Ed. Note: This post has been removed at the author’s request.
Act: Inspiration
Clodagh Harris on How Citizens’ Assemblies Rekindle the Imagination
By Rob Hopkins, originally published by Rob Hopkins blog
February 14, 2019
Rob Hopkins
Rob Hopkins is a cofounder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, and the author of The Transition Handbook, The Transition Companion, The Power of Just Doing Stuff, 21 Stories of Transition and most recently, From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want. He presents the podcast series ‘From What If to What Next‘ which invites listeners to send in their “what if” questions and then explores how to make them a reality. In 2012, he was voted one of the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists and was on Nesta and the Observer’s list of Britain’s 50 New Radicals. Hopkins has also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Four Thought and A Good Read, in the French film phenomenon Demain and its sequel Apres Demain, and has spoken at TEDGlobal and three TEDx events.
An Ashoka Fellow, Hopkins also holds a doctorate degree from the University of Plymouth and has received two honorary doctorates from the University of the West of England and the University of Namur. He is a keen gardener, a founder of New Lion Brewery in Totnes, and a director of Totnes Community Development Society, the group behind Atmos Totnes, an ambitious, community-led development project. He blogs at transtionnetwork.org and robhopkins.net and tweets at @robintransition.
Tags: building resilient societies, Citizens' Assemblies, participatory democracy
Related Articles
A Guide to Staying Human (Part 1): Desperately Seeking Agency
By Nate Hagens, Resilience.org
In this week’s Frankly, Nate begins a new series called “Staying Human,” which focuses on what he sees as a precondition for everything else: recovering a sense of personal agency.
March 9, 2026
Iran war: What we’re in for and why logic is your friend
By Kurt Cobb, Resource Insights
A lot of nonsense is being communicated about the war with Iran.
March 8, 2026
Human Nature Odyssey: Episode 20: Joanna Macy & The Great Turning — with Jess Serrante
By Alex Leff, Human Nature Odyssey
Legendary activist Joanna Macy called this moment the Great Unraveling—a time when our ecological, political, economic, and social systems crumble. And yet, she also insisted that we stand on the threshold of a Great Turning: a profound transition toward a more just and sustainable world.
March 6, 2026




















