Introduction

Watch the video episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EjhDCW12IAQ

My guest today is Phoebe Tickell. Phoebe calls herself an Imagination Activist to describe a new kind of activist she sees emerging worldwide. Her interest in different ways of perceiving the world informed (and was informed by) her studies in neuroscience, cognitive science, molecular structures, and plant science. It was this interest in perception that eventually led her to found Moral Imaginations in 2020. In her work, she seeks to reimagine our relationship with ourselves, each other, the planet, and the future. Moral Imaginations works with municipalities across the UK and Europe to cultivate and train imagination activists and has trained a thousand people in their methodology.

In this episode, we explore the word, “imagination”, what it means, and why it matters globally in THIS moment that we now find ourselves, in this time between worlds. We explore how shifts in perception change how we make sense of the world and how we can actively expand our perception, which is critical if we want to play a role in creating radical systems change in light of the metacrisis. Phoebe emphasizes the seriousness of imagination as a tool for change and she seeks to give people practices to leverage their imaginations to create freedom from within and to redefine the good life for themselves. 

Phoebe’s Links & Resources:

www.phoebetickell.com

https://www.moralimaginations.com 

Multispecies governance practices: https://phoebetickell.medium.com/towards-complex-governance-systems-cfd79c4ecf1

Phoebe’s imagination activism in Camden: https://issuu.com/moralimaginations/docs/camden_report_200623_digital_

Tool for Regenerative Renaissance course: https://niafaraway.com/tools-for-the-regenerative-renaissance/

Other Resources Mentioned:

Joanna Macy: https://www.joannamacy.net 

The Consilience Project: https://consilienceproject.org

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

New School of the Anthropocene: https://www.nsota.org  

Imagination: A Way To Remake The World (Phoebe’s talk with Ian McGilchrist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c9vyj_0zSs

Joanna Macy on shifting from an Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization: https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/great-turning

Lynn Margulis’ work on endosymbiosis: https://evolution.berkeley.edu/the-history-of-evolutionary-thought/1900-to-present/endosymbiosis-lynn-margulis/

Warm Data: https://warmdatalab.net/warm-data

UNDP Labs: https://www.undp.org/acceleratorlabs

Club of Rome: https://www.clubofrome.org/

Pat McCabe: https://www.patmccabe.net/

Bronte Velez: https://weavingearth.org/staff/bronte-velez/

Lead To Life: https://www.leadtolife.org/

Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/675703/hospicing-modernity-by-vanessa-machado-de-oliveira/

Peter Wall Institute (Vanessa Andreotti’s page): https://pwias.ubc.ca/community/vanessa-andreotti/