How to Fall In Love with the Future
Wednesday, May 13 | 12:00-1:30 PM ET
Join Radically Rural and otherWise for a 90-minute online session with Rob Hopkins, renowned imagination activist and co-founder of the Transition Town movement. Rob’s work invites us to consider a simple but transformative idea: that vivid, sensory, grounded imaginations of better futures can sharpen our sense of agency right now – especially in times of uncertainty or erosion.
Together, we will:
- Hear Rob share insights from his newest book, How to Fall in Love with the Future (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2025).
- Engage in a collective imagination practice—a guided “Time Travel” exercise—to experience how imagination can function as a practical, effective, and even essential tool for local resilience, rural revitalization, and cooperative economic possibility.
- Dream forward with others invested in rural creativity, economies of vitality, and community-shaped change.
Solutions Journalism in Rural Communities
Wednesday, July 8 | 2:00-3:00 PM ET
Rural communities are developing practical and innovative responses to local challenges, from expanding child and elder care to organizing around land and infrastructure decisions and improving access to health services through telehealth and crisis response programs. Drawing on reporting from The Daily Yonder, this session uses a solutions journalism lens to explore how these efforts emerge and why storytelling about rural innovation matters. What stories about your community feel missing or overlooked in the news, and what solutions, resources, or ways of caring for one another would you want others to better understand?
From Classroom to Career: Aligning Employers, Schools, and Community Pride in Rural Workforce Development
Wednesday, August 12 | 2:00-3:00 PM ET
Rural workforce challenges are not just about skills—they’re about alignment. This session explores a holistic workforce development model that connects employers, schools, and community identity to create strong, sustainable talent pipelines. Participants will learn how intentional employer relationship-building, early exposure to careers, and community pride can reshape workforce outcomes and help young people envision futures where they live.