consuming more and more literature, movies, and television that envision a dystopian future. In this difficult context, reclaiming imagination towards a better, more sustainable future is an essential act of care: care for self, care for others, and care for the world. For imagination to become “world-making”, other tools, which translate positive vision into reality are necessary. Transformative change does not fall from the sky, it is always engineered, politically, economically and socially. It is a story of trial and error, with many failed prototypes. When I was the executive director of the Institute of European Environmental Policy (IEEP), strangled by the straight-jacket of the everyday reality of policy-making at European level, I was challenged to my then member of the board and mentor, Domingo Beltran, to push the boundaries of what was possible, to ask the simple question: “What if?” While I knew that transformation required a completely different course of action, as a busy executive director, I did not have the bandwidth to try and answer this question. Having stepped down from my prior functions, I feel now ready to step up to the challenge given to me by my mentor by launching Pro(to)topia, a mission-driven consultancy, which aims at imagineering a green caring society. Together with our clients and partners from NGOs, public institutions and the private sector, my co-founder Eloise Bodin and I are creating care-positive visions of the future and identify strategies to bridge the gap with the everyday reality of policy-making, politics and organizations. Our services include policy-relevant research, strategic foresight, strategic and organisational development and stakeholder and citizen engagement. We work with clients, whether public institutions, private companies, EU institutions and NGOs, who are working towards more sustainable and caring societies. What is different about Pro(to)topia? We strongly believe in the transformative power of the arts and are working closely with artists, not just to communicate outcomes but also to co-create innovative solutions. To mimic the qualities of a murmuration, which assembles and transforms itself to adapt to its environment with agility, we are working towards becoming a collective and look forward to welcoming more founding partners in the next few months. Go to prototopia.eu to learn more and get in touch if you are interested in our services! Eloïse Bodin Sanne de Jong
So great to hear you are doing this! We are doing What if visioning as part of a pesticide reduction project. It is really hard for people to imagine alternative realities. But when they allow themselves to 'dream', there is so much positive energy that this process triggers. As well as great ideas. Good luck!
This is crazy! I'm currently reading Climate Activism from Zahra Biabani and I just learnt about the concept of protopia! Here in Oslo we are working on building up an organisation. And the spirit of protopia is around. Once it's more settled hope we can collaborate!
Hey dream team 🎉, sending only fair winds - and lots of interesting future work - your way!
Your imagineering talents coupled with your sound on the ground experience together with Eloise are going to make this the most amazing consultancy. I was inspired during our conversation this morning and enthusiastic to speak more!!
Congratulations, Celine Charveriat Eloïse Bodin! I’m “hopetimistic” (hopeful & optimistic) your wonderful vision-mission for Prototopia Consultancy will help connect global citizens many of whom are already engaged in creative collaborations--moving minds from What If visioning work to applying our collective “inventional & innovational wisdom”. Ultimately, we must work together, utilizing all the tools we have to solve climate change among other related global challenges.
This is so exciting Celine Charveriat Eloïse Bodin : incredible ecofeminist transformation lies ahead 🙌🏽🦩
Check out the concept of emotional CPR pioneered by Dr Dan Fisher
Well done, sounds great.
This is so cool. I'm really excited to learn more and figure out how to collaborate/join in.
Co-Founder at Better by Codesign, Board Chair, Campaign strategist and Farmer
5moCongratulations Celine Charveriat, I love it! We must catch up - there's so much cross over with what we're doing too.