Alex Steffen (born 1968 in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

) is an American

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

and advocate of '

bright green environmentalism Bright green environmentalism is an environmental philosophy and movement that emphasizes the use of advanced technology, social innovation, eco-innovation, and sustainable design to address environmental challenges. This approach contrasts wi ...

' who writes and speaks about

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and the future of the planet. He emphasizes the importance of imagining persuasive, positive possible futures: "It's literally true that we can't build what we can't imagine,... The fact that we haven't compellingly imagined a thriving, dynamic, sustainable world is a major reason we don't already live in one."

Biography

From 2003 to 2010, Steffen was executive editor at the website ''

Worldchanging Worldchanging was a nonprofit online publisher that operated from 2003 to 2010. Its strapline was ''A bright green future''. It published newsletters and books about sustainability, bright green environmentalism, futurism and social innovatio ...

''. ''Worldchanging'' practiced "solutions-based journalism". The non-profit organization announced that the goal of its work was to highlight new solutions to what the editorial team saw as the planet's most pressing problems, rather than to spread news of those problems or critiques of their causes. The site won or was nominated for a number of awards and prizes, including winning the

Utne Utne is a village in Ullensvang municipality in the Hardanger region of Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern end of the Folgefonn Peninsula, at the confluence of the Sørfjorden and Hardangerfjorden. The village is ...

Independent Press Award (2005), finalist for a Webby for Best Blog (2006), finalist for a Webby for Best Magazine and Bloggie awards for Best Group Weblog and Best Writing for a Weblog (2007), won the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature for its book, won Organic Design Award, Prix Ars Electronica nominee, and in 2008 was named a Webby Official Honoree. In November 2006, Steffen published a survey of global innovation, '' Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st century'' (), with a foreword by

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

, design by

Stefan Sagmeister Steve (born August 6, 1962) is an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller, and typographer based in New York City. In 1993, Sagmeister founded his company, Sagmeister Inc., to create designs for the music industry. He has designed album covers for ...

and with an introduction by

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

. A new, updated edition, with a foreword by

Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American political analyst, media personality, lawyer, author, and civil rights advocate. He is a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and contributor, and an Emm ...

and an introduction by

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

, was published in 2011. In 2012, Steffen released ''Carbon Zero: Imagining Cities That Can Save the Planet'', a book which explored the innovations and policy changes that a North American city would need to make to become carbon neutral. In 2013, he became "Planetary Futurist in Residence" at the design company

IDEO IDEO () is a design firm, design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 500 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environmen ...

. In 2016, Steffen successfully ran a crowd-funding campaign for ''The Heroic Future'', a three-part series of documentaries on how we might imagine a sustainable future. The theme was "you cannot build what you cannot imagine". The series was filmed in front of a live audience over three nights in September 2016 at the Marines' Memorial Theatre in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 2017, following the election of

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, Steffen modified his style to a form of "anticipatory journalism", taking the same themes as ''The Heroic Future'' and setting them in the near future, post-Trump. This series of newsletters are titled ''The Nearly Now''. Since 2021, Steffen has written the Snap Forward newsletter. and hosted the When We Are podcast. He regularly speaks about climate foresight, and has taught a number of courses on building personal climate strategies, including a successful "Crash Course on Personal Ruggedization". In 2022,

the New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

discussed Steffen's work in a cover story about climate change and California's future .

Public speaking

Steffen is a frequent public speaker and has spoken at TED, Poptech, Design Indaba, Amsterdam's PicNic, The Royal Geographical Society and New Delhi's Doors of Perception. As well as keynote addresses at industry events like the AIGA and IDSA national conferences, O'Reilly's Emerging Technologies (eTech), FOO Camp and the Business Expo Bright Green held during the Copenhagen Climate Summit. Steffen has given keynote speeches at three different South by Southwest conferences (SxSW). He has also spoken at universities including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Stanford and the London School of Economics.
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References

External links

Alex Steffen's website

Alex Steffen's newsletter, The Snap Forward

Alex Steffen's podcast, When We Are

Steffen on PBS Newshour discussing climate foresight
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"The shareable future of cities"
TEDGlobal 2011 *
"The route to a sustainable future"
TEDGlobal 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Steffen, Alex 1968 births Living people American futurologists Futurist writers American sustainability advocates Allegheny College alumni Environmental bloggers American male writers American male bloggers American bloggers

Biography

Public speaking

See also

References

External links