WFSF IN FOCUS
LEALA PT1
Jennifer Gidley on the World Futures Learning Lab
WFSF has been supported by the UNESCO Participation Program since 2012 to create and expand a World Futures Learning Lab ( LEALA ). The project set out to develop online learning infrastructures and procedures and to run courses that blend local face-to-face education with online learning of futures studies and foresight . The LEALA project focuses especially on the needs of Africa , youth , women and developing countries and their related challenges .
In the 2012-2013 cycle , LEALA built on an earlier UNESCO project , to develop an Online Repository for educational futures resources . We ran three pilot futures courses in Lubumbashi , DR Congo ; Cairo , Egypt and Penang , Malaysia . This first round of the project enabled 70 young adults in these locations to learn about foresight and provided experiences and skills to allow them to become leaders within their local communities and to support others .
With the support of
Participation Programme
United Nations Educational , Scientific and
Cultural Organization
Jennifer Gidley , PhD is a futurist , educational philosopher and psychologist . She is President of the World Futures Studies Federation ( UNESCO Partner ), founded in Paris , 1973 , and Associate Professor at the Institute for Sustainable Futures ( UTS ). Her PhD on evolution of consciousness won the Chancellor ’ s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence . Recent books are Postformal Education : A Philosophy for Complex Futures and The Future ( Oxford VSI ).
HUMAN FUTURES 11