Stories of the future - science fiction, foresight and the future

I’ve just completed a unit on Sustainability as part of my masters in Foresight. We had a fantastic lecture from Frank Fisher, who is a published writer and is involved at Swinburne’s National Centre for Sustainability. Frank’s a keen cycler. I am a keen cycler. The following quote from his writing was one that shifted my thinking on what it means to be passed by a car on a hill.

Imagine a cyclist with enough insight to recognise that her apparently slow progress from one urban location to another is actually some three or four times faster than the speedy DODOs (driver only driver owned car) whizzing past her. To do this she would have to be aware of the time drivers spend earning the right to access (i.e. purchase) their cars and that that time must be factored into the calculation of their speed. In most cases therefore, DODOs in an urban context are the wrong messages!”

Frank Fisher. ‘Imag(in)ing Sustainability: metaphorical change for sustainability’, JVAEE, 30, 1. 2007.

I’ve just completed a unit on Sustainability as part of my masters in Foresight. We had a fantastic lecture from Frank Fisher, who is a published writer and is involved at Swinburne’s National Centre for Sustainability. Frank’s a keen cycler. I am a keen cycler. The following quote from his writing was one that shifting my thinking and conception of what it is to be passed cycling up a big hill.

Imagine a cyclist with enough insight to recognise that her apparently slow progress from one urban location to another is actually some three or four times faster than the speedy DODOs (driver only driver owned car) whizzing past her. To do this she would have to be aware of the time drivers spend earning the right to access (i.e. purchase) their cars and that that time must be factored into the calculation of their speed. In most cases therefore, DODOs in an urban context are the wrong messages!”

Frank Fisher. ‘Imag(in)ing Sustainability: metaphorical change for sustainability’, JVAEE, 30, 1. 2007.