Picture the future. Chances are you imagined something to fear rather than something to hope for. We've become very good at anticipating crises and worst-case scenarios, but much less practiced at imagining the world we actually want to build.
This creative writing workshop, guided by journalist and facilitator Masuma, is an invitation to change that. Together, we'll create space to imagine hopeful, tangible futures as a way of reconnecting with our sense of purpose, possibility, and agency. Because before we can build new products, communities, or ways of living, we first need to be able to articulate the future we're working towards.
Through guided reflection, creative writing, and conversation, we'll explore what everyday life could look like in a future where people and places flourish. Come ready to dream out loud, think expansively, and discover that the futures you hope for may be shared by others in the room.
*Time in Central European Time (CET)
About Masuma
Masuma Ahuja is a journalist and facilitator who has spent 15 years building and leading productions, projects, and companies that bring people together to look at the world differently.
She has worked at Freeda, CNN, and The Washington Post — building products that reached up to 550 million people a year, won awards including a Webby, Pulitzer Prize, and Murrow Award. She’s led innovation teams that have developed new storytelling and community products and formats, finding compelling new ways to make people feel safe enough to share their stories and to listen to each other.
Her company, Girlhood, was funded by Google as one of the most promising digital media startups in Europe in 2021. It facilitated workshops for young women around the world during the pandemic, giving them tools and space to develop their voices and build community.
She has hosted Little Revolutions, a podcast featured by Apple, Spotify, and Amazon, which shared conversations with leaders about how ordinary people can be stewards of change. She is an associate of The Imperial War Museum, advising on public engagement and futures facilitation, and she has created an exhibit running at IWM North showing the impact of war through young people’s eyes. She regularly teaches and facilitates innovation and leadership workshops and hosts conversations at Literature Festivals.
She is the author of The Infrastructure of Belonging (published 10/2026) and Girlhood, a book featuring the lives of 30 young women from 27 different countries.
About the Format
This is a creative writing workshop that combines reflection, imagination, and facilitated discussion. The aim is to help you reconnect with a sense of possibility by imagining a future you would genuinely want to live in. The session begins with a short meditation, poem, or video to create a reflective atmosphere before you are invited to write a letter from the year 2050, describing how one aspect of everyday life has changed for the better and imagining the turning point that made this future possible. The exercise is an invitation to think creatively and explore what a hopeful future could look like in tangible, personal ways. You'll then have the opportunity to share your reflections in a facilitated group conversation, where participants can explore common themes, hold space for both grief and hope, and learn from one another's visions. The workshop concludes with a short guided reflection to help you transition back into the present, and, if you choose, your letter may be included in a collection of participants' visions for the future.