In today’s world, platforms like AirBnb and Uber are increasingly creating connections and exchanges. Platform co-ops want to go one step further to serve the communities who use them by offering a new model of ownership for a more democratic future, with peer-to-peer tech and ‘sensual’ social software. In this guest post by Oliver Sylvester-Bradley, co-founder of

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Imagine if you could click a button and be able to grow and make almost anything. That’s what Fab City is all about: a creative collective of pioneers and makers who simply want digital technology to make the world more self-sufficient. And they’re doing it more than one city at a time. In fact, 28 cities are already

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Imagine if you could get a ‘city’ to agree to making the world more self-sufficient. A creative team of pioneers and makers is doing exactly that. They’ve created a set of ten principles as a sort of instruction manual to build a more sustainable and inhabitable new world. And they’re getting cities to agree to it. In fact, 28

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Did you know you don’t always have to cook with food? As part of our new CultureFutures project we’ve been digging deep into the imaginations of artists, chefs, designers and material makers as they help build a better world – in all its delicious glory. From precious plastics to seeds with stories, in this week’s Future 5 we’re

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“Not everybody wants to work for money on a platter. Sometimes we do things just because they matter.” An economist, a songwriter and a puppet-maker walked into a recording studio. What do you think came out?… We love a surprising collaboration, but didn’t see this one coming: animatronic-loving puppet designer Emma Powell, musician Simon Panrucker and renegade

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Something special is happening inside an old school made from recycled salvage from a theatre company, decommissioned bio labs and art freight containers. As London’s first incubator workspace for urban farming entrepreneurs and ‘agritech’ startups, the Green Lab is creating a vibrant city community for creative sustainable food innovators. Having previously co-founded Fab Lab London, Ande Gregson was

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Blockchain isn’t just about finance and Bitcoin, but when Jessi Baker started Provenance that wasn’t the case. That’s why her idea was considered crazy at first. The software company uses technologies like the blockchain to help businesses share truths about the people, places and materials involved in their products. Labelled as one of the UK’s ‘coolest female startup

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“We either build the future we want, or become the victims of it.” As Director of Fab Lab Barcelona at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Tomás Diez constantly breaks the rules when it comes to education, business, science, urbanism, farming, environmentalism, design, and housing… you name it. In this AtlasChart, the Venezuelan digital fabrication urbanist opens up about projects in

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In the 1980s, sci-fi prophet William Gibson coined the term ‘cyberspace’ to describe a consensual hallucination created by millions of computers that we can jack into. By 2003 the visionary had warned: “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” Even though we are optimists at the Atlas, we’re also big fans of dystopian

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As a women-led editorial team, we’re that happy to hear that female empowerment is firmly on the agenda in 2018. So we’re introducing you to 11 of our favourite female FutureHeroes who turn it up to 11 – starting with the real life inspiration for ‘Charlie’ in arguably one of the best films of the 80s… Top Gun (of

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In today’s world we are addicted to growth. That’s why renegade economist Kate Raworth wants to radically reframe the way we look at economics: “The goal of the 21st century economy should be to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet.” It’s an exciting challenge to ensure that no one falls short on

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When you find yourselves somewhere between Gotham City Police HQ and Blade Runner’s Leon’s Hotel chatting to a Westworld sexbot you know that it’s been an interesting – and surprising – year. OK, it’s been relentless too, but there are so many reasons to feel hopeful. From Cameroon to Patagonia, 2017 has seen your projects make the

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Every year Sónar+D forms a key part of the stamina-pushing Sónar Festival, one of Europe’s biggest and most forward-thinking dance music events. If you have ever wondered what the D stands for, it all becomes clear when you look at it like this… SónaR+D. While festivalgoers rave outside, its lab space acts as a node between the innovation, creative and

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Makers are inventors, creators, engineers, students or grassroot innovators who enjoy play and exploration – but they can also be people who simply want to make the world a better place. And where better to innovate and experiment than in a city? Back in San Francisco in 2006, the Maker Movement arose out of the launch of MAKE: Magazine. Today, hundreds of thousands of people attend Maker Faire, the

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It is now more important than ever that communities of people take a stand for the things they believe, and protect things that they previously had taken for granted. That’s why Tech For Good Co-founder Cassie Robinson got in touch with a bunch of people working to make the world better to ask them they were personally going to commit to – and what

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As the world turns upside down and unhinged becomes the new normal, we want to provide some positivity from within the deep divisions of 2016. Take comfort. The world is better than you think. From Silicon Valley to Bulambuli Valley, social entrepreneurs are tackling the world’s most difficult problems. Technology is being democratised, access to education is causing global

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This year might have had its dark times, but there are many reasons to get excited. From the Faroe Islands to Patagonia, 2016 has seen the Atlas travel far and wide to bring you projects that democratise the future. Thanks to your suggestions and innovations, over the last six months we’ve explored sex hacks and exposed fast fashion; shone a light on projects bringing

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As co-founder of the open source building system WikiHouse, Alastair Parvin sees democracy as a design blueprint, has never shied away from provocation and likes people who are trying to be useful or doing seriously disruptive stuff. Take a journey through his favourite Atlas projects.   1. Ethereum This super-interesting project is looking at how you can use the

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Good news: the power of true happiness can be discovered collectively. Australian-born, British-based socialist feminist academic and cheery activist Lynne Segal wants us to embrace the art of ‘radical happiness’ – the liberation that comes with transformative, collective joy.  With such obvious ecological disaster looming and an ideology of individual happiness thriving, today, more than ever, we

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“We know a new politics of solidarity, individual responsibility and collective transformation is urgently needed. Can we culturally educate ourselves to understand how to create it?” This question has driven community-based arts educator, author, playwright, poet and eco-cultural activist Dan Baron Cohen for many years. He’s travelled from ground-breaking work in post-industrial Manchester and conflict-transformation projects

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If you’ve taken part in a morning rave, group run or public art experience; if you’ve joined a campaign to improve your neighbourhood or teamed up to better your workplace; if you’ve shared knowledge or data to bring about a change you want to see, you will know the joy and power of the collective.

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“The youth are co-creators, coordinators and researchers of everything that Rios de Encontro does.” – Dan Baron Cohen, Co-founder, Rios de Encontro In the small Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco, Marabá City in Brazil – once known as a ‘no-go favela’ – an arts-as-transformation project in the Amazon is addressing the survival of both the community and our

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We must, we can and we will solve the climate crisis. On 8 October the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report on the forthcoming impacts of the climate breakdown. And it ain’t looking good. Even half a degree of extra will affect hundreds of millions, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes. But there is

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“It’s in the freely shared ideas that collisions, oddities and thrills emerge.” – Mary Anne Moser, Beakerhead Co-founder Widely known as ‘the world’s greatest arts-science smash-up’, Beakerhead makes breaking down the complex look effortless – but it takes a collective effort to make STEAM this fun. A fire-breathing serpent mother, inflatable octopus, trash robot, giant

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In an era of rising environmental awareness, cleantech has become the fastest-growing technology sector in the world. And sunny California loves it. That’s why they buy more electric cars and do more recycling than any place else. So what is ‘cleantech’? At its simplest, it’s any technology that helps a more efficient use of natural resources. We travelled

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The things NASA want to do next are “really, really hard”. That’s why Steve Rader – NASA’s Deputy Manager for the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation – appreciates the way the space agency harnesses people power and diversity. We circumnavigated the mighty Saturn V rocket with the crowdsourcing evangelist to find out about NASA’s current challenges – and The Martian.

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Plant curious? The flexitarian, vegan, vegetarian and sustainable food movements are growing in sexiness every day. Veganism is moving away from being seen as a cult, and being recognised as a good thing for your health, the environment – and animals. Ready to join the plant-based revolution? This week we’re celebrating vegan answers in the most surprising

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Hip hop and politics. Blind photographers. Crayons and big ideas. In this week’s CultureFutures special we’re exploring creativity in surprising areas. In Rwanda, teenage girls have created its biggest media brand. In Spain, a photojournalist has set up the world’s first ‘special photographer’ agency for people with intellectual disabilities. And in Senegal, they’re rapping the news.

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From culinary creativity and food fads to a dystopian future soil crisis, friends of the Atlas ask Dan Barber – Blue Hill chef and co-founder of Row 7 Seed Company – their burning questions…    1. Ande Gregson, founder of GreenLab, an experimental space in London for urban agriculture: “Is urban agriculture future or fad?

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Britain’s most ethical restaurant doesn’t have a bin. Founded by ex-St John chef Dougie McMaster, the team at Silo brews its own booze, mills its own flour, churns its own butter and even has chairs made from jeans and plates formed from plastic bags.  At the UK’s first ever zero waste restaurant, all materials are digestible by

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It takes a special combo of people and ideas to make an event what it is, not just on stage, but everyone involved. Having just caught our breath after our first event Fixing the future, we have newfound appreciation for those of you putting on some of our favourite congresses, like Maker Faire, Vevolution, OFFF

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Are you ready for the good, the bad and the ugly? Here’s the bad news: the world is broken. The good? This lot can help us fix it. And now for the ugly: it’s going to get messy. Luckily there are plenty of people who are happy to get stuck in. Having now mapped over

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Future curious? On 13 March a future-‘supergroup’ will gather for the first time in Barcelona. Brought to you by Atlas of the Future and Ara, ‘Fixing the future: adventures in a better tomorrow’ will explore the talent solving the audacious goals of our planet with radical methods. Join us at the CCCB to meet the innovators

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A microgreen-fingered hydroponic hero is proving that ‘zero km’ is possible – in London’s disused bomb shelters. With his groundbreaking subterranean farm Growing Underground, Richard Ballard demonstrates how plants don’t need sunlight and that urban agriculture can help tackle food scarcity. Located 100 feet (33 metres) under the streets of London in a disused World War II air raid shelter,

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Cows are often the scape-goats (or scape-cows) for climate change; the methane-burping livestock animals have become confused with our management of them. By giving the animals a more holistic hook, carbon-canny cattle rancher Tony Lovell, co-founder of SLM Australia Livestock Fund, has raised a whopping $100 million to help to regenerate the billions of hectares of damaged

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Blazing a trail for other women, Christine Fox has held the highest rank ever for a woman at the Pentagon and was the inspiration for the Kelly McGillis character ‘Charlie’ in arguably the best film of the 80s… Top Gun (of course). The first female Deputy Secretary of Defense (Acting) in American history has flown in B-52s, escaped submerged

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In news unrelated to monkey clones, last night’s super blue blood moon or the adorable ‘shower rat’ (sorry to burst your soap bubble, but it’s a Peruvian pacarana), we’ve got big news of our own! Our first major AtlasEvent will take place on Tuesday 13 March. We’re excited to announce that ‘Fixing the future: Adventures in a

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We’re big fans of simple tech that makes things better. While mobile Internet rapidly becomes a primary source of knowledge, not everyone is connected. But SMS, the default messaging tool in parts of the developing world, still only requires simple feature phones. Last weekend the millennial ‘Short Message Service’ (it used to be very short!) turned

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Today carbon is considered a dirty word; consigned to dirt, dust, something that’s in the air, something that is dark. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Taking many forms, from diamonds to exhalation of CO2 as a gas, carbon can be used for good. And that’s the idea behind Carbon Productivity. As we struggle with climate catastrophe, this remarkable

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There is no better time to reboot our world than right now – which means there is no better time to read this book. At the Atlas, we love people who speak ‘human’. Anyone who tells stories that help everyone understand the super-cool stuff making the world better is alright in our book. In his latest slice of

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“Carbon is risky, it’s bad for the world. How can we continue to invest in something that’s increasingly dangerous, risky and therefore a bad idea? Let’s stop that and let’s do something else!” Francesco Starace is the CEO of Enel Group, one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the world. His vision for the

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Nearly one quarter of the world’s population live in off-grid communities. Without access to electricity, households grind to a halt after sunset. Work is limited, medical care is dangerous to provide and education levels drop where children cannot study in the dark. Right now, many of those households use ‘dirty’ kerosene lamps after the sun has gone down. Known for

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Nearly ten years ago, in the Tuscan seaside town of Livorno, a robotics researcher asked her father to catch her an octopus. Cecilia Laschi knew that a different bodyware was needed in robotics. The Professor of Biorobotics at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies went on to create a rob-octopus as a model for a project researching the new generation

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Parag Khanna loves maps. Born in India, his parents took him everywhere on their travels while growing up in the United Arab Emirates, New York and Germany: “Whether finding maps in the glove compartment or flipping through the maps in airline seat pockets, maps always kept me busy,” the bestselling geopolitical author tells us. “They gave me a

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If you asked Vicente Guallart, former Chief Architect of Barcelona City Council, what his favourite city in the world was in the 90s, he would have said Barcelona. In the 00s he preferred Colombia’s Medellín.  As he works to invent the city of the future using the principles of global connectivity and local self-sufficiency, we challenged the director of

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A lot of staring at screens happens at Mobile World Congress – whether tapping away at your own rapidly depreciating handset, ogling smarter ones, deciphering the agenda, or (in my case) simply trying to download the app that gets you a free coffee. ‘Mobile Is Everything’. The clue is in the slogan, but Barcelona’s MWC isn’t just about mobiles. Amid

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Atlas of the Future is looking for a dynamic and results-driven Community Manager based in Barcelona to develop and execute an exciting social media strategy. We map innovative, future-focused, socially impactful projects and people around the world and our mission is to ‘democratise the future’. This means making sure developments are understandable and entertaining – not

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Last week, Arpa-E Director Dr Ellen Williams announced that her department had developed an energy storage device to rival Elon Musk’s Tesla battery. The research arm of the US Department of Energy (DoE) claims the discovery of game-changing energy storage technologies could open the uptake of clean energy to everyone. In an interview with the Guardian,

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From a Noah’s Ark of seeds and American Idol for rural farmers to 3D printing prosthetics in conflict zones and igloo orphanages on skis, this year has seen hundreds of projects mapped on the Atlas from Syria to the North Pole. We’re celebrating the end of 2015 and looking to the future by ranking our favourite 16.  So get your

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