Human Futures No. 1 December 2016 | Page 56

“ The outcome of all this is not simply to create interesting experiences ; it is to make experiences that lead to the creation of better futures .”
The Experiential Futures Ladder : Most traditional futures practice and scholarship operates at a high level of abstraction , while experiential work explores more concrete manifestations of futures –– possible , probable and preferable . forth . To design and stage experiences of the future ( s ) is one class of activity . To attend to the design of processes whereby such experiences are designed , making scalable structures of participation , is another . Both frontiers must figure in the unending quest toward “ a truly ‘ integral ’ approach to inquiry ” ( Voros , 2008 ). Finally , we emphasise that the outcome of all this is not simply to create interesting experiences ; it is to make experiences that lead to the creation of better futures . To catalyse better futures is “ the work ” we futurists are called to and aspire to help our clients , audiences , students , and other constituencies to do –– is a critical part of that duty . References
• Candy , S . ( 2010 ). The Futures of Everyday Life . University of Hawaii at Manoa .
• Candy , S . ( 2015 ). The Thing from the Future . In : Curry ( Ed .). The APF Methods Anthology . APF .
• Candy , S . and Dunagan , J . ( 2016 ). Designing an Experiential Scenario : The People Who Vanished . Futures .
• Dator , J . ( 1993 ). From Future Workshops to Envisioning Alternative Futures . Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies .
• Dator , J . ( 1996 ). Futures Studies as Applied Knowledge . In Slaughter ( Ed .). New Thinking for a New Millennium . Routledge .
• Jungk , R . and Mullert , N . ( 1987 ) Future Workshops . Institute for Social Inventions .
• Ramos , J . ( 2006 ). Consciousness , culture and the communication of foresight . Futures .
• Slaughter , R . A . ( 1996 ). Futures Studies : From Individual to Social Capacity . Futures .
• Voros , J . ( 2008 ). Integral Futures : An approach to futures inquiry . Futures .
Stuart Candy combines futures with design , media and performance as a writer , producer , speaker , educator , and consultant to diverse organisations . He is Mitchell Visiting Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago , Fellow of the Museum of Tomorrow , Rio de Janeiro , and advisor to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies , Geneva . do , and being willing to recognise the shortcomings of our existing conventions , as these become apparent , and to evolve towards new horizons in how we operate and cooperate –– just as we urge
Jake Dunagan is an experiential futurist , governance designer , and teacher . He is Director of Design Futures at verynice . co , and adjunct professor in the Design Strategy MBA program at the California College of Arts ( CCA ). Jake ’ s work has been centered around social invention , and creating novel methods to help individuals and institutions design better futures .
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