Explain about the future

Life will different and the same
The other day, I watched a cool woman on a cargo bike stop on her way to work for a red light on the bike lane. She was dressed in a mix of vintage and sustainable brands, turtoise-framed glasses and a Hövding bike helmet, clearly not wanting to ruin a hair do with inspiration by the 1970s, and on the cargo bike was a sticker urging me to support my local organic farmer. This model of an sustainably concious citizen then did something that surprised me. She took a long look at her watch and as the lights turned green, she stayed behind, reached into her jacket and pulled out a cigarette.
Another point worth making is that living in a carbon neutral city does not make it a utopia where all challenges and problems have suddenly vanished, nor where we no longer indulge in little guilty pleasures. There will still be time to a smoke a cigarette on your way to work, if that’s your thing. A glass of wine will not be forbidden. We will still love pizza with too much cheese because that’s whats makes it taste delicious. There will still be mean people, unfair people and sexist people. There will be traffic jams, armed robbery and overpriced restaurants. There will still be vegans who behave like pigs when they eat. And pedestrians will still be killed by cars, albeit electric ones. And the emotional drama of teens will still be an endless source of frustration in cities that rely on renewable energy.
As long as we recognise the reactions of the characters as emotionally true when their lives are described in a future already present today, the changes we all need make to create that future will no longer feel as frightening.
The plant that Wall-E found on Earth was the reason Eve went onto standby. Transmitting information about the plant ended the mission the probe was sent out to accomplish, the plant representing a hope for a better future and the possibility of re-defining a way of living on earth.
When you tell stories effectively, you have the power to change peoples lives for the better by connecting with them emotionally to make them rethink needs and behaviours, and to engage in being proactive in the inevitable change to climate neutral cities. It’s about engaging the heart and the mind.