"Hope is the only thing stronger than fear."
Affective science has shown that fear is an emotion that paralyses people into inaction. As we navigate through increasingly uncertain geopolitical, climate, and social challenges, what serves as our guiding light? How can we encourage a world that is becoming more polarized to unite and confront today's challenges in solidarity with the future? The truth is, behaviours and emotions worldwide are increasingly resonating with negativity, despair, and fear. However, if we aim to secure livable futures, we must steer the behavioral wheel in the opposite direction.
In an era increasingly defined by multiple crises, it is essential to foster the idea of an alternative world, by giving hope a home.
Hope occupies a unique place in human behaviour, bridging belief, knowledge, emotion, and action. The aim of the Beyond Lab's Hope Methodology is to leverage the transformative power of constructive hope as a catalyst for change.
The Lab makes use of hope as a tool to navigate uncertainties, turning humanity's pessimism and fear into proactive steps towards long-term sustainability. Hope can support us in developing systems designed around human and planetary values. It is about reclaiming control and nurturing the conviction that positive change is achievable.
We engage with constructive hope through two potential avenues (under development):
Our initiative goes beyond merely nurturing a passive sense of hope; it aims to convert hope into a tangible force that drives action, shapes habits, and confronts unsustainable systems with critical thinking. Based on research conducted in partnership with the University of Geneva' Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, the Beyond Lab has developed a model of Hope.
This hope model is a practical tool which can be used as a methodology to shape workshops, policy design and sustainability campaigns. The methodology uses behavioral strategies (such as affective scaffolding, collective intelligence and imagination) to empower its users towards positive global collective action.
A space crafted as a vibrant 'activity gym' for hope, both virtual and physical, it blends theory with practice, bringing together diverse change makers and decision-makers through the lense of hope. Using the hope methodology, it acts as an incubator for thought and action, linking pressing challenges to imaginative, creative, and forward-thinking solutions.
This platform is dedicated to questioning the status quo, changing the rules of the game and promoting interdisciplinary conversations. The hope space is for now composed of:
1. Two Online Campaigns: a digital magazine and a podcast. It takes shape in a 2. Our Physical Events: We are shaping our events such as the What's Next series through our hope methodology, and some events offer attendees to test the method through an interactive workshop.
Hope as a tool of positive change.
A mindset shift where positive action is prioritized over fear, suffering, and pessimism.
A more inclusive and less polarized multilateral world.
A more resilient and forward-looking multilateralism.
An emergence of solutions more attuned to diverse global realities.
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