As coursework and exam season is in full swing, the daunting and exciting prospect that the academic year is almost coming to an end has us at Impact Features thinking: what would we like to see in the future? Our contributors have compiled a selection of various things that they hope to see change in the coming years…

What would I like to see in the future? It is a loaded question, but if I had to answer with one word, that word would be change. The world has transformed dramatically in my lifetime but it often seems like these changes are negative. Political skirmishes which tear a rift in society. Climate destruction which threatens every living thing on this planet. Social changes which hurt the most disenfranchised of us all.

“I would like to see is the acknowledgement of the good and the great in the world”

So, what I want to see is more positive change, and more recognition of these good things. The first change I would like to see is the acknowledgement of the good and the great in the world. People like Greta Thunberg, who at just sixteen has sparked school strikes across the globe in which young people demand that their governments not ignore climate change, or ethically- and socially-responsible companies like Ecosia, a free search engine which plants a tree each time you search and has just reached 50 million trees.

I have high hopes for the future. While I do fear that we could reach either Waterworld or Mad Max levels of crisis what with Brexit, climate change, and more, I too have faith that people will come together despite everything, using innovation and optimism to tackle these problems head on. I think it is important for companies, institutions, and governments to take responsibility for the negative impact they are having on people and the environment, and for individuals to speak up and demand change, holding the entities above them accountable.

“It is the voice of the people which has the power”

It is so easy to feel like a single person cannot make a difference, but it is the voice of the people which has the power, and it is this power that we must remember and embrace whole-heartedly. Whether it is a simple act of kindness, or a commitment to changing how you shop, tweet, or interact with the world, it can all make a huge difference.

Esme Johnson

I want to see a world which loves to love all the different kinds of love (yes, that is a lot of loving). A world in which we embrace the love shared between all people, across each continent, where nobody is punished for their inability to control who they are, and who they fall for. Yes, this wish is driven to the forefront of my consciousness by the recent events in Brunei, where men can now be stoned to death if they are homosexual.* The whole ordeal feels to me as though humanity has taken a huge step backwards because even if this is the law of only one country, it still affects who we are as a generation and the people we know.

“[We] waste so much of our precious time channelling hate towards other people”

I will never understand why some of us choose to waste so much of our precious time channelling hate towards other people. Homosexuality, bisexuality, transsexuality, asexuality, all kinds of sexuality are welcome in my small world. It is a part of each person’s individual identity that cannot be ‘prevented’ by law, and it doesn’t define whether they are a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person. It would be nice to be able to see that courtesy extended as far as possible within my lifetime.

*This law appears to have been revoked since time of writing due to worldwide outrage. To read more please click here.

Emily Mae

At the beginning of all boring presentations and conferences, the pique of my possible excitement is always teased in the opening housekeeping: ‘In the event of an emergency or fire alarm, please proceed quickly and calmly out of the nearest emergency exit.’ There could be an emergency, I think, I wish – we could get to leave. Two hours pass, the room only hot from perspiring brows and foggy from tiring monologues – no flames of passion in sight. But, above the door, that glowing green figure, running towards the escape. And, instead of listening to a pin-striped pin-tied man yawn about research and finance and probably a Brexit joke, I think about the other kinds of alarms and emergencies that we have, and the escapes and evacuations that we don’t.

On the first day of a new job I want someone to tell me where the emergency exits are and reassure me that I should leave quickly and calmly as soon as alarm bells ring. When flames scold in the words of people I used to trust, I want to see that glowing figure, and run away too, feeling just as sickly green. The world is angry and dangerous and flammable – give people exits, and don’t be afraid to run.

Alice Reading

The past couple of years have been crazy, especially for world politics.

We have been so close to a monumental victory for women around the globe with secretary Clinton in the USA presidential race, only to be defeated by a white, privileged male. It didn’t get any better with time: the numerous sexual assault scandals, the increasing rate of racism and homophobia. At some point it just felt like fighting a losing battle for equality.

“A future with a strong female leader in the White House”

That is why I would love to see a future with a strong female leader in the White House, a person who would push us over the threshold, into a better, modern society. I want to have a role model that can be followed by all the overachievers out there- I want to be able to say that a woman like rep. Alexandria Cortez is the president of the United States of America. With her stance on the environment, the state of the fact and clear presentation of politics and liberal approach to social issues, she would make the States a beacon of hope for our future.

Ursula Konarska-Mikolajewicz

Shanai Momi, Esme Johnson, Emily Mae, Alice Reading and Ursula Konarska-Mikolajewicz

Please read part 2 of the article here.

Featured image courtesy of  Kevin Gill via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image. 

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