Why use this tool?

Futures Literacy and future thinking are rarely taught in schools and teacher training, although it is critical to discussing climate change, sustainability, resilience, regeneration, and transformation. Futures Literacy provides critical information and competences to reflect on our use of “the” future and make better-informed decisions in the present. It is not about creating a desirable vision of the future and defining steps to get there. Futures Literacy is about exploring how our different visions of the futures reveal what matters to us in the present and values we can embody today more courageously.

Activities in this Tool

Activity 4.2.1. Envisioning the most beautiful future

Activity 4.2.2. Futures Literacy Labs (FLL)

Activity 4.2.1. Envisioning the most beautiful future

Overview 

A simple exercise can be to imagine the most beautiful climate-resilient and regenerative future individually, and represent it (e.g. text, collage, drawing) before sharing it and reflecting with a group. The teacher can ask questions to help learners identify their assumptions and biases about the future, building on convergences and divergences between future visions. This activity can also help learners reflect on what they can learn from this beautiful future and do differently in the present. 

Curriculum linkage

  • Arts, Language & Literature , Civics & Social Studies.

Competences built

  • Imagination, exploratory thinking, active hope 

Basic info

  • Age range: 7+
  • Duration: 45-60 minutes to a longer term project
  • Group size: Open
  • Level of difficulty: Basic 
  • Materials/space required: Writing, drawing materials or material to do collages and sculptures
  • Location: Open 
  • Engagement of external stakeholders: Not necessarily. A local artist could be engaged. 

Prep Work

  • Select images or multimedia material that could be evocative of a beautiful future for inspiration. 
  • Have learners select images or material that is evocative of the most beautiful future for them. 

Competences/activities to practice first by the teacher: 

  • No

Levels  in the activity 

  1. Exploration 
  2. Project 

Levels

Level 1: Exploration 

  1. The activity can be done individually or in small groups. Decide between one or the other. 
  2. If you would like your learners to only consider climate-resilient and regenerative futures, you may need to give a few pointers now. However, you can also let the learners represent any future they find beautiful. 
  3. Invite each learner to take a few minutes to reflect on the most beautiful future they would like to experience. Invite learners to reflect on how the future would look for them, for their community, for the local ecosystem and for the Earth ecosystem. Their visions can focus on the scale they feel most comfortable with. The future they imagine can be in a decade or as distant in time as they wish. You can share some images or multimedia material for inspiration if you wish. 
  4. Invite learners to materialize their vision of the most beautiful future either through a written description or through drawings, collages, or sculptures. 
  5. Invite learners who feel called to do so to show their visions of the future to the other learners, and describe what they are most excited about in their vision, and/or what would inspire them to turn this vision into reality. 
  6. Invite learners to reflect on the visions of other learners by focusing on what they did not expect, had not thought about and on what makes them excited. 
  7. Invite learners to reflect on how it makes them feel to explore a beautiful, dream-like future and whether it gives them energy to take action. 
  8. If you choose to let learners explore any beautiful future, without a specific connection to climate resilience and regeneration, you can take a moment to reflect on the values that underlie some of their futures and could be relevant to climate resilience and regeneration. You can also suggest revisiting their images of the future, or do the exercise again after they have learnt more about climate-resilience and regeneration. 

Level 2: Project 

  1. Turn the exploratory activity into an individual or group project that can span a few weeks or months.  In that case, learners need to focus on visions of the future that contribute to a more climate-resilient and regenerative world. 
  2.  You can focus the project on a specific topic or area when learners have more time to prepare. This could mean focusing the project on the most beautiful future of their city or village, the most beautiful future of their school, the most beautiful future of energy, the most beautiful future of relationships between animals, plants, fungi and humans… 
  3. Encourage learners to research existing arts, design, science, Indigenous Peoples’ practices, existing grassroots projects… to gain inspiration for the design of their most beautiful worlds. 
  4. Offer learners to work on a joint vision that emerges from the most exciting elements of individual or group visions. 
  5. Invite older learners to explore the ecological, social and economic costs and benefits associated with their visions of the most beautiful worlds, as compared with the costs and benefits of today’s structures and systems. 
  6. Encourage older learners to reflect on the levers of action they can activate now to materialize certain dimensions or components of their visions of the most beautiful world. What are the low-hanging fruits? What is likely to require deeper cultural change? 

Do’s and Don’ts 

Do

  • Encourage imagination and creativity, even if the visions are not plausible, probable or implementable.
  • Encourage learners to ask questions and be curious about each other’s visions, including by reflecting on some projects, buildings, and art they know and think could be of interest to the creators of a specific vision.

Don’t 

  • Don’t compare or grade the visions.
  • Don’t encourage learners to criticize each other’s visions.

Adaptations

Depending on the resources available, offer learners the opportunity to use a variety of means and art forms to materialize their visions.

We always 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. 

Possible associations with other tools 

The exploratory level of this activity can be integrated into a Futures Literacy Lab 4.2.2) when exploring desirable futures, particularly if the Futures Literacy Lab is done over several days. 

References

  • Cork, S., Alexandra, C., Alvarez-Romero, J. G., Bennett, E. M., Berbés-Blázquez, M., Bohensky, E., Bok, B., Costanza, R., Hashimoto, S., Hill, R., Inayatullah, S., Kok, K., Kuiper, J. J., Moglia, M., Pereira, L., Peterson, G., Weeks, R., & Wyborn, C. (2023). Exploring alternative futures in the Anthropocene. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 48(1), 25–54. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-095011   
  • Nalau, J., & Cobb, G. (2022). The strengths and weaknesses of future visioning approaches for climate change adaptation: A review. Global Environmental Change, 74, 102527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102527  
    Publications by the Seeds of Good Anthropocenes

Download the Activity Card here

Activity 4.2.2. Futures Literacy Labs (FLL)

Overview 

Futures Literacy Labs (FLLs) are based on a method developed by UNESCO following a 4-step process: making desirable and probable futures explicit, re-imagining/reframing the future, asking new questions about the present, developing an action plan based on new questions. FLLs help learners identify their assumptions and biases about the future, so that they have the tools to stop colonizing the future, embrace emergence, and make better-informed decisions in the present.

Curriculum linkage

  • Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Civics & Social Studies, Sustainability & Climate Education that use projections and future scenarios 

Competences built

  • Futures literacy, critical thinking, imagination, exploratory thinking

Basic info

  • Age range: 14+
  • Duration: 3 hours to 3 days
  • Group size: Open.  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

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)

Activities to practice first by the teacher: 

Steps  in the activity 

  1. Reveal 
  2. Reframe
  3. Rethink

Steps 

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 tool 1.2).
  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 activities under tool 3.4 for more details).
    Iceberg Analogy for Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) (Inayatullah, 2020)

    Iceberg Analogy for Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) (Inayatullah, 2020)

     

  13. 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. 
  14. 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. 
  15. 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. 
  16. 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? 
  17. 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. 
  18. 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 activities under tool 2.4 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. 
  19. 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. 
  20. 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. 
  21. You can explain more about the iceberg now (see activities under tool 3.4 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 associated learning curve, as well as with more information about the purpose of the activity in building the learners’ futures literacy skills. 

Do’s and Don’ts 

Dos

  • 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’ts

  • 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 artforms 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 always 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. 

Resources

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. 

References

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

Download the Activity Card here