Letters from the Future: How New Brunswickers Redefined Progress and Confronted Climate Change

by Daniel Tubb (Editor), Abram Lutes (Editor), Susan O'Donnell (Editor)

The future is not what it used to be... Change the story, redefine progress, become a good ancestor! New Brunswickers are hungry for hopeful stories of the future to counter the stereotype of "hard times in the Maritimes." Letters from the Future presents a sample of these hopeful stories, written by people who care deeply about New Brunswick. The authors envision advances in climate change action, food security, sustainable livelihoods, forest restoration, municipal planning, business development, social justice, human rights, and health care-to mention only a few of the thirty-seven stories that weave their way through this book, along with Ian Smith's delightful illustrations . Letters from the Future is a book of speculative nonfiction . The authors imagine the kind of changes that redefine progress and the accomplishments that flow from these changes, but they are writing about the real world, not a fictional world. "...the study of the future is more than an intellectual curiosity; it is essential to the survival of humankind itself ." (Kenneth Boulding) This is the study that Letters from the Future invites readers to take up as we do everything we can to create the better world we know is possible.

154 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2021

Reviews

[Sandra Bunting · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Brunswick has often been known as insular, resistant to change led by two political parties that flipped back and forth, greatly influenced by large family oligarchs in the province. It never seemed to break away from this.

This book envisions another New Brunswick - one that puts environmental concerns to the forefront, one that values diversity and equality and develops the treasures we have been given in a sustainable way - whether in the sea, the land, the wayside.

Letters from the Future opens discussion for how we can create a better life for all New Brunswickers in health, education and employment, creating an environment where our young people will stay and newcomers will want to come to.

I don't agree with every idea in the book - they are all diverse - but things it starts a conversation. So refreshing. May it continue.