The Ragged Optimist 42
Thinking about tomorrow
Last week was all about making plans - which (as they all come together) will make for a very exciting 2025. I’m looking forward to telling you about them, as they unfold, as the calendar fills, and as the map is drawn. But right now, the excitement of possibility — the sense that good things are ahead — the fizzling, crackling joy in thinking about tomorrow and next week and the month after — is so good for the soul.
What have you got planned? Do tell me, so I can tell people in this newsletter, but also because I love pulling on the web of strange connections my odd, stumbling career has given me, and helping things join up. Whether it’s practical - and I do know where lots of useful things are stored - or just connecting the right people, or showing the work of the ancestors to people trying things for the first time. I really do love being useful, and being able to help.
The week ended with a First Friday at Marine Studios, where we play-tested my new rewilding game (let’s be honest … there’s some work to do!), voted to de-extinct the dodo, and played bumblebee snap. I also gave away lots of ‘Free The Beavers’ prints, but there are a few left, if you’d like one. The next First Friday’s on the theme of Puppets, and if you’d like to join in, we’d love to have you.
I left Twitter last year, after a long time there, but I’ve been on Bluesky since July 2023, if you want to come and say hello. I’m also still on Instagram, for now.
Vattenfall have converted a wind turbine nascelle into a tiny house - and it does look rather good.
Researchers have found lots of new species in the New Forest.
‘Saw beavers and thought of you,’ Gemma from Imagine Bamboo said. ‘The Shropshire Beaver Project is a joint endeavour with Shrewsbury Town Council to assess the impact of these industrious mammals on existing wetland,’ say Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Beavers have been reintroduced to a Shrewsbury's nature reserve after 400 years of absence.
There ae some interesting events coming up at Coombeshead in Devon, if you want to find out more about beavers or have an introduction to rewilding.
On Mull, Tireragan’s woodlands have grown from 56 hectares to 93 hectares over the last three decades, thanks to natural regeneration following the removal of sheep and deer from the area. Camera traps have recorded pine marten for the first time in the area, along with breeding white-tailed eagles, golden eagles, and hen harriers.
‘…a new development in north London called Highgate Newtown Community Centre hollows out a calm and engaging public space, lively with architectural detail, while also providing bigger and better facilities for a successful local asset and as many new homes as could be expected on an intricate and complex urban site.’ Looks like Highgate Newtown Community Centre might be worth a visit, and interesting as a model for developments elsewhere.
The Women in Innovation Awards recognises fifty women leading the way in industry. I love Sensei's durable, low-cost tactile surfaces that can be affixed to walls, using patterns to guide visually impaired students through touch, and Wonki Collective’s help for manufacturers, tracking and redistributing surplus ingredients.
The awards are run by Innovate UK, who are looking for early career researchers and innovators who are developing their own original and ambitious plans to join their fellowship.
‘Clean energy is cheaper, more widely available, and more efficient … the power of economics will prevail.’ Citigroup reckon that green energy makes such good economic sense, it’s unstoppable now.
Make a promise for peace - with Dan Thompson Studio and the Lochnagar Crater.