Global Conversation on Building a Better Tomorrow

Join a 24-hour global conversation on building a better future on 1 March to celebrate World Future Day. We start in New Zealand at 12pm local time and will finish at 12pm in Hawaii. We invite you to join an open conversation that anyone can join at any time, meet futurists from around the world and debate future challenges and opportunities together.

On 1 March each year, people from all over the world engage in discussions about potential future worlds – sharing their visions for the future of humanity. Not to convince each other of their perspectives, but to share knowledge, future research results, develop collaborations and forge new relationships. At previous editions, we have discussed a wide range of topics such as general artificial intelligence, space exploration, the future of work, climate change adaptation, rights for the biosphere, fighting transnational organised crime, evolving future forms of democracy, countering information warfare, considering future generations and global ethics in decision-making, and defining and enforcing safety standards for synthetic biology. What issues do you think will be addressed this year?

The events organised as part of the World Futures Day provide an excellent opportunity to broaden horizons and share visions of the future with people from different countries, disciplines and cultures. It is an opportunity to go beyond one’s own perception of the world and see the diversity in perceptions of the future, as well as to discover potential trends that may have been overlooked until now. Anyone can take a seat at this global table and participate in the live discussion, regardless of time zone. Doors are open for everyone to join and leave at their own discretion. If you cannot attend at 12 noon, there is always the option to join before or after that time. To participate in the conversation co-led by Kacper Nosarzewski, partner at 4CF and the expert of the Polish Society for Futures Studies, simply join the conference at 12:00 noon Polish time. 

Click here, to join the World Futures Day conversation.

Everyone is invited to celebrate the World Futures Day

Everyone is warmly invited to take part in the World Futures Day on 1 March! Everyone can participate in their own way, for example by organising a meeting at work or school on the theme of the future, by inviting an expert to a discussion, or by simply indulging in reading or sci-fi films. On this day, we encourage you to reflect on what kind of future we want, what challenges we want to overcome, and how we can contribute to creating a better tomorrow. And don’t forget to share your experiences on social media, using the hashtags #worldfuturesday or #WFD. We will look forward to your posts! We also invite media representatives to join our celebrations.

This year’s event will begin by honouring Theodore J. Gordon, a ‘giant’ of futures research who has recently passed away. He co-founded The Millennium Project and made more contributions to futures research methodology than any other futurist in history.

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf will also be joining us for the fifth time, at 13:00 US Eastern Time.

4CF has also been engaged in the World Future Day, organised by The Millennium Project in cooperation with other partners. This year’s World Future Day is supported by Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Humanity+, the Lifeboat Foundation, the World Academy of Art and Science, and the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF).

The Millennium Project is the largest global foresight think-tank, bringing together experts from corporations, universities, NGOs, EU and government institutions around the world. In Poland, The Millennium Project is represented by 4CF, the founder of its Polish node.

Other World Futures Day events

A number of other conferences and events will also take place on World Futures Day, including a Teach the Future conference entitled World Futures Day – Young Voices. Its target audience is children and young people from around the world. Like The Millennium Project event, the Teach the Future conference will be organised in the form of online workshops conducted around the world over a 24-hour period. Teach the Future particularly encourages the participation of young people to share their perception of the world and its future. 

Teach the Future is a global movement to engage young people in envisioning and influencing the future, both in and out of school. It is also designed for teachers and other educators to bring forward-thinking into schools. Anyone can attend the Teach the Future conference.

Click here, if you want to find out more about  World Futures Day – Young Voices.

World Futures Day is an exciting opportunity to exchange ideas about the future with people from all over the world. It will undoubtedly be a valuable experience for anyone who wants to prepare themselves or their company for the coming opportunities and threats. Participating in the World Futures Day can be a first step towards developing your competence in future studies or networking with experts and other forward-thinkers.

Futurology – Futures Studies

Futurology is a research discipline concerned with the analysis of possible future developments. At first, futures studies mainly focused on attempts to predict future processes and events. Over the past few decades, influenced among other things by the development of complexity studies and computer and psychological research in the field of forecasting, futures studies have developed significantly. The field now focuses on creating alternative visions of the future, identifying the most likely and most desirable scenarios. It also identifies factors that can contribute to the optimal shaping of the future.

A variety of methods are used for research, such as statistical modelling (based on econometric models or extrapolation of historical data), strategy sessions (where future scenarios are worked out with experts), the Delphi method (where forecasts and assessments of hypotheses about the future are worked out by expert groups), or decision games. Foresight also deals with the analysis of megatrends, i.e. long-term global processes that define the future. Megatrends are structural changes concerning, for example, society, the economy, ecology or the development of new technologies.

Futures studies are an important line of research, allowing society, companies and organisations to develop competences in forward-looking planning. Through new methods, techniques and habits, they improve planning and strategic decision-making. Foresight is extremely useful for successfully achieving goals by shaping the future and taking advantage of emerging opportunities.