Fruitful Futures is now out of print. However, there is a free e-book version available here…

This book embraces the spirit of activism: one of its purposes is to question and challenge the neoliberal agenda for urban development.

A limited edition artists’ book, created with eco-ethical materials and printed with an experimental, three-colour riso process (commonly applied in the making of radical, activist material). With variations in ink aesthetic, each copy is beautifully unique.

Founded in 2015, LiFE (Living in Future Ecologies) is an interdisciplinary research group that provides opportunities for academics and students with a desire to shift the way we think about and create our futures, by engaging with ecological arts and sustainable design practices.

Pomona Island is a city hinterland – a vibrant, semi-wild brownfield area of land adjoining Manchester, Salford and Trafford in North West England. Escaping decades of encroaching ‘urban development’ Pomona is home to abundant wildlife and has a rich social and industrial history. Now, however, it is being developed by, arguably, misplaced ‘regeneration’.

Inspired by Pomona Island this publication presents both poetic and practical sci-fi visions for designing a culture for the ‘art of fruitful living’ across disciplines in Art, Design, Ecology, and Urbanism.

Fruitful Futures is a creative compendium of paradoxical stories about biodiversity and urban planning, carbon-free air miles, invasive species for healthy living, and old toolkits to design new natures. It reflects the passion of the LiFE collective to inspire a holistic interpretation of the future that draws on multi-disciplinary knowledge to critically propose visions for the Future City.

Post-industrial garden places like Pomona exist all over the world, and so this book has resonances far and wide. Pomona is everywhere…

Published by Gaia Project in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University. Launched for Manchester Design Week ’16.