‘What if’ questions

In the previous step, you saw how a vivid vision of the future can inspire hope and action. But how do we start imagining what a better world could look like?

One powerful tool for sparking imagination is asking ‘what if’ questions.

By asking ‘what if’, you remind yourself that the future is not fixed, that it could be different and that it is shaped by the choices you make today. These questions create space to envision transformative changes, inviting us to imagine how the world could look if we dared to rethink the way things currently are. They are rooted in hope and curiosity, encouraging us to dream of a future worth striving for.

Below, you’ll find a series of ‘what if’ questions that can help you to imagine how the future could be different. Take a moment to read through them and consider which ones spark your interest.

‘What if’ questions 

• What if social status (how much we value each other) were based not on the money you earn but on how much wellbeing our actions bring to our communities? 
• What if every worker or student could dedicate one day per week to climate action, with no loss in pay, grades or progress? 
• What if the main goal of companies wasn’t to maximise profits but to maximise human flourishing? 
• What if instead of maximising their GDP, countries prioritised meeting the needs of their population with the least emissions and resource use per person? 
• What if nations’ aspirations for development followed not the advice of economists but of indigenous communities? 
• What if international climate policy was determined through global democracy, with every person on the planet having an equal vote? 
• What if working less and consuming less made us happier, and ‘less’ became the new ‘cool’?

Now it’s your turn

Choose one or several of these questions and share and discuss with other learners in the Comments section whatever ideas and vision come to mind in response. Let your imagination go wild. 

If you like, you can also come up with your own ‘what if’ question and then share that question and your response to it.