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…
Author: Abril Chimal
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…
By Leonardo Santiago and the Students from the speciality in Design of Tomorrow In April 2020, in the framework of the SARS CoV 2 crisis, students of the fifth generation of the futures studies postgraduate course at CENTRO, a higher education institution located in Mexico City, held a sounds of the future workshop. The representation of future scenarios by means of sounds is not new. Well-known is the case of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds (1938). This case was a creative exercise, even a provocation, the result of the adaptation of a novel, we are not speaking properly of…
por Leonardo Santiago y los estudiantes de la especialidad en Diseño del mañana En abril de 2020, en el marco de la crisis del SARS CoV 2, los estudiantes de la quinta generación del curso de posgrado de estudios de futuros en CENTRO, participaron en un taller de sonidos del futuro impartido por el productor Leonardo Santiago. La representación de escenarios futuros mediante sonidos no es nueva. Bien conocido es el caso de la Guerra de los Mundos de Orson Welles (1938). Este fue un ejercicio creativo, incluso una provocación, el resultado de la adaptación de una novela antes que…
Reburg is a fictional city in which the concept of circular futures comes to life. The concept and content has been developed by Pantopicon, a studio for design and foresight with offices in Antwerp (Belgium), and a satellite studio in Toronto (Canada). The project has further been developed in collaboration with Plan C, Belgium’s circular economy hub. The goal? To render tangible a vision on the future of sustainable material management as a means to provide a framework for (entrepreneurial) innovators and society, to provoke and extend their thinking on what a circular economy is and could be. What would…