Mapping Hope — As a Practice, Not a Promise

Originally published on Novisali.com, January 2026.

Hope is often misunderstood as optimism or prediction — a belief that things will turn out well. In reality, hope plays a different role in times of uncertainty. It is less about certainty and more about the willingness to remain present and engaged when outcomes are still unclear.

The reflection explores hope as a practice rather than a promise. A way of continuing to shape meaning even when direction is not fully visible. Through art, ambiguity can be held without being resolved too quickly, allowing space for reflection, sensing, and new perspectives to emerge.

Across the Hopepunk, Human Cartography, and Sparks of Hope series, mapping hope becomes an exploration of where connection, resilience, and possibility already exist — not as idealised futures, but as signals within the present.

Seen this way, hope becomes a capacity. Not the denial of difficulty, but the ability to remain constructive within it.

Hope does not eliminate uncertainty. It gives us a way to stay present inside it.

Read the full reflection here:
https://novisali.com/mapping-hope-as-a-practice-not-a-promise/

About Liselotte Engstam, Digoshen & Novisali

Liselotte Engstam is an explorer of perspectives, an adventurer of ideas, a pathfinder of meaning, and a guide of timeless transitions. She bridges the worlds of board leadership and art, helping organizations and individuals navigate disruption while nurturing creativity and reflection.

As founder of Digoshen, she works with boards and leaders to expand future insights and reduce digital and sustainability blindspots. Through research, networks, and executive programs, Digoshen supports responsible value creation in the digital and sustainable age, contributing thought leadership via books, articles, events, Digoshen Exploring Leaders podcast, and blogs.

She also serves as Chair of the Boards Impact Forum in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Climate Governance. The Forum convenes board members, thought leaders, and experts in dialogues, webinars, and collaborative events, accelerating action on climate, AI, and sustainability.

Through her artistic practice as Novisali, Liselotte explores creativity and meaning. Her watercolors, digitally reimagined, invite reflection and renewal, offering perspectives that connect head, heart, and hand, and complementing her work with leaders and boards.

→ Discover more at www.Digoshen.com
→ Learn more at www.BoardsImpactForum.com
→ Find more about Liselotte at www.liselotteengstam.com and her Google Scholar page
→ Explore Liselotte’s art and reflections at www.novisali.com and follow on Instagram @novisali_arts