What is “futures” work?
Forum for the Future is one of the driving forces behind FeedBack Nashville and one of the world’s leading organizations in “futures” work. Their framework of “futures” has been a guiding principle for FeedBack Nashville’s process.
Futures - also known as futurism, the field of futures, futures studies - refers to structured, long-term thinking about the future to improve decisions made today. Futures practice supports us to grapple with uncertainty and the real change that’s happening around us. It helps us explore emerging trends and how they might interact, and to uncover where and how to act for long term success, as we consider the range of possible and preferred futures before us. The futures framework deliberately uses the plural form of the word - recognizing that the future is not fixed; at any time there are multiple futures available to us, and we can collectively shape the future we want to see.
Thinking creatively about the future also helps us step out of our ‘everyday’ - focusing less on the problems at hand and more on how the world might look and feel, if we are successful in overcoming them. Engaging in futures can unlock new ideas and inspire people to action.
Visioning is one particular approach under the umbrella of ‘futures’. Successful visioning enables people to explore what truly might be possible - beyond just incremental improvements on the system in place today. It also draws out tangible, practical statements and imagery, avoiding platitudes or being too high level to relate to, and it can help people see their own role in making their vision a reality.
The futures framework can be applied to almost any social problem or system; from climate change to housing insecurity to education systems, thinking creatively about how the future can and should look different than the present is an important part of any social change. It is easy to take aspects of our present for granted; we aren’t often encouraged to question the status quo. It is easy to go through our day to day lives and not ask questions about why grocery stores are in the locations that they are, to not wonder about where our food is coming from, to not consider what the daily lives of farmers and other food producers are like. A futures framework creates space for us to ask these questions, encourages us to ask “why” and “how” questions about our present so that we can grow into a better future.
Forum for the Future is an international organization dedicated to “enabling systemic and urgent action in three potentially game-changing areas: food, energy, and purpose of business.”" They “create impact by convening innovative collaborations to drive change, by partnering with organizations to help them lead by example, and by building a global community of pioneers and change makers.” Watch this short video to learn more about Forum for the Future’s approach to transforming the food system.
How can you engage in futures work? What aspects of our current systems do you need to call into question? If you were building an ideal future, what elements of that system would be different? Being able to imagine a better future is the first step in working towards one.
Stay tuned for our upcoming blog about the Future of Food Conversation series- events all focused on applying the futures framework to different aspects of our food system!