Helper robot or partner in crime? – The Robot & Frank
When we think about the future, oftentimes we see new technology, like robotics, that will solve most of our problems. What we don’t always think about, is whether people like this new technology in...
View ArticleVTV 2014: Exploring the future of public health in the Netherlands
For Futurista, Silke interviewed Jeanne van Loon and Johan Melse: Jeanne van Loon is project manager for the VTV 2014. Johan Melse is a member of the project team VTV 2014, who also contributed to...
View ArticleLet’s play the future
Playing makes things real and brings an imaginary world alive. Children understand this intuitively. When they give you cup of tea in a play, the tea is real and you have to drink it. Although they...
View ArticleTransformative scenario planning – working together to change the future...
Adam Kahane, former head of Scenarios at Shell, and pioneer in transformative scenario planning, presents his experience and insight in this wonderful book about his approach of working with the...
View ArticleHow to bring more creativity in scenario thinking?
One of the main criteria for scenarios about the future is that they are challenging. They also need to be relevant and plausible, but they should also trigger people’s thinking. That means, scenarios...
View ArticleThe Mont Fleur Scenarios
One of the most well-known scenario exercises is the one that took place at the Mont Fleur centre in South Africa, in 1991-1992. At the time, South Africa was dealing with economic decline, social...
View ArticleThe “I told you so – effect” in future studies and horizon scanning
Futurists are talking about trend and developments all day long. They almost live the future (or multiple futures). Their job is to help stimulate strategic thinking about the future in organizations...
View ArticleScenarios on contact with ETI
Scenarios are used for many different purposes and in all types of organisations. One of the most surprising and inspiring scenario studies I ever came across is the NASA & Pennsylvania State...
View ArticleThe future is the connected company
The future is all about connectedness. Dave Gray made that point clearly in his recent book “The connected company“. Online and offline social networks are getting deeper engrained in society. People...
View ArticleScenarios as a warning: Limits to growth
Probably the most controversial and most famous scenario study published is the Limits to Growth report. It was published as a book in 1972 and presents scenarios, based on computer modelling, on the...
View ArticleBlue Brain Project: the human brain on a super computer (part 1)
Neuroscientist Henry Markram’s ambitions are far from modest to say the least. His aim is to build a complete simulation of the human brain and run it on a super computer. This all-European project is...
View ArticleResilience: Exploring the edge of new possibilities in the Anthropocene
One definition of resilience is “the ability to cope with shocks and keep functioning in a satisfying way”. Resilience is about the self organizing capacity of systems. This means the ability to bounce...
View ArticleScenarios for the future of urban farming
Over many centuries, attempts have been made to get food production out of the cities. Produce comes from the land and is transported into the cities. In most western cities, abattoirs have...
View ArticleTransformative technologies, which applications will we embrace as a society?
McKinsey presented a comprehensive analysis of the most important disruptive technologies that are changing the world, right now and in the years to come. Mobile internet, automation of work, internet...
View ArticleCan you please predict the future?
There is this great temptation that futurists always have to resist: “can you please say something about the future? Just tell us some of your insights of what the year 2050 might look like?” It could...
View ArticleScanning the Dutch Horizon to 2050
Jacintha Scheerder is exploring what challenges await the Netherlands in the next four decades. She is the projectleader for the project ‘2050 Horizonscan’. The project is initiated by The Netherlands...
View ArticleA socio-cultural framework for scenarios
Recently, I have become very enthusiastic about using socio-cultural perspectives as a framework for scenarios. This framework is well suited for complex societal issues and is often used for scenarios...
View ArticlePaving the way for the circular economy, keynote by Prof. Herman Wijffels
Herman Wijffels, professor of sustainability and societal change at Utrecht University and one of the most authoritative economists in the Netherlands, presented his view on the transition towards the...
View Article4 Pitfalls for Foresight Practitioners
Thinking about the future and practicing foresight is no cakewalk. This is made very clear in the book Foresight in Action. The authors have done ethnographic research on how foresight practitioners...
View ArticleSearching for unknown unknowns
In future studies one of the ultimate results is becoming aware of things that were previously unknown to most people. Especially in horizon scans, like the current STT project in the Netherlands, we...
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