This paper investigates the systemic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and experiments with using two foresight methods with different time horizons to broaden the exploration. The Futures Wheel of consequences is applied to the global shock and pandemic of COVID-19 to firstly analyse systemic impacts of the virus within a short to medium timeframe. Then, four macrohistorical models are applied, to time two probable future trajectories resulting from the bifurcation point of the pandemic. The conclusion provides: (1) insights on the methodology of integrating the Futures Wheel and Macrohistory and proposes that they are indeed complimentary if a common spatial scale is used to link them, and (2) that the city is a practical and effective spatial scale to integrate the methods and their systemic impacts, and (3) real world actions in response to the pandemic, at the scale of the city, that may require further research.

This research proposes sustainability-oriented foresight education as a transformative intervention for societies genuinely seeking to create economic and ecological well being for future generations. Taiwan has started to enter a critical stage in developing a more environmentally-minded and futures-oriented worldview. While related prior research mostly emphasizes macro-level institutional change, this study focuses on evaluating the possibilities for encouraging sustainability-consciousness among young citizens through higher education. Students of the course ＂Environmental Changes and Sustainable Futures＂ were the participants in a quasi-experimental research design with pre- and post-measurements, and using participatory learning, reflective journals, and scenario workshops as the tools of pedagogical intervention. The results suggest that through a process of integrative learning, a culture of forward-thinking and visioning for sustainable alternative futures is emerging. Most importantly, student participants show promise as potential change agents for creating alternative environmental values and sustainable behaviors.

The relationship between futures studies and education is not new, but it is an essential element for the development of our society as part of a more balanced world. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that describes the associations between future, human temporality and images of the future. The paper provides the results of research carried out among students in Barcelona, with analyses examining images of the future and their associations with other investigations. Using a four-part typology for images of the future, we describe differences between students’perspectives on the global future, and their egocentric perspectives on their personal future. The findings are indicative of specific activities to be undertaken to maximally benefit students of secondary schools. Finally, we demonstrate that the influence of technological and catastrophic images from the media is evident in these students, leading to a distorted perspective on their own future and their role in it.

This article applies Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) to analyse critical factors of four influential South East Queensland City visioning and foresight initiatives conducted by the Cities of Maroochy, Logan, Gold Coast and Brisbane. Previous articles in the March 2015 issue and the September 2016 of Journal of Futures Studies gave a prima facie litany of the phases of the initiatives (including the Visions and Governance phases) – and mapped their processes respectively. Conclusions drawn from the analysis in this article are unique as they apply futures methods and specifically CLA as a multi-methodology to create, unpack and explore phases of futures initiatives and the context they operate within.

Using causal layered analysis (CLA), a critical futures methodology, this paper maps and analyses a number of competing discourses relating to accountability to community within the scholarly literature. The focus is on the multiple perspectives expressed by scholars as viewed through the lens of corporate-community accountability. The aims are to challenge current dominant views, introduce a range of other views, and reflect on implications. Particular attention is on accountability issues where the impact on community is currently most obvious. This is business concerned with extracting raw materials from the earth. The scholarly literature is ordered along a continuum according to the level of citizen participation evident and the nature of that participation. CLA serves as both theoretical lens and methodological tool to deconstruct the range of views and enable a meta-level discussion of them. The analysis emphasises the CLA levels of worldview and metaphor. The results are a deeper understanding of the various perspectives and a reframing of accountability by broadening the concept beyond the business case. This suggests that CLA has something to offer both accountability and accounting. However, discerning the value of CLA in terms of moving corporate-community accountability forward is yet to be clarified through practical application in the field. Should CLA be of value, the wider ramification is a positive contribution to the economic world.

This essay is part of a special “Symposium” issue of the Journal of Futures Studies focusing on Intuition in Futures Work. It builds on the brief summary review of conceptual positions about practical intuition contained in my brief introduction to the symposium (Markley, 2015), and describes the specific sources, methods and explanatory models I personally have found most useful in my own professional trajectory as I learned the practical art of using intuition in futures studies. It ends with suggestions for handling the problem of when doing this type of work in public settings.

During 2000-2015, Queensland Councils emerged from the darkness of ‘tokenistic’ community consultation processes articulated by Arnstein (1969). The work of community engagement professionals to update Council methods in line with advancing technology and in designing new business models and strategies for the governance of consultations is arguably still in its ‘teens’. One way forward is to continue a linear projected future, with a short-term view focused just ahead, which is still the norm. However, in an environment of rapid change, this approach is far too reactive, restrictive, shortsighted and un-consultative, resulting in the loss of possibilities. This article uses Inayatullah’s (2008) six futures questions to create alternative community engagement futures to 2030.

Inevitably, healthcare goes pervasive, yet its many potential future scenarios are still to be defined. We employ foresight techniques to define some of these scenarios, as relevant for the current and future state of healthcare in Geneva, Switzerland. We teach the methodology to undergraduate business administration students – potential e.g., managers and policymakers in the future healthcare system of Geneva. Our objective is twofold: to train students at scenario building and to develop scenarios for pervasive healthcare technologies and their social implications. Results include scenarios developed by the students as well as lessons learned with respect to the power of foresight techniques employed with novices in this field.