In 2020
Ellie is 17. She is a student, is single, and lives with her parents.
Ellie’s father, Ibrahim, is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Science, teaching at the University of Portsmouth.
He married Ellie’s mother (Faith), a research scientist, in Nigeria in 1970, and they moved to the UK in the mid 70’s at the invitation of the British Government.
Ellie is the youngest of three children (her siblings are Neil, aged 23 and Anna, aged 21).
Ellie has very strong views on Climate Change and environmental protection. She led the school strikes as part of the Climate protests, and is an activist in the Extinction Movement.
She doesn’t drive, and struggles to get to university using public transport. There is a bus, but the timetable is very inflexible and she ends up having to cycle quite long distances as a result.
She would like to work in conservation, but that doesn’t pay very well. Like many of her generation, she is unlikely to be able to afford a home of her own – at least for many years, and in the meantime both she and her parents are expecting her to be living with them for the foreseeable future.
View seminar handout for Ellie.
In 2050
Ellie is 47. She lives with her partner and three children in the house formerly owned by Eileen.
Ellie says it was a bit like coming home, as she lived with Eileen for several years while she was at university, and then again when she returned from her travels. Her commute to uni used to be quite tough, and she set up an electric vehicle sharing scheme with other students. Of course, transport options have improved hugely since then, with autonomous vehicles common since the mid 2020s.
After university, Ellie took a year out to work as a volunteer overseas, combining teaching English with sustainable energy in developing countries, including Nigeria where both her parents were born.
She returned to the village when she was 24, by which time she had a lot of practical experience in delivering sustainable energy solutions in a wide variety of circumstances. In 2026 she set up her own business, advising companies and private clients on how to keep their costs low whilst minimising their impact on the planet. Working closely with The Taylors and Bill, she led the successful local campaign for a solar farm. The timing coincided with a new Government scheme rewarding companies for being green, and penalising polluters, so Ellie’s services are greatly in demand.
Ellie was devastated when Eileen died in 2042. They had become really fond of each other over the years and Eileen used to refer to her as “the daughter I wish I had”. It came as a total shock to discover that Eileen – who had no children of her own – had left Ellie the house in her will.
Rural Communities 