Creating Visions of Sustainable Futures - University of Sheffield Sustainability Symposium 2026

Celebrating the next 10 years of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures by imagining a better future for everyone and the work we need to do to create it. 

Join us for a day exploring visions of what a sustainable future could look like and the changes we need to bring about to get there.

We will hear from two exciting keynote speakers (Rob Hopkins and Jane Davidson) who will  tell us all about their future facing work. There will also be lightning talks interspersed throughout the day from the University of Sheffield community and beyond, delivering snapshots of the future across a wide range of fascinating subjects, which might include ‘the future of’… Work, Politics, Materials, Plastics, Travel, Water, Education, Chemicals, Food, Neighbourhoods, Healthcare, Research, Community, Farming, Energy, Fashion, Landscapes, Democracy, Science, Consumption, Housing, Adaptation, or Justice.

We’ll have a poster exhibition of PhD research being conducted right now in the Grantham Centre and other surprises yet to be revealed. More information about the subjects of the Lightning Talks will be published soon.

There will also be plenty of opportunity to hear from you, the audience. Lunch and refreshments will also be provided. (Please indicate at the registration form whether you’ll be staying for lunch.)

Please see the programme of the day at the bottom of this page.

More about our Keynote Speakers

Rob Hopkins - “How to Fall in Love with the Future”

Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Network and of Transition Town Totnes, and author of several books including ‘The Transition Handbook‘ and most recently, ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller’s Guide to Changing the World’. He is an Ashoka Fellow, has spoken at TED Global and at several TEDx events, and appeared in the 2015 French film phenomenon ‘Demain’.

He holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth as well as 2 Honoris Causas, and hosted 100 episodes of his podcast ‘From What If to What Next’. In November 2022 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Liège in Belgium.. Rob stopped flying in 2006. In his spare time, he draws and makes drypoint etchings. His website is robhopkins.net.

Jane Davidson - “Why I remain a stubborn optimist! Lessons from the story of the Well-being of Future Generations Act in Wales”

Jane Davidson is the author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country, the story of why Wales was the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect future generations. #futuregen is published by Chelsea Green.

She is Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. From 2000 to 2011, Jane was Minister for Education, then Minister for Environment, Sustainability in the Welsh Government, where she proposed legislation to make sustainability the central organising principle. The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act came into law in 2015.

She introduced the first plastic bag charge in the UK, and her recycling regulations took Wales to third best in the world. She created a Climate Change Commission for Wales, the post of Sustainable Futures Commissioner, and the Wales Coast Path.

Agenda