What does a Solarpunk future look like?

It is very easy, in a world where we have 12 years to stop catastrophic climate change, to feel that trying to change anything is seems too hard when governments are controlled by a corporate elite who care only for profit, and not the planet. This can suck out of you all hope for a better world. Solarpunk offers an alternative future, one that is bright, where society can re-centre around sustainability, longevity, and balance.

I'm still pretty new to solarpunk, but I find it offers an attractive alternative to doom and gloom. It has made me start to reflect upon how we all might envisage a solarpunk future? Do you imagine urban farms and free public transport? Localised energy systems? Instead of nationalised governments, are there interconnected bioregions run by empowered citizens? A society built around sustainability, whether in the desert or a busy metropolis? Or is your solarpunk future more sci-fi, a bit like the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, below?

It's so easy to talk about what you don't want in the future, but harder to pin down what you do want. So my idea is simply to capture and share your ideas the kind of things you want to see in a solarpunk future.

To get you started, I've added a couple of my own. But be as romanticised or practical as you like. Our solarpunk future starts with our dreams, big and small.

All people, from the disabled and chronically ill to the neuro-diverse and those in old age, are valued as beings in their own right, regardless of their ability and needs.

Diversity, of people and nature, with an understanding that people and nature are not separated, but deeply intertwined, should be at the heart of everything we do.

Our streets will no longer by dominated by cars. Public transport, cycling and walking (or rolling if you're in a scooter/wheelchair!) will prevail.

Plants, plants, everywhere!

If you are new to Solarpunk and would like to get an outline of Solarpunk ideas, I recently collated a collection of ideas describing Solarpunk which should help.

Leave your ideas for your solarpunk future in the comments below or if you are on Mastodon, toot me GwenfarsGarden your ideas, and let me know if you would like your name next to your listing (you don't have to). If you've written your own post around this theme, let me know and I can add a link to it here. Feel free to submit photos or artwork too, along with who to/where to credit it.

I'll collate your ideas and put them in to a single post to inspire and share.

Note: due to formatting limitations on Plume, photo/image credits are listed here (in order of appearance):

1. The two towers of Bosco Verticale, Milan. Credit Ale Desiderio.
2. Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Credit John.