In 2020, everything changed.

Everything around us suddenly seemed so fragile: jobs, communities, our freedoms. Every week brings new uncertainties.

The theme of FuturArc Prize 2020 has been a prescient one. We asked you to imagine co-existence and partnership with Nature. Each winning entry of FuturArc Prize offers profound insights into what that alliance might look like.

The winners of FuturArc Green Leadership Award, likewise, show us how to work with and within natural systems, whether it is to incorporate greenery deep into the fabric of a hotel (Forest in the Sky, Vietnam); create room for green spaces for a school (The Lalit Suri Hospitality School, India); or a village designed to work around ecosystems in a peri-urban setting (Jackfruit Village, Vietnam). Many of these projects bring together concerns for nature and the community, in what is known as a social-ecological approach.

When disaster strikes, impact is never equitable; it affects some more than others, mostly the urban poor who are living on daily wages. It is timely then, that for The FuturArc Interview, we talk to Prasoon Kumar, co-founder and CEO of billionBricks, a non-profit organisation that focuses on the poor. They do more than build homes; they are focused on long-term well-being, which includes opportunities for income and self-reliance.

It’s been said that the challenges we face today may be a rehearsal for something else tomorrow. We need to come together, learn and prepare ourselves for the next crisis on the horizon, be that another pandemic or climate change.