About Glasgow 2020

What is Glasgow 2020?

Glasgow 2020 is the non-institutional story of Glasgow’s future - a project to collect-together the imagination of the city through workshops, competitions, events and creative-projects.

What is it for?

When we think about the future, it’s often a vision that’s given to us by politicians, scientists or the presenters on tomorrow’s world. Sometimes we get a say in that. Like when you attend a consultation on plans for a new building. But the consultation always happens in response to something that’s already been planned. The aim of Glasgow 2020 is to reverse this. The project is not a consultation on somebody else’s vision of the future: it’s a chance to actually make one.

What will be the result?

The project will culminate in a book and an exhibition that will tell the story of the project and illustrate a vision of Glasgow’s future based on public imagination.

What will this achieve?

People are turning their back on formal democracy. They’re less likely to vote and if they do, it’s likely to be with a heavy heart. But we still care about issues in the world around us - from our choice of transport to the coffee we drink. Glasgow 2020 aims to;

1. Build a better unconditional dialogue between people and public institutions in Glasgow.
2. Illustrate the value of this activity
3. Inform the approach of public institutions to building better forms of dialogue.

How can I get involved?

From writing stories to making wishes, there are many ways you can get involved in the project…

• Write a story:

  We are publishing stories about the future of the city on this website and in the final book we put together. If you can write a fictional story about the future of Glasgow of between 500 and 2,500 words, send it to Jenny Simpson, alternatively register online and add your story to the website.

• Make and rate wishes:

  How do you want Glasgow to be in 2020? On this website you can make wishes for the future, and rate other people’s wishes too. You can also submit them to the following freepost address Freepost, Glasgow 2020, Oyster Arts, 100 Beith Street, Glasgow, G11 6DQ. By the end of the year we aim to have created a publicly selected top-10 wishes that civic leaders will be asked to respond to.

• Attend a story telling workshop:

  Glasgow 2020 is structured around a series of public events and projects stretching to the end of summer 2006 focused on telling stories about and debating the future. There is a list of forthcoming events that you can register attendance for here.

• Run a project:

  We are always looking for new ideas for how we can provoke thinking about the future in the city. If we can help make an idea happen for you, send an email to Charlie Tims.

Want to find out more? We have information about the project co-ordinators and the project sponsors