Foresight Diaries: The naked truth ;)

Or a better title could be the "behind the scenes story" of the TRUTH futures toolkit. So here’s the (not so) short story of how our foresight toolkit came to life:

1?? Starting Point: We began exploring the future of TRUTH for our client Monomyths Association & @Young Innitiative. Their aim was to equip youngsters and educators with the mindset, knowledge, and tools to navigate the future and the world of disinformation, discrimination, and fake news. Thus, we conducted a research on the drivers of change impacting the future of truth in 2040. In addition to our horizon scanning, this also implied a participatory process surveying over 120 professionals. We then used J. Dator’s scenarios framework to create scenarios like “Error 404” (poster below), “A Brave Old World”, CTRL+SHIFT+T and “Keep Mad and Carry On”.

Plus some cool artifacts like the story of Mihaela and Ovi, 2 global citizens, displaying their changing interactions from one scenario to another one.

The English version of both the study and posters can be accessed for FREE! (we also have Romanian versions, if needed).

2?? Spreading the Word: We disseminated the study among educators and mentors, who then shared it with their students. The feedback was amazing… super effect! One of the insights we got from them (which kind of validated our assumptions) was that youngsters are anxious about what the future might hold for them, but they want to talk about it and they enjoy contexts in which they discuss future related topics. And let me quote Anamaria Ghiban , one of the teachers involved:

"I was left with this image in mind after today's workshop... and with the thought that sometimes they (the students) are 'overwhelmed by the strange world they live in' and that it's so important for us (educators) to be there, in it, on their side. These types of exercises give them the feeling that someone is truly interested in them, in how they think, and in how they see the future."

3?? Light bulb moment: We decided to create more contexts for educators to discuss the future with students. We wanted to provide them with a manual/guide/primer in that direction. What I knew was the power of the foresight tools I use in my work with business organizations. But how do I bring that to youngsters and educators? How do I make it about their personal journey? How do we make it sound and solid??

4?? Research and inspiration: Reading pays off!!! I remembered the research done by the team at Turun yliopisto - University of Turku called “5 Dimensions of Future Consciousness” - Fanny Lalot , Sanna Ahvenharju & Matti Minkkinen ). The model reflects a set of skills employed when thinking about the future and enables us to make better decisions in the long run. We might actually use all the five dimensions in our everyday lives, unconsciously.

However, the more we become aware of our abilities (which we can do through constant practice), and understand and work properly with them, the better prepared we can become to face future uncertainties.?

As defined by the authors themselves, Futures Consciousness brings perspectives to unknown futures:

"It helps us create hopeful and empowering images that can be turned into action for better futures." (Sanna Ahvenharju, Senior Research Fellow).?

Bingo! This matched perfectly with our idea of building a toolkit. So, we built the toolkit around these 5 dimensions.

5?? Making it accessible: We realized some concepts used in the Future Counsciousness research needed to be made more accessible to youngsters (in Romania). After brainstorming with educators and students, we decided to give it a twist and create a comic book style material. With the help of the same community of educators, we found the perfect team (kudos to Iliescu Alice Andreea ) to help us with translating our content into visuals that might be attractive for youngsters.?

6?? Renaming and adapting: So the original five dimensions (Time Perspective, Agency Beliefs, Openness to Alternatives, Systems Perception and Concern for Others) were renamed and adapted in this playbook as follows:

1. Time Travelers - How do you see yourself in the future?

2. Future Architects - How can you shape your own future?

3. Possibility Explorers - What are the possibilities the future holds?

4. System Detectives - How are things interconnected and corresponsive??

5. Empathy Superheroes - How can you create a better future for all?

So we have 5 characters and they each got an avatar and their related superpowers, as shown below.?

For each dimension we proposed a series of future quests, which were enriched by the contribution and feedback of various educators. Some are well known foresight tools (Futures wheel, 2x2 matrix, CLA) and some are new activities developed considering the characteristics and the objective of each superhero.

7?? Implementation and training: We had intensive sessions with the educator community and also students on the toolkit. They are currently taking it further and training their own students and colleagues.

You know what one of the students concluded?

"I realised that the future is about possibilities, and these possibilities depend on us!"

And believe me, I have more of such insights from them!

?? Call to Action: We’re eager to share this toolkit with schools interested in incorporating futures literacy into their curricula. Why teach only the past when we can also teach the future? This project aligns with the Teach the Future mission where we have recently become members, and it’s a step towards introducing futures literacy to younger generations in Romania. I learned about futures literacy and foresight as discipline at 27-28yo and I would like to offer youngsters today an early advantage in building agency and shaping their futures. Imagine the advantage if other generations could learn about future literacy and foresight at a younger age! Connect us with any schools that might be interested in having such a conversation!