Dr. Michael Marien | 50 Years of Fragmented Futures | CACOR Zoom – Nov 16, 2022 13:30 Eastern Time

Speaker: Dr. Michael Marien

Topic: 50 Years of Fragmented Futures: From WFS/CAFS to WAAS/CACOR and SSG/SDGs.

CAFS – Canadian Association for Futures Studies

 WAAS – World Academy of Art and Science

 CACOR – Canadian Association for the Club of Rome

 SSG – Security and Sustainability Guide

 SDGs – sustainable development goals

Time: Nov 16, 2022 13:30 Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 Summary:     CACOR Session #123

Has futures-thinking and futures studies made any difference over the past decades?  My answer is “generally no,” perhaps with a few exceptions for a few individuals, organizations, and/or nations.  The reason is three-fold.  First, futures-thinking is not a discipline or a field: a futurist is simply anyone who says that he or she is a futurist or is seen as such.  Second, there is a far greater amount of futures-thinking by non-futurists, without using the “f-word” (e.g. IPCC).   Third, there are many ways and words to describe futures-thinking. The result of many people writing about the future in different ways, for better or worse, increasingly in a variety of media, led to considerable fragmentation in the WFS/CAFS era, and, arguably, far more today.   But now, in a time of multiple crises and great uncertainty, there is a clear transition from descriptive futures (what is probable and possible) to prescriptive futures (what is desirable).

Bio:

Dr. Michael Marien earned a PhD * in social science and national planning from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.  He was founder and editor of Future Survey, a monthly indexed review of 50 books and reports, published by the World Future Society, 1979-2008.  He currently serves as founder and Senior Principal of The Security & Sustainability Guide.

Edited CHAT record…

PDF of Presentation Notes