Three Jesus College postgraduate students are to launch a new digital project focused on exploring alternative future ideas, and the people and groups working on solutions to crucial 21st century challenges.
Next Era aims to be a voice of optimism in a time of societal uncertainty and instability, and help imagine and understand the potential pathways towards a brighter tomorrow. It has been founded by Nour Attalla (MSc, Sociology), Kassandra Dugi (DPhil, Philosophy) and Otto Barenberg (MSc, Comparative Social Policy). The online publication will feature articles from a wide range of researchers and commentators imagining the possibilities and necessities in creating more sustainable, humane and optimistic futures. It will be accompanied by a series of interactive events to broaden discussions generated through the digital content.
Nour, who previously worked as a researcher at the Finnish think tank Demos Helsinki and is Next Era’s Editor-In-Chief, says, “Through the magazine, our contributors will be exploring what our digital and material lives might look like in the coming decades, and what should they look like. We’re living in a time upended by technological change, climate collapse and social conflict, and our economic and political structures are increasingly struggling to find and implement effective answers. This moment of radical uncertainty presents a unique opportunity to reimagine and reconstruct our societies around inclusive, optimistic and democratic values”. Featured themes include New Economy, New Society; Humans in the 21st Century; The Future of Democracy, and Digital & Material Reality.
Next Era will be launched at an event on February 17th in the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub at Jesus College. “We’ll be revealing the new online publication, and showcasing the project in more detail” explains Nour. “We’ll also be running a guided vision-boarding exercise that has been designed to engage participants’ creativity, hope and imagination in exploring optimistic futures”. Professor Nigel Shadbolt FRS FREng FBCS, College Principal and Professorial Research Fellow in Computer Science, will be guest speaker.