Activity 4.2.2:

Futures Literacy Labs (FLL)

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Overview

Curriculum linkage

Civics & Social Studies, Civics & Social Studies, Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Cross-Curricular & Global Competencies, Cross-Curricular & Global Competencies Sustainability & Climate Education that use projections and future scenarios

Competences built

Critical thinking, Exploratory thinking, Futures literacy, Imagination

Prep work

  • Familiarize yourself with what Futures Literacy is, what it can do and what it cannot do. 
  • Define a topic for your FLL: which future are you going to talk about? It could be “the future of schools”, ‘the future of our city”, “the future of nature”…
  • Print out some iceberg models with the 4 layers indicated on the side (see below)

Competences/activities to be practiced first by the teacher

Steps in the activity

  1. Reveal 
  2. Reframe
  3. Rethink

Step 1: Reveal 

  1. Make sure you have all materials ready including Post-its, markers, A3 paper sheets and spaces to create sculptures or assemblages or images and objects to represent different possible futures. 
  2. Introduce the FLL by explaining that Futures Literacy is a capability that enhances our imagination and diversifies futures. We use those Futures to see things differently in the present. 
  3. Explain that several dimensions of climate science rely on projections and future scenarios based on past data about the Earth system, as well as data about our economy, society and governance. Projections and scenarios are based on observed phenomena,  trends and extrapolations. Such a structured and systematic method, which defines possible developments in order to prepare for the future, falls under the umbrella term of foresight. However, Futures Literacy is different. Futures Literacy can help us better understand the assumptions and biases that are part of foresight approaches, as well as relate differently to the future. 
  4. Introduce the topic of the FLL that learners are going to work with. Examples are ‘The Future of Schools,’ The Future of our City’, ‘The Future of Nature’… Try and make sure you are exploring the future of a concept that your learners can relate to and have mental images of. Feel free to give some definitions to support your learners. 
  5. You can start with a polak game. For more details about the polak game, check the resources section below. 
  6. Create groups of 6-8 learners, have them sit around a table or group of tables in circles, and distribute writing and drawing material to them. 
  7. Let them know that you will invite them to take part in a few practical, hands-on exercises for which there are no right or wrong answers, and for which they are welcome to express their imagination fully. 
  8. For the first exercise, you can start by sharing some trends, data and scenarios related to greenhouse gas emissions and planetary boundaries until 2100. 
  9. Feel free to remind learners of breathing techniques and movements they can practice if the information you shared makes them feel anxious or overwhelmed (see activities under competence area 1).
  10. Invite learners to close their eyes and imagine they wake up in what they think the year 2075 will be. It should be what they predict the world 2075 will be like, based on what they know of various projections and scenarios today. They are not an older version of themselves, they are the same person waking up in the 2075 world. Ask them to spend some time in what 2075 will most probably be for them. What does it look like? How does it smell or feel? What are the headlines in the press or its equivalent?  What do [schools] [the city][XXX] look like in the most probable version of 2075 for them? 
  11. Invite your learners to take a few minutes to write down or draw the highlights of their vision or experience in their most probable vision of 2075. 
  12. Invite learners to share their highlights with the other members of their small group. They can start putting some words or images regarding the probable 2075 world on the different levels of the iceberg (see activity 3.4.1 for more details). 
Iceberg Analogy for Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) (Inayatullah, 2020)
Iceberg Analogy for Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) (Inayatullah, 2020)
  1. In case learners have not studied the iceberg already, you can introduce the different levels of the iceberg very briefly. It is ok if the words or images are not all put under the correct categories of “headlines”, “systems”, “worldviews” or “myths and metaphors” on the iceberg for the learners who are discovering the approach on the spot. 
  2. Invite each group to briefly share the highlights of their discussions with the other groups, showing their icebergs with Post-its or images on them. 
  3. As a second exercise, invite learners to shift from the probable future to a desirable future. You can start by sharing some images of a desirable future (e.g. solarpunk artworks) or any other image evocative of values or approaches to making the future desirable. 
  4. Invite learners to close their eyes and imagine they wake up in what they would like the year 2075 to look like in their wildest dreams. They are not an older version of themselves, they are the same person waking up in the 2075 world. Ask them to spend some time in the most desirable version of the year 2075 for them. What does it look like? How does it smell or feel? What are the headlines in the press or its equivalent?  What do [schools] [the city][XXX] look like in the most desirable version of 2075 for them? 
  5. Ask your learners to take a few minutes to write down or draw the highlights of their vision or experience in the desirable world of 2075. 
  6. Encourage learners to share their highlights with the other members of their small group. They can start putting some words or images regarding the desirable 2075 world on the different levels of the iceberg (see activity 3.4.1 for more details). It is OK if the words or images are not all put in the correct place in the iceberg, for the learners who are discovering the approach on the spot. 
  7. Invite each group to briefly share the highlights of their discussions with the other groups, showing their icebergs with post-its or images on them. 
  8. Explain to learners that this first phase is about revealing the visions of both probable and desirable futures they are having now, and that were likely influenced by the numbers/trends they saw and the images that were presented. 
  9. You can explain more about the iceberg now (see activity 3.4.1 for more details), if you wish. 

Step 2: Reframe

  1. Invite learners back to their groups, and instead of inviting learners to envision either a probable or a desirable version of the future, invite them to listen to a different scenario of the future, which is called a reframe ‘scenario’. 
  2. Share a scenario that helps learners question the assumptions and biases about the future that they have expressed during the first phase of the FLL. You will need to conceive this scenario while listening to both the probable and the desirable visions of the future that the learners come up with.  
  3. A possible ‘reframe’ scenario about the future of planetary health would be: ‘Imagine you wake up in the year 2075, and the health of human beings is no longer a priority. The entire health system focuses on the health and wellbeing of plants, animals and fungi’. For more guidance and ideas about the reframe scenario, check the references and resources section below. 
  4. Once you share the scenario, ask learners to take a few minutes to reflect and respond to the following questions: how does the scenario make you feel? What makes you curious about this scenario? What did you take for granted about the future before hearing this scenario? 
  5. Invite learners to create or ‘build’ a 3D sculpture of the reframed world within their group, without too much discussion, by using all the material available. This work will help identify assumptions and biases about the future. 
  6. Offer each group the opportunity to present their sculpture/collage to the other groups. 

Step 3: Rethink       

  1. Let the learners know that step 3 is about coming back to the present and reflecting on the experience. 
  2. Offer learners the opportunity to explore and compare/contrast the first phase’s probable and desirable futures, as well as the reframed future of the second step. 
  3. Invite learners to address the following questions, in relation to the topic of their FLL. For instance, are there any approaches to [schools] you had not thought about before? Are there different ways of [educating children] you had not considered before? Are there questions or ideas you thought were important before the exercise but seem less important now? 
  4. Invite learners to address those questions by asking new questions. Ask each group to select 3 of the most interesting emerging questions, and share them with the wider group. 
  5. Invite reflections from the learners about the questions that were selected. 
  6. Close the activity with a recap of the 3 steps and the associated learning curve, as well as with more information about the purpose of the activity in building the learners’ futures literacy skills.

Dos and Don’ts

Do

  • Stress that there is no right or wrong vision of the future as there is no possibility to know what the future will look like in 2075. Sharing visions of the probable or desirable futures is not about being scientifically accurate, it is about offering an opportunity to expand one’s imagination. 
  • Welcome all visions and questions with curiosity. 

Don’t

  • Don’t grade the exercise.
  • Don’t select the ‘best’ vision of a desirable future as a means to guide action. The desirable futures being expressed are simple representations of what a group dreams about at a given time, and are not meant to be used literally to define a new “mission” for the group.

Adaptations

Feel free to encourage learners to draw instead of writing elements of their visions of the future. 

When exploring the reframe, you can offer a variety of options and art forms to create and explore the reframed world. Those options could include drawing, creating collages, creating sculptures out of available materials, performing short plays or tableaux vivants.

We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

References

This activity was adapted from resources of the Erasmus+ FUTURES project by One Resilient Earth. 

A facilitation guide for a 3-hour Futures Literacy Lab. In this guide, you will find a more precise description of a polak game. Running a Futures Literacy Lab is complex and you may want to access a dedicated training offered by One Resilient Earth, or another academic organisation part of the UNESCO Futures Literacy Chairs network.

Bentz & Ristic Trajkovic (Eds.) (accepted) Imagining, Designing and Teaching Regenerative Futures: Creative Approaches and Inspirations From Around the World, the Science for Sustainable Societies, Springer Nature. Expected publication is August 2025.

Basic Info

  • Age range: 12+
  • Duration: One or two lessons (around 45-90 minutes), Longer projects
  • Group size: Flexible

Smaller groups of 6-8 people will need to be formed during the exercise

  • Level of difficulty: Advanced

  • Materials/space required: Post-its, markers, material to draw, or random material (e.g. clean trash to be recycled) to create assemblages or sculptures
  • Location: Indoors

  • Engagement of external stakeholders: No