Futures - Open to Variety: A manual for the wise use of the later-than-now

"Futures - Open to Variety" is the easy-to-read manual for the wise use of the later-than-now. It will boost your appetite for futures work and provides many concrete suggestions for what you can do in your context. Selected futures methods are presented for practical use. The author shares personal encounters and deep insights from the many futures processes he conducted or advised. Meaningful illustrations facilitate your journey towards higher futures literacy.

Contents

1. Talking to Each Other - Dialogue

2. Ask Powerful Questions

3. Dealing with Complexity

4. Involve Many Different People

5. Consider Different Systems

6. The Trend May Be Your Friend

7. Scenarios Open the Mind

8. Visions: Images of Desirable Futures

9. Where We Are: Indicators

10. Searching for a Common Future

11. Looking at Several Levels

12. News from the Futures Literacy Laboratory

13. Inquire Appreciatively

14. Discover the Future in a Playful Way

15. Digital Tools for Futures

16. Futures Dialogue of the German Chancellor

17. Futures of Cities

18. Government Strategy Wellbeing in Germany

19. Shaping Digitalization: #gutlebendigital

This book was written for all those who are concerned with the future. Which is basically everyone. Because even when you cross the street, you are dealing with the future. Will the cyclist from the right arrive at a certain point at the same time as you will? Then you should adjust your plan for crossing the road accordingly. You do not need this book for this adjustment. However, future developments are often not so easy to predict, and it is often not possible to make reliable plans. While we might wish for this certainty and predictability, all too often it is unrealistic.

The book offers some signposts, backgrounds, experiences, and ideas for action for the confident handling of uncertainty. These ideas should enable the readers to make the various images and assumptions about futures visible and usable in the present. There are many approaches and methods for this. The competency to use these methods for different purposes is called futures literacy. It could be one of the most important competencies of humankind in the 21st century.

Dr. Stefan Bergheim strengthens futures literacy in politics, business, academia, and civil society with processes on quality of life. He was an advisor to the German government's national wellbeing strategy and led the processes "Positive Futures - Forum for Frankfurt" and "Quality of life in the digital age". As a member of the UNESCO Futures Literacy Network, he helped curate the 2019 Design Forum and the 2020 High-Level Summit.