Civilizational Futures:
A New Assignment for Futures Researchers?
You and your friends/colleagues are invited
to participate in an open-to-all, one-day seminar.
| PLACE | Hotel Elsass, Bollwiller, Alsace Region, France |
| DATE | June 4, 2009 (Welcoming Reception & Registration at 19:00) June 5, 2009 (Seminar from 08:30 to 17:00, dinner at 19:00) The seminar is the day before the General Assembly (GA) of the WFSF.
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| COST | 150 Euros (Seminar and General Assembly, meals included) All Participants may register at this bare-bones WFSF "Members" rates. |
| REGISTER | Please use the attached form to register. |
Theme: Civilizational Futures: A New Assignment for Futures Research
Rationale: "Civilizational Futures" - the work of understanding the long evolution of and future prospects for the planet and humanity -is becoming a major focus of some who engage deeply and seriously in futures research and strategic foresight. This one-day seminar will explore this theme and provide advice to the Federation, first, on its suitability for a major World Conference, and, second, on the possibility of the Federation engaging in significant research projects focused on aspects of these ideas.
Focus: We will explore two major questions in the wider field of Civilizational Futures -- issues that are slowly gaining traction in the minds of many, but are not yet on our official agendas:
- What evidence is there for the need for and emergence of conscious evolution and global mindset change? What might be involved in conscious co-evolution beyond Industrial Civilization? Is this really the next assignment for futures researchers?
- What contributions could we - the global community of scholarly researchers, teachers and practitioners of futures and foresight - make to this new work? What major meta-projects and what more limited projects might we articulate and undertake? Who might be our Partners or Sponsors in such endeavours?
Definition: By ‘Civilizational Futures' we mean the study of the evolution and futures of whole civilizations -- past, present or possible -- in a systemic, trans-disciplinary, critical, integral and reflexive manner. Such work also requires knowledge of complex adaptive systems. A major motivation of this work is our commitment to do what we can to have whole societies learn enough soon enough to ensure that we, they and other species survive the 21st Century with a modicum of grace, humanity, security and sanity. The fields of macrohistory, evolution of consciousness, ‘meta-history' and ‘big history' are necessary dimensions of the work of civilizational futures.
This new work is required if we are to explore and respond courageously to questions such as these: "Just how different will the character, logic and requirements of the 21st Century be?" "Will the 21st Century be essentially familiar or will it require new world-views that lead to new forms of civilization -- fundamentally new ways of seeing, thinking through and acting within our world?" "Is the 21st Century a rare hinge-point in history that will require more of us than, at present,
we are prepared to give?" "What evidence is there that Industrial civilization is not sustainable; that a transformation is required?" "What evidence is there that such a transformation is already underway, but not yet recognized as such?" "How well prepared are we, as things stand today, to face, understand and navigate such a transformation of the dominant civilization?" "What actions might make us better prepared?"
Background: The view that Civilizational Futures must become a part of the agenda of professional futures researchers, among others, is slowly growing among many careful observers of the human situation. Many are members of the WFSF. It is clear from the meta-study of Richard Slaughter and knowledgeable observers of our field that this view is not yet a mainstream idea, even among futures and foresight institutions and professionals. A common default response to the global credit crisis has been - "just fix it and get us back to normal." It follows that, to the extent that ours is actually a time requiring and experiencing a profound re-orientation, we are unprepared for emergent and unanticipated futures. At the least, this lack of preparation for truly new futures is dangerous, if not yet catastrophic.
- Be attractive to those who have a serious interest in futures thinking, futures research and strategic foresight as teachers, researchers, students and practitioners.
- Have enough intellectual heft to attract participants and build the Federation's reputation.
- Enable participants to explore and test a theme that may be the focus of a World Conference.
- Provide substantial input from panelists to spark discussion.
- Be engaging -- participants must contribute substantially and not just respond to speakers.
- Be scaleable - it must work whether 20 or 100 persons participate.
- Be a step in the process of renewing the Federation and not just a one-off event.
- Follow from and build on the Federation's Refreshing/Repositioning Process.
- Be relatively inexpensive to organize, operate and participate in.
- Participants think/feel their participation was a good use of their time and money.
- A vital and still-emerging issue has taken deeper root within the Federation in a way that allows us to follow up with research projects and/or a World Conference.
- Serious thought is translated into proposals for action.
