Foresight diaries - reporting from the northernmost city of Romania (ep. 3)

See that large orange dot in the image below? It symbolizes our #PreferredFutures ! This was the central theme of the final workshop at Darabani, part of the Northern Days festival. Over the event's span, our exploration took a structured path: DAY 1 focused on addressing the past and the current change , DAY 2 on imagining possible futures , and finally, we dove deep into envisioning preferred futures for the small communities in Romania on the last day.

The graph displayed is known as the "futures cone". It eloquently captures the multiple alternatives that our future might hold. Rejecting the simplistic idea that the future is a straight arrow, this cone asserts that the farther we project into time, the more varied and intricate the potential scenarios become.

As a foresight strategist, I've often struggle with transforming abstract concepts into tangible insights. Hence, I introduced to the participants this idea of a futures cone and encouraged them to conceptualize their preferable futures. To facilitate this, I provided a canvas inspired by the Casual Layer Analysis by Sohail?Inayatullah. The participants began by crafting newspaper headlines dated July 2030, each reflecting their desired future for Romania's small communities:

• "Imagine Sanicolaul Mare to Berlin in just 30 minutes"
• "Imagine Vaslui: the city of Youth"
• "Imagine the emergence of Waste-Free small communities"

Each headline triggered deep reflections on the actors, perspectives, systems, and beliefs needed to bring these futures to reality. The vibrant discussions were not just dialogues; they were powerful narratives of hope and aspiration.

These futures sessions culminated with the sharing of these visions with a broader festival audience. I want to believe these insights from Darabani will influence how participants perceive their futures and that of their communities.

Ah, you might be curious about the story behind the cover photo accompanying this piece, no? On the last day of our workshop, we engaged with the MidJourney AI. Prompted to visualize "the future of small rural communities in Romania," the AI's image didn't align with our envisioned futures.

When we refined our request, emphasizing a "bright, modern, digital, and democratic future for small rural communities in Romania," the AI's output seemed still rooted in past perceptions. Hmmm...

What did you think happened when we eliminated the word "Romania" from the prompt? Correct, it returned the cover photo. Curiously, when we generalized our prompt, eliminating the reference to Romania, the AI presented a very different future. While this sheds light on algorithmic biases, my attention, as a future strategist, shifted towards a pressing question: How can we reshape Romania's long-term narratives? The reflective "mirroring" exercise with MidJourney illuminated the vast potential the unwritten future holds. It's a canvas, and we possess the power to shape it to our liking.

Here's some food for thought:

• What are the biases that shape our understanding and perception of the future?
• How can we actively challenge these biases to craft a future that aligns with our desires?
• How do societal narratives shape algorithmic outputs and how can these narratives be adjusted to reflect more inclusive and hopeful futures?

Concluding thoughts

I'm thrilled to share that the 2024 edition's dates for the Zilele Nordului festival have been set. Mark your calendars! For those who wish to see other reportings from the 2023 edition, these are some links I found:

• Urbanize Hub reporting – Urbanize Hub masters the art of curating contexts for citizen consultations, and they did that in Darabani during the festival (and I just saw they just started a cool project for District 2 in Bucharest)
• When the North becomes a country
• Colorful futures
• Opinion Luana Popa

My Foresight Diaries' journey from Darabani (or a “not-on-Netflix” limited series) may have concluded, but the quest for foresight and envisioning preferred futures is ever-ongoing. Being a future strategist is not about predicting what's next; it's about enabling others to envision, prepare, and actively participate in crafting futures they desire. As we journey through this landscape of possibilities, remember, the future, though unwritten, can be influenced, and it's up to us to guide its narrative.

Great futures,

Diana