Alternative titles
- A Better World: The Jigsaw Puzzle
- Climate: Let’s start with the solutions.
- Flourishing: A Manifesto for Change.
The book will be structured like a jigsaw puzzle. The picture on the front represents the flourishing, sustainable society we’d like to achieve. The middle pieces will cover public transport, renewable energy, seagrass, forests, local food, repair etc. The four corner pieces represent the institutional /constitutional changes needed to set us on the road to a sustainable, flourishing future. I suspect I may end up with more than twenty pieces, but it seemed like a good place to start.
The tone will be positive and solution-oriented rather than problem-driven. Each chapter will stay focused on the vision depicted on the front cover—the future we aspire to create.
The idea of a jigsaw puzzle, isn’t just a metaphor – I will create an actual puzzle to go alongside the book.
Introduction: The future we want
Rob Hopkins, author of From What Is to What If and co-founder of the Transition movement, believes that when we take time to immerse ourselves fully in imagining what kind of future we’d like to see, this creates a longing for it to happen. This in turn can galvanise action to make that dream come true. In his podcast From What Is to What Next, he asks guests to step into a virtual time machine, and set the dial to several years into the future. They should imagine that we’ve done everything right and turned our society around. He then asks them to visualize what they see and hear around them. It’s a surprisingly powerful exercise when you do it yourself. We’re adept at complaining about what we don’t like and the news and pundits far and wide are keen to point out the problems we face. But it’s rare we take time to imagine what it might all look like if we did things better. Rob is right, it creates a powerful yearning in the heart, a longing that almost makes you cry.
I do a lot of talks and workshops, and often use this exercise myself. It’s remarkable that whatever the audience, the society people seem to hunger for is always the same. First is always more nature, a close second is a sense of community, after that it’s more varied, but local food is often part of the picture, less traffic. Public transport that is cheap, convenient and goes where you want, whenever you want. A more equal society, clean air and water. Access to health care and to feel hope for the future, or our children’s future. No one has ever asked for more shops.
The barriers to this are an economic system and cultural values that incentivise excessive consumption and view economic growth as the answer to all ills, a democracy hijacked by vested interests and inability to think beyond short electoral cycles, a media landscape that has enabled those with the most money to control the information we are exposed to, and a legal framework for public limited companies that requires them to maximise profits for shareholder value, regardless of the consequences for humanity.
There are numerous books, papers and podcasts outlining the problem. This book attempts to find a solution. It seems intractable, but by adopting a system approach which considers how the various societal structures interconnect, a way through is possible. My varied background has made me well suited to systems thinking. My first degree was in politics and economics. I followed this with an Open University Science Foundation course. I worked in social enterprises, a medium-sized business, a multi-national corporation, then self-employed before returning to do a PhD in psychology. I’m now a professor of sustainable business in Southampton Business School. As a social scientist and systems thinker, I have a good idea of how all the elements that govern how society functions relate to each other, where the levers are for change, and where the blockages are.
With the help of experts in each area, I will attempt to set out a roadmap, a step-by-step guide, practical policy, by practical policy, to the future we desire.
Why a jigsaw?
Even though I draw on systems theory in this book, a true systems theorist would have done this as a flow diagram. I didn’t do that because they can be confusing and frankly jigsaws are more fun. I especially love the idea that the picture on the front is the guiding light.
Another reason I like the jigsaw metaphor is that we can see what pieces we may be part of in our own lives. It’s not just about building castles in the air for fun. The stakes are too high for that. We must work out how we get to our desired society. No one person or element can do it by themselves. We need every part of society to be working together to create this new picture. Whether we be in education, business, politics, members of our community, artists, journalists, or just as employees or voters with a voice, everyone can see where they fit in. At the end of every chapter, there will be suggestions on what readers can do to progress the ideas and policies that they like the sound of.
Key pieces of the puzzle will be renewable energy, low-carbon transport and food, technological, ocean and nature-based approaches. Corner pieces are the institutional elements that need to change before real progress can be made. One of the trickiest barriers is business purpose and finance, so I plan to run events with a mix of practitioners and academics in specific fields (e.g. finance, banking, politics, etc.) to work together to address the institutional barriers that have so far hindered progress towards a sustainable future.
Timeline
2026: Linked In Newsletter and events
Throughout 2026, starting 1st January, I will post a fortnightly newsletter on LinkedIn. The first few editions set out the context and key concepts, then each edition will focus on a particular piece of the puzzle. I am keen to invite comments from subscribers, so the ideas get some discussion.
Please subscribe to the newsletter here.
2027: Publication of book and production of jigsaw
The first edition will be posted on the LinkedIn newsletter on 1st January 2026 and then every two weeks. They are in draft until their posting date and may be updated.
You can see draft/completed versions of each edition in advance here
Edition 1. Introduction: The picture on the front of the jigsaw puzzle
Edition 2. Systems Theory and how looking at the system as a whole allows us to identify key leverage points for change
Edition 3. Economic Growth, Green Growth or Degrowth?
Edition 4. The Sharing Economy
Edition 5. Repair/Reuse
Edition 6. On Demand Buses/Demand-Responsive Transport
Edition 7. Sustainable Consumption
Edition 8. Personal Carbon Allowances/Tradable Energy Quotas. [CORNER PIECE]
The following editions will focus on our political structures leading up to the second corner piece. The focus then shifts to business purpose, law and finance and builds up to the third corner piece. The fourth corner piece will be a surprise! Once all the edge and corner pieces are in place, the middle sections of the jigsaw focus on renewable energy options, community resilience, culture, values, media, education and specific technological and nature-based proposals that will drawdown carbon.
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1446002/advertising-marketing-spending-worldwide/
[2] This was adapted into a play, ‘Murder in the Citizens’ Jury’
