‘Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.’ – Gloria Steinem
… Inspired by this motto, in 2022, SUPERRR created the Digital Futures Gathering as an event series that aims to carve out space and time for imagination, weave connections between networks, and explore collective dreaming as a form of planning the digital futures we want.
Civil society often lacks time and resources, and is forced to respond reactively to actions that are harming their communities as a matter of urgency. Stuck in this reactive paradigm, they can be so busy fighting immediate harms that it can be difficult to envision alternative digital futures beyond surveillance capitalism, exploitation and commercialisation – although it’s also true that this insistence on fighting dominant forms of oppression is also a form of imagining a better future.
Visions and narratives are crucial to rally people behind a cause, and create a strong sense of belonging. For future visions to work for diverse people and communities – in particular, those whose desires have been ignored in the past – diverse perspectives, voices and backgrounds are needed to craft them.
We can’t build just and inclusive digital futures without a holistic view of the digital transformation. One which takes into account intersecting struggles, and the ways in which technology is built upon structural and societal power imbalances. That’s why, in order to dream up the role we want digital technology to play in our lives, we need intersectional, feminist, and decolonial perspectives on these structures. Only then can we strengthen our structures of solidarity, and spark and spread hope and joy.
With the first Digital Futures Gathering held in in 2022 as our foundation, we built on these ideas to continue the work on digital futures collaboratively with civil society organisations, activists, researchers, and policy advisors from various fields and backgrounds. Now, in 2025, we are holding the second Digital Futures Gathering – this time focusing on creating a space to reclaim and re-imagine digital futures that are just and free of violence for all. Together with our partners and networks, we want to shape thriving digital futures for all.