A newsletter by Futures in Draft
Welcome back to Futures in Motion, our monthly newsletter where we share recommendations and cultural picks from a different contributor each month, as well as actions and opportunities you can take to support the movement for transformative futures.
This month we sat down with Rosanna Vitiello, a designer, urban researcher and cultural strategist whose work for the last two decades has explored how places speak to us, and how we speak back. We chatted to Rosanna about the people who are inspiring her, documentaries to watch and how to make gnocchi.
In case you missed it, you can read Rosanna’s Ideas in Progress piece on the love language of place.
Who is a creative you are inspired by in 2026?
Nabil Al Kinani & Andre Anderson — they are epic creatives and friends, predominantly writers, proudly from North West London. They explore new approaches to local ownership through storytelling and creativity in all its forms, from filmmaking to Hood Futures. I’ve taught with Nabil and workshopped futures with Andre, and appreciate their take on connecting local knowledge and influence to big global ideas and future dreams. They shift power dynamics by reframing the very thing under everyone’s feet : the places we live. And because they’re from London, a big money city, they don’t shy away from bringing the commercial and community together for broader social good, like Nabil’s book Privatise the Mandem. Their film Authors of the Estate has just won an awards in the US. Next stop, the Oscars!What is one of your favourite places to recommend to people in your city?
The Calthorpe Community Garden — a total sanctuary on Grays Inn Road in busy, busy central London. It has an inspiring history. Local neighbours saved this spot of land from development over 40 years ago and it has bloomed as the area has shot up and evolved. You can pick up gardening, cooking, art, Spanish, dancing, play football. Whatever takes your interest you can find a way to flex your creativity and humanity here. It’s a place that really looks out for people, wherever they are from. Absolute legends, the Calthorpe team.
What is an Internet hot take/discourse you loved recently?
Chinamaxxing! I have long looked to China for inspiration, since I worked in Chengdu and Shanghai years ago. My partner lived in China for many years too, and we love watching videos of everyday life there — Zaza in China current favourite for solo life in a megacity, or returning to his rural hometown. I’m getting into Deep Seek too.
What is your perfect way to spend a Saturday?
Last Saturday I was at the beach in Dorset and got three sea swims. It doesn’t get better than that!
So much of our connection, relationships and relationship building happens over food. If you’re having a group of people over, what are you cooking?
I like to cook with other people, and one of my favourite meals to make together is gnocchi di patate. My family are Italian, and so we grew up making gnocchi from scratch — potatoes, flour, eggs, a little seasoning, and then (for us at least from the South) a tomato sauce. You’re covered in flour and dough, and everyone can get involved rolling them and shaping them. I’ve made gnocchi with 3 year olds and 80 year olds and we all join in.
Could you give a recommendation of something you love to do offline?
I grew up by the sea, and I can’t let it go. Which in this hot weather is a good addiction to have. So I will get to the water whenever I can and swim, rain or shine. Phones and water don’t mix!
What makes you most inspired or excited about the future?
Every day I get a call from someone, somewhere in the world about how their local place is fast changing due to climate, technology and other global pressures. But matched with that change is an appetite to try new ideas, methods, and a desire for new ways of working together.
Right now we are leading a mission-driven innovation lab on Regenerative Rebuilding, called Futures Lab, with The Ramboll Foundation, Fondation USM and our partners For Everyday Life. With eight teams of engineers we’re exploring how places might recover and grow back better after crisis, whether that’s the war in the Ukraine, floods in South Brazil or mining towns in Sweden.Beyond that, just this week, I’ve been speaking to people about their changing coastlines in Oman, glaciers in Italy, sea pools in the Isle of Wight…We are a world in transition. And yet, working locally to understand place, building confidence in working with the future (futures literacy), and moving from imagination to trying, testing, rehearsing the future, fills me with inspiration.
Where do you turn to when you get writer's block/looking for inspiration?
Outside. Go for a walk. I write about places, so you need to get out there, feel it and write in situ. Anywhere can be inspiring, you just need to know how to look.
If you could live in any world from a book, film, series, or album - what would it be?
Best question! Honestly all books, films, series would make a crazy place to live in. You need high stakes and big tension for a good story, so most of us wouldn’t last a day, let alone a lifetime. So for a quick trip, I’ll take the insanity of KAOS, on Netflix . But the truth is stranger than fiction. The real world is wilder than any book.
Fiction or non-fiction
Non-fiction
Life on Mars or Life underwater
Life Underwater, we know so little about what’s in the ocean and the sea is my happy place.
4-hour hike or 4-hour rave
Can we do both together? Probably the 4-hour rave. Nothing like dancing!
Summer or Autumn
Summer or I’ll take Spring if I have to - it’s always an exciting time to see new growth
If you have just a moment
Consider exploring Glitch, the app that uses machine learning and augmented reality to create a worldbuilding game where you can plant a range of plants whilst looking at your urban landscape through your phone. The aim they say is to “help you imagine what could be planted in your area, whilst learning about local biodiversity, the importance of grassroots action, how to build nature skills and networks, how to transform grey urban spaces for people, plants and pollinators”.
If you have a little bit longer
If you’re interested in finding out more about the myths and narratives around AI, this zine offers a brilliant educational resource. The zine aims to offer accessible breakdowns of common questions and myths about AI equipping you with better tools to understand AI and its role in our society.
Image credit: Superrr
If you have a while…
If you’re interested in the role of grief and grief practices in our movements, this is a great online training series. The series aims to unpack the question: How do we grieve what has been taken from us while honouring and uncovering what endures? and to equip participants with more information around:
Disabled and neurodivergent ways of grieving, adapting, and surviving
The reclamation and remembering of Indigenous and lived ways of knowing
What embodied, collective, and culturally grounded grief practices offer in contrast to dominant Western frameworks
Image credit: Archeologies of Grief
Climate justice activist Disha A Ravi curates a reading list of fiction books and other resources that asks us to reconnect and reimagine a new and better life with the natural world.
Rosanna Vitiello reflects on the importance of rekindling relationships with the places we care for (and those that care for us).
Ever wondered how food courts can foster community building? Jon Bellebono tells us why he thinks food courts are the key to bringing communities together to build a more just and fair world.
What do movement building and cooperative video games have in common?Organiser and activist Marzena Zukowska talks about playing Overcooked with their partner and what it’s taught them about working together and supporting each other.
What is it? The Rizoma Music Festival is a free celebration that brings together music, culture, and the defence of the Amazon. It took place this August in Puyo, in Ecuador.
Why we’re interested: We love seeing opportunities being made to centre joy, music and art in our movements - as a way to bring communities together and to encourage spaces for collective imagination.
What is it? Obodo Nigeria is a Nigerian-based non-profit that empowers queer artists through arts, culture, and community
Why we’re interested: We’re excited by a youth led organisation using storytelling, joy, arts and activism as tools to create change and better futures for generations to come.
The Edge Fund are looking to offer grants to UK and Ireland based grassroots organisations aiming to achieve systemic change. Grants are up to £1000. Deadline: 31st August
Support this petition, set up by the Good Law Project, calling for an immediate public inquiry to ensure we never see a tragic death like Dr Arday's again.
Join this online event on 12th September to find out more about feminist dystopian fiction, the way it relates to our current moment and how to find your role.
Apply for funding to combine design-led interventions with arts and humanities methodologies to make positive contributions to the green transition. You must be based at a UK research organisation. Deadline: 29th September.
Thank you so much for subscribing, reading along and for being a part of the Futures in Draft community.
If you have enjoyed today’s newsletter or any of the suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Equally, if you have any recommendations you’d like us to include in next month’s newsletter please let us know at [email protected]
