We’re proud to invite you to the first Atlas of the Future event. On Tuesday 10 May, FutureHero Mark Stevenson will take us on an optimistic tour of the future and the challenges humankind faces – at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona.

The pragmatic optimist and bestselling author is a globally respected thinker on technology, societal trends and future literacy, helping organisations focus on sustainability, compassion and justice. He knows that there is a revolution going on. In An Optimist’s Tour of the Future, Stevenson writes:

“The population is rocketing, the planet is becoming urban (over half of us now live in cities), medicine is curing the previously incurable, ninety-year olds take parachute jumps, spaceships are owned by businessmen, the climate is shifting and the world’s knowledge is becoming available to anyone with an internet connection.”

Having just become a father, Stevenson appreciates the importance of finding out if there is a better narrative than the one we are under and asks important questions.“Are we going to cure cancer? What is the ‘biotech revolution’? Are the robots finally coming? What’s all that nanotechnology stuff about? How will the Internet continue to shape society? How do we handle a growing population?  If the climate is changing, how will that affect us and can we do anything about it? Are we going back to space?”

Currently writing his second book, We Do Things Differently: Travels on the Cutting Edge of Change, he somehow finds the time to be advisor to Atlas of the Future, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Earth Challenge, Civilised Bank, Comic Relief, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and many other institutions.

The future is here. Mark Stevenson knows that there are important stories that need to be told. And we want to hear what he has to say.

This event is FREE and OPEN to the public. There will be simultaneous translation from English to Catalan. Join us by signing up here – [email protected]