“Given our situation, I would recommend being fuelled by dread, but also buoyed, and kept focused on the necessary work, by willed hope, as a political position.” Kim Stanley Robinson

At Hertford College we aspire to be a bridge to a better society, and a pioneer of sustainability and opportunity. Inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson and his The Ministry for the Future, the Oxford Ministry for the Future will apply academic excellence to the challenges of the future in a joined-up and interdisciplinary way.

The Oxford Ministry for the Future is a network of academics, policy makers and sustainability leaders with a mission to share climate action research and change the discourse from dread to hope. It will allow wide-ranging and science-based discussion of the possibility of innovations (in technology, business models, accounting, and legal frameworks) that may guide us towards a sustainable political economy that we can still reach given where we are. Hertford College (‘the one with the bridge’) can be part of the solution as a hub for ideas and expertise, connecting Oxford research centres (e.g. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Saïd Business School, and others) and academics with practitioners and policy makers.

How is OMF different and distinctive?

• While OMF has a focus on the political – economic challenges of climate action, it is interdisciplinary, and connects literary, art, ethical and science discourse to stimulate moral imagination of a new political economy, capable of solving the climate crisis while upholding universal human values.
• OMF is a community, coming together for discussion, ideation, and collaboration, and inviting representatives from Oxford research centres focussed on climate research to its gatherings. We hope to have a membership of interdisciplinary researchers who would discuss disjointed areas of climate research and action, draw on the resulting ideas, and start collaborations, to draw out the practical implications for research, management, and policy practice.
• OMF will be a cultural and psychological anchor for its participants whose work depends on their ability to maintain a sense of willed optimism and hope as a political position. OMF would partner with Kim Stanley Robinson and other artists, thinkers, and public intellectuals to maintain focus on our responsibilities for future people.
• OMF would be physically based in Hertford College and its identity and scope of activities as a centre of excellence can be further shaped by partnering centres (e.g. Smith School), research affiliates and donors. Its convening role could be extended by research, education, and other academic activities, as need and opportunities arise.

Below is a recording of the inaugural OMF event, which took place at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on 13 June 2024.