by Jost Wagner & Sohail Inayatullah What are the futures of the Asia-Pacific region? What might the region look like in a decade? How can futures thinking be used to transform the nature of strategy and policymaking? Over 150 futurists, policymakers, and academics met in Bangkok for the 5th Annual Asia-Pacific Futures Network Conference to explore these and other questions. Topics included the possibility of an Asian Confederation, emerging pandemics, the importance of horizon scanning for security forces, and the need to build risk assessment into scenarios and preferred futures. APFN in Bangkok For the second time, the 5th Asia…
Author: Abril Chimal
by Yelena V. Muzykina Futures Studies and Foresight in Kazakhstan Futures studies and foresight seem quite established disciplines in the global academic world. Some scholars even trace their origins as far as the futuristic novels by Jules Verne, a French writer publishing in the 1860s and 1870s (Bell, 1996, p. 7). Nevertheless, for Kazakhstan, this is a completely unknown field. The first steps were made in February 2019 when the Qazaq Research Institute for Futures Studies (QRIFS) launched its activities. Making connections with different local organizations, QRIFS established fruitful cooperation with creative companies and educational institutions, public and private…
by Joe Ravetz The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused death and disruption around the world, and also exposes underlying tensions, traumas and conflicts. There are many hard lessons in disaster management, public health, economic recovery and so on. But in this Perspective I would like to look more deeply and widely. I begin some mappings of systemic transformations now in motion, both negative and positive – and then explore what kind of systemic pathways could help steer from one outcome to another. Drawing on the synergistic methods set out in Deeper-City, this agenda includes: – Exploring the potential of collective…
Escrito originalmente por Ivana Milojević e traduzido para o português por Jaqueline Weigel e Vinicius Silva / W Futurismo Este ensaio investiga padrões de pensamento prejudiciais sobre o futuro, denominados falácias de futuros. Baseia-se na análise da literatura existente e na observação pessoal. Eu defino falácias de futuros de três maneiras. Primeiro, como aqueles padrões de pensamento que estão em contradição direta com um futuro verdadeiramente desejado a longo prazo. Segundo, como pensamentos e comportamentos contrários as nossas melhores evidências, fatos e lógica existentes, relevantes para os futuros emergentes. Terceiro, como quadros cognitivos que garantem que as estratégias escolhidas falham. Este racional é real? “Adam: O que você acha interessante no personagem Spock? Sheldon: Eu acho que a…
by Ernest Sternberg I should have known I was becoming obsessed by driverless cars. The life of the urban planner may be glamorous, I had told myself, but the doubts and uncertainties were nothing to envy. Smart cars, smart parking, smart cities, smart pavement—everything smart, smart, smart, yet none of us smart enough to tell you what autonomous transportation would do on city streets. The corporate behemoths with their billion-dollar bets on cars of the future, they didn’t know either, I thought, as I approached my apartment building. It was the end of another exhausting day of transportation projections that…
by Cherie Minniecon This paper is in dedication and acknowledgement to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Original Futurists of this land whose foresight, creativity, innovation and adaptability are evidenced by being the oldest living culture in the world today. In 2016, Albuquerque hosted the very first Indigenous Comic-Con. An idea born by Pueblo of Laguna man. Dr Lee Francis, who imagined and questioned what a Comic convention would look like if all panel members and the convention itself were Indigenous. He imagined Indigenous movies and TV stars, authors and cosplayers from all around the world that could showcase…
by Karen Morley In our mid-COVID world, we’re grappling with what leadership is and could be in the future. There’s plenty of despair and frustration. At the same time, many are looking to use the opportunity to create a better, fairer and more inclusive future: the World Economic Forum’s ‘The Great Reset’ project1 is just one example. The pain of leading in a crisis Yet, how do we create a world of growth and abundance, when it feels like we’re in a world of pain? Most leaders I speak with want more certainty, much of their planning attention is focused…
by Roger Spitz After working with countless decision-makers and interpreting the next-order impacts of our world’s rapidly accelerating rate of change, humanity appears at a crossroads. Evolutionary pressure prioritizes relevance, and that pressure could be nearing our strategic decisions. As a society, we must completely adapt the education system (Spitz, 2020), prioritizing experimentation and discovery, instilling curiosity and comfort with uncertainty, first starting in the playground and then spreading all the way to our boardrooms. If we don’t improve our abilities to evolve in a nonlinear world, we could find human decision-making sidelined by algorithms as we become blindsided by…
Sohail Inayatullah and Ed Roper This case study uses scenarios to explore the futures of Brisbane Grammar School. In particular, the implications of COVID-19 on teaching and learning are articulated. Four futures are presented: (1) The Migrating Geese. In this future, everyone is connected; people take turns at the front, helping to lead others. Those ahead help those who are tired or need support. (2) Let’s Get Flexible. In this future, online and physical environments are seamlessly connected. (3) Wellbeing. In this future, a culture of wellness is paramount. Learning is personalized, collaboration is encouraged, and adaptability ensures the capacity…
Ivana Milojević IMAGE 01_jeremy-lishner_unsplash[2] This essay investigates detrimental thinking patterns about the future, termed futures fallacies. It is based on an analysis of the existing literature and personal observation. I define futures fallacies in three ways. First, as those thinking patterns that stand in direct contradiction to a truly desired longer-term future. Second, as thoughts and behaviours that are contrary to our best existing evidence, facts, and logic, of relevance to emerging futures. Third, as cognitive frames that ensure chosen strategies fail. Is the rational real? “Adam: What was it about Spock that appealed to you? Sheldon: I think the…