Futures Academy

The only way to create the future is to be proactive!!

The starting points of futures studies

The starting points of futures studies can be crystallised in the following way:

• The future is not predictable. The only thing we can do is to build images and ideas on the events ahead of us – here we speak of many alternative futures.

• The future is not predestined. We can only consider the probability of events and things, when we think about the possibilities.

• We can affect the future with our actions and choices. Therefore It is important to know what is possible, what is probable, and what is preferable. The meaning of values and value discussions is thus unavoidable, when the alternative futures are considered.

The future cannot be directly researched. It does not exist in the present in the same ways as the present and the past. Instead, it does exist in the present as intentions, which we can study. We can also study such facts and phenomena which bear an influence on the future. Neither is the future predestined. We can research the alternative paths of development, as long as we bear in mind that the different end results have a different level of probability. Since it is possible to affect the quality of the future through single choices, it is naturally important to define, what kinds of choices lead to the best and most acceptable future state. Therefore value discussions are so important in futures studies.