Designing Futures as a Tool for Learning and Acting

Humans deal with the future through anxiety, resignation, or divination methods. The future is the place of the unknown and the uncertain, whereas the present holds the place of learning and invention. Certainty, linearity, and precise understandings do not contribute to knowledge creation. When we already know, we do not challenge ourselves. On the other hand, uncertainties and complexity promote learning. Therefore, maybe we should look at the future as a place of invention to broaden and deepen our reflections about the present. When we design for the future and explore possible, unpredictable, or implausible tracks, we can expand our mental models and vision about the future. Designing futures is about thinking collectively about global issues that affect all of us and thinking about ways to take action in our daily life. This process fosters learning and expands our vision. In doing so, we can indeed transform the future, even if that future is, for now, uncertain. In this session, we propose Designing Futures as a method of reflection about the present in educational settings. The audience will be presented with a case study of a workshop on the Designing Futures Method for Education and its impact on classroom dynamics and learning achievements in a higher education context. Besides that, we will share a methodology to develop workshops design-oriented focusing on future scenarios.