2060 Prompt

Take part in a collective storytelling challenge and inspire others!

2060: Reflections from the Future

Often, as people imagine future changes that lead to a better world, they start by imagining a crisis -- something that forces existing precarious circumstances to their breaking point, causing people to come together and try something different. Right now, our world is confronting a painful health crisis of unprecedented proportions and it is predicted it will be followed by an economic crisis of the same scope and scale. Recognizing this, let’s use this moment to initiate a process of reflection and intervention and bring our imaginative selves to the realities we face today.

Draw on what inspires you, respond to our prompt, and contribute to a collective brainstorm that taps our imagination at a time when imagining takes courage. All responses will become part of 2060: Reflections from the Future, a public and shared collection that connects our current hopes, concerns, and aspirations. Artists, thinkers, and community leaders working in various fields and formats with then also bring our collective visions to life.

BRAINSTORM PROMPT:

Think about the current moment, your situation and what you see around you - your fears and concerns. Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

Now think about something that inspires you: a story from popular culture, folklore, your faith, your childhood. The story could be non-fiction, fiction or even fantasy. It could be something you have noticed happening around you. It could be a story about a person in your life.

Imagine it is now the year 2060 and the world is as you would like it to be. What is possible in 2060? How do people live, engage, move around, learn, communicate, work, take care of themselves etc?

Now, answer the questions below:

What is a key thing that has changed between 2020 and 2060? And, why?
What story, thing, event, or person inspires you? Why?
Include 2-3 words that tag your response.

Share your response in any format you like - write, draw, record audio, make a short video (anything else works too, but note that the google form submission option only supports text and links).

  • SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE

    MOST POPULAR OPTION - FILL OUT A FORM

    This is the quickest and easiest option. Collect your content (prepare it ahead of time so you can paste it in) and share it with us via this google form. The upside of this option is that it is quick. The downside is that you cannot format your story. You will also be limited to adding text and links to images, video and other media. We will add your response to the collection for you.

    CREATIVE FAN AND GROUP COORDINATOR/EDUCATOR OPTION - UPLOAD TO ATLAS

    This is a more involved, but more direct option. Collect your content (prepare it ahead of time and paste it in). Submit your story directly to the Atlas of the Civic Imagination. To do this you will need to create an Atlas account. Once your account is approved, you can generate a group/code that will allow you to contribute stories (as a storyteller). You can also use the code to invite others to contribute stories directly (as storytellers). Though it involves 2 steps, this set up only takes a few minutes and is great for those who are coordinating groups of storytellers. It is also great for those who want to get more creative with their multimedia stories! You will also have the ability to edit your contribution and add media (audio, video, images) directly.

    About Us: Over the last 6 years, Henry Jenkins’s Civic Imagination Project team, based at the University of Southern California, has worked with communities all over the world to develop tools for unlocking the imagination and harnessing unbridled creativity for real world action because we believe that we need hope and imagination to mobilize and sustain our collective efforts. Our group believes that to make the world a better place everyone needs to be able to imagine what a better world looks like, even now, especially now.

    Go to the Atlas of the Civic Imagination Participate page to get started on this option.

    The Atlas of the Civic Imagination is part of a partnership between the National Writing Project and the Civic Imagination Project.

    We are committed to supporting people’s creative civic participation by providing a safe and supportive environment for imagination, writing, media creation, sharing, and publishing. Through its affiliation with the National Writing Project, the Atlas is COPPA compliant and facilitator-managed.