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 Elizabeth Couse, an environmentalist passionate about food sovereignty and land justice.
In case you missed it, you can read Elizabeth’s How To Guide on travelling more ethically here.
Who is a creative you are inspired by in 2026?
Glorianna Ximendaz is a photographer based in Costa Rica who has been documenting important stories around politics and life in the country and I think she does it in a really powerful way. She has an ongoing series photographing the bananeros or banana plantations and the human rights abuses from big multinational corporations like Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, etc. She has also been documenting the rise of the far right and nationalism in Costa Rica and how international influences are shaping the country known for peace and pura vida.What is one of your favourite places to recommend to people in your city?
The Casa de Cultura Marcus Garvey is a beautiful centre for Afrocaribbean culture in Puerto Viejo. Although located in the centre of town, a colourful classic wooden Caribbean building, you could easily miss it or walk by it without knowing. But it’s so worth a visit. There are often exhibitions and photos from the history of the town and it serves as a meeting place for many important events in the area.
What is an Internet hot take/discourse you loved recently?
Elated for the outcomes of the elections in Brazil and Serbia and the glimmer of hope they have inspired. I think it’s important to not put individuals on pedestals but still recognise that a win is a win and we need hope now more than ever.
What is your perfect way to spend a Saturday?
Heading to the Farmers market and then meal prepping using the fresh produce I just got. Afternoon beach with friends. Evening salsa with live music under the moonlight.
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 love cooking for friends and have a few go to’s but one of my favourite is to make rondon. Rondon is a traditional Afrocaribbean coconut root vegetable stew and made entirely of local ingredients. Homemade coconut milk from fresh coconut meat, local root vegetables like yuca and breadfruit, and then optional seafood fresh from the fishermen caught the same day. It’s very comforting and nourishing and a crowd pleaser.
Could you give a recommendation of something you love to do offline?
Gardening will always be my solace. Whether you’re able to have an actual garden, a few herbs on a windowsill, or work in a local community garden, having your hands in the soil and connecting with nature in that way I think is so important and innate in us as humans.
What makes you most inspired or excited about the future?
I truly believe in the good of people and I believe our human nature is to be in community and care for each other. There is a quote from Arundhati Roy that goes, "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." That resonates with me deeply. I don’t think we’ll have another world overnight but it’s in the little moments. And I see glimpses of it everyday all around me. Whether it’s people helping one another, the care that my friends give to me, a smile from a stranger. Despite all of the heaviness of the world, I think if you go outside you’ll find that there is hope and kindness all around.
Where do you turn to when you get writer's block/looking for inspiration?
Nature always. A day at the beach or a waterfall away from the noise of the online world and screens. Mother Earth is endlessly inspiring.
If you could live in any world from a book, film, series, or album - what would it be?
Avatar the Last Airbender is my favourite show of all time with so many beautiful lessons about life and the world. I want to take a ride on appa 🥹
Fiction or non-fiction
Non-fiction. I’m such a nerd. I use reading to learn things and fuel my curiosity more than to be entertained.
Life on Mars or Life underwater
Life underwater. I want to be with the mermaids.
4-hour hike or 4-hour rave
4 hour hike that ends with a beautiful view.
Spring or Autumn
Spring. I love when nature is in full bloom.
Podcast or Documentary. Documentary.
If you have just a moment
Sign up to the brilliant newsletter, What Happened Last Week, curated and written by award-winning journalist Sham Jaff. If you’re looking to decolonise your newsfeed and hear more about the stories, news and politics from Asia, Africa and the Americas then this is for you! It focuses on perspectives and topics that are often missing or flattened in most Western coverage and offers a new means of accessing global political news.
If you have a little bit longer
Carry out this survey or share it with young people in your networks to help bring more voices into shaping the future of our neighbourhoods!
The project is supported by IVAR and The Ubele Initiative and will be used to create practical insights and policy recommendations for community groups, grassroots projects, nature and climate organisations, educators, funders, local government, urban designers and place-makers.
Image credit: Ubele Initiative
If you have a while…
Consider reading one of these blog pieces that re-imagine the future possibilities of tech. We were first recommended the series by one of our newsletter subscribers, a brilliant practitioner working at the intersection of technology and social justice, and have loved exploring the hopeful futures and creativity that the series puts forward.
Image credit: Dair Institute
Writer and journalist Masuma Ahuja writes about the possibilities when we make space to eat, laugh, talk and dream together.
Our podcast series is back for season two with another incredible group of guests. They continue to show us the potential of what could be when we move beyond the boundaries of our current systems and dare to imagine differently.
Writer and psychoanalyst Sophie K Rosa suggests a selection of books and resources that foster liberatory ideas about the self, therapy and relationships.
Farzana Khan explores how we can collectively build life-affirming infrastructures and foster a generational project of repair.
What is it? News Futures is a collective of journalists, organisers, educators, artists and public servants working together toward social change.
Why we’re interested: We’re excited about the potential of transforming our media ecosystem and newsrooms to produce information that supports a more liberatory, joyful and equipped civic life.
What is it? Centric Lab are an organisation prototyping ways to use health-based scientific evidence to support justice movements, surface and socialise non-western epistemologies and create language to articulate the health injustices felt by many racialised and marginalised communities.
Why we’re interested: We’re particularly interested by the methodologies Centric Lab are incorporating and their focus on combining narrative change approaches with health justice.
Submit your event proposal, exploring how emergent technologies intersect with social justice, representation and identity. Deadline: 16th November.
Red Pepper Media is recruiting new team members to support and expand their commissioning. This post is perfect for people around the world who are actively engaged in left and radical movements, love reading, have an eye for an original idea and can support writers develop their own voices.
Afield’s Nature Communities fund aims to support community-led nature projects in London. They aim to fund six people who have creative, transformative ideas for long-term, community-led projects that benefit people, animals, plants, and fungi.
If you are based in the US, check out this curation of social movement, nonprofit and social justice jobs. The list is updated monthly.
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]
