Playing with Time: a preview

Introducing a foresight practice to build hopeful futures through transformative stewardship

This book preview was first published on the SOIF website on 13 November 2024.

Over years spent weaving futures thinking into real-world strategy and policy, I’ve learned that transforming the future is neither simple nor straightforward. My journey has taken me across government, civil society, and global organisations, where the stakes are high, but resources fall short. This long essay is a preview of a book that describes how to steward transformation by being inspired by the future. It represents both a personal and collective commitment—a labour inspired by countless changemakers and innovators worldwide—dedicated to helping individuals, institutions, and communities “play with time” to shape hopeful, long-term futures.

Today, we stand at a tipping point. With the adoption of the UN Declaration on Future Generations and a world increasingly grappling with polycrisis, the need for unified, long-term stewardship has never been more urgent. Yet, this movement remains fragmented, underfunded, and vulnerable to co-option by entrenched interests. The ideas and practices I share here could easily be misused for superficial “future-washing” rather than for true transformation. But this critical moment calls for action, and I take this risk with purpose—inviting each of you to apply these tools with integrity and intention.

My hope is that I inspire you to join in: to act, connect, support, and become part of a global movement toward meaningful change for the wellbeing of current and future generations. This is a creative exploration, a conversation, and a call to reshape our shared future. Let’s embark on this journey together.

The context

Two big moments have happened in the last six weeks with a major impact on our future. The world made a historic commitment to the wellbeing of current and future generations by adopting a “Declaration on Future Generations” at the UN. And Trump was elected US president, in the latest “Great 2024 Election year” example of incumbent governments around the world being voted out by people crying out for change even as they fear it.

These two events are a great example of what Peter Schwartz, well-known futurist, describes as the “rip-tide”. This is where a long-standing but under-the-radar trend finally surfaces. Which results in two apparently contradictory trends coexisting, as the past and future collide in the present.

They are also symptoms of a well-debated global phenomenon - a groundswell call for change and doing something different. This call comes from all sides, regardless of nationality, political values or age. Despite the very different - and often polarised - explanations, narratives and solutions held by different groups, what is common is a view that the status quo doesn’t work. People are increasingly anxious about the turbulent future facing them, and yet we are stuck in old ways or systems that cannot meet the needs of the time - hence a sense of “polycrisis”.

I want to help us unstick from this present, apply a practical set of approaches to help our communities navigate the uncertainty ahead, and develop our agency for building hopeful futures. And provide a post-polycrisis narrative to inspire change-makers around the world who want to take collective, transformative action.

The opportunity and the challenge

There is a growing, messy assortment of different people who – though coming from different perspectives – are unified around a message that governance needs to be updated. They are rolling their sleeves up to try things out. They aim to get democracy fit for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century – which have been driven by the (mostly predicted) demographic, planetary boundaries and emerging technological changes ahead. Their diagnosis is that the turbulence we are in is a symptom of being in a liminal time between old and new systems.

In my view, this makes a lot of sense: the fear, return to nostalgia and authoritarian tropes we see around us are well-established patterns and historically recognisable responses to a time where there is insufficient space given by the old to the next generation to create their new futures. We face ageing populations in most countries, gerontocracies in young countries, and a global historic shift in age expectancy from a stable 2.5-3 generations alive at any time in all of human existence to 4-5 over the last 75 years. This means we are in a genuinely new and challenging time for governing intergenerational questions of distribution and decision-making – especially with a climate countdown as a backdrop. The old systems are desperately clutching onto control as they fail to deliver, which only amplifies the delegitimising cycle – in this case of representative democracy. And far from indicating the collapse of the 200 year experiment of democracy into a Hobbesian future state of existence, this account instead sees this decade of uncertainty and crisis as a possible moment of rebirth and new thinking. This is not to say that “nasty, brutish and short”-style authoritarianism is not in our future should we fail to transform – a business as usual trajectory inevitably leads to rationing scarcity and controlling growing conflicts, driven by inequality and climate crises. But the big difference is that this community of changemakers see their mission as reimagining and building new futures rather than shoring up and addressing the symptoms of a crumbling order. And their common solution and unifying purpose – despite using very different terms like deliberation, existential threat, wellbeing economics – is to create a shift in decision-making across governments, business and communities to be collective, nature-embedded, interconnected and long-term in a way that can help these radically new futures emerge.

So far, so good – for those of you I am writing for, this will probably be an analysis that is familiar or at least resonates.

But the interesting issue is that people deeply embedded in the challenges of the Now get a bit stuck on the HOW. How do we start the radical reimagining and building of new futures authentically and in practice that is needed? Communities have started to use foresight and futures thinking to come together and imagine what good - or bad - looks like in the future. Unlike maybe 5-10 years ago, the activity of doing future scenarios - whether dystopian or utopian - is more widespread. But we have seen many communities and changemakers hit a wall when it comes to translating and implementing them today.

A hero of mine is Jane Davidson - the minister who spearheaded the groundbreaking 2015 Wales Future Generations Act and who is the closest person in real-life to Mary Murphy, the head of Kim Stanley Robinsons’ book “Ministry of the Future”. She asked me: “what is a practice for hospicing the old order while midwifing the new?” That is the defining question that inspired my book “Playing with Time: a foresight practice to build hopeful futures through transformative stewardship”.

“Future-Inspired Transformative Stewardship activates strategic foresight as an enabler for communities to unstick from the present, play with time, and shape a hopeful future in a systematic way.“

One solution is Future-Inspired Transformative Stewardship

The book proposes that change-makers adopt a practice of Future-Inspired Transformative Stewardship. This is a practice that is:

• Future-Inspired – activating the power of strategic foresight to be an enabler for communities who want to unstick from the present, play with time and shape a hopeful future in a systematic way.

• Transformative – applying futures and foresight approaches in a way that transforms the present in a deep way. This means changing systems, institutions and norms, not just activity; and bringing in different forms of evidence, including indigenous knowledge.

• Built on a leadership model of Stewardship – acknowledging future-inspired transformation requires change-makers to steward transitions, broker power and convene different groups within a current system with very different feelings and views of the world.

There are many examples of this practice visible in the world around us at all levels and scale that we can learn and be inspired by. From Horizon 2045 reimagining a world free of nuclear weapons, to building 100 African UrbanBetter Cityzens hubs, to Think Forward helping design an intergenerational fair social care policy for the Australian government. From a Tomorrowlands project imagining better futures for teenagers in Rio’s Manguinho Favela, to School of Humanity reinventing online education for high schoolers with a curriculum of the future, or Melissa Ingaruca Moreno supporting multispecies urban planning. These initiatives are led by change-makers who use futures-thinking to drive systemic change in their own areas and communities.

This aim of the book – and the mission of our organisation the School of International Futures – is to distil the key features or ingredients of this practice and share them more widely in order to inspire new practitioners, to scale and connect innovations, and ultimately to build a wider movement for the wellbeing of current and future generations.

What is Future-Inspired Transformative Stewardship and why is it different?

The foundational question of the book is how to play with time to change the present – but in a way that is sustainable, scalable and also is genuinely transformative. It shines a light on the transformative practice for changemakers to steward change by being inspired by futures and foresight practice by providing:

I. A comprehensive framework (the Whirlpool) for thinking about foresight as work you do at the mindset, intervention AND systemic level together – connecting the relatively well known work of individual futures literacy and doing scenarios (often focused on tools and building skills of people or teams), to how you then work in a wider system, with communities and decision-makers, to build future-alert and anticipatory systems. There are tools and approaches provided at each level – some of which will be very familiar and others less so – to help changemakers use foresight for mobilising change by:

1. Building the mindset of a futurist.

2. Leading an intervention, from beginning to end, and designing for impact.

3. Holding transformation at multiple levels – mindset, intervention and systems.

II. A Foresight Governance Prism that lays out the component aspects of a future-focused system that looks out for the wellbeing of future as well as current generations. This is a simplified ecosystem model to lay out structured ways that an organisation or country or sector can build: technical foresight preparedness; dynamic and demanding intergenerational coalitions for change; and leadership that makes intergenerationally fair decisions. And more importantly, how these aspects of the system need to be dynamically connected in order to mobilise against the effects of entropy that lead to “stuckness”. There are new tools, research and pilots provided to help changemakers learn from examples to apply foresight at a systems level in their own context, by:

4. Sharpening technocratic institutional foresight capability.

5. Weaving intergenerational, multi-stakeholder whole of society coalitions of change to create a collective view of the system and explore how to distribute the costs and benefits of change to realise desired futures. And do so through practices that build psychological safety, trust, and empathy.

6. Understanding and transforming the narratives, incentives and barriers in the current system that maintain “stuckness” despite individuals’ desire for change, so leaders can make intergenerationally fair decisions.

7. Connecting all three in a dynamic that continuously builds long-term wellbeing.

These frameworks provide a scaffolding for exploring seven capabilities that change-makers can hone to build their capacity to steward transformation by being inspired by the future.

Archetypal characters guide readers through the concepts and practices of foresight throughout the book. The sailor embodies the spirit of exploration and adaptability, navigating uncertainty with courage and resilience. The gardener encourages a long-term perspective, nurturing the seeds of change and fostering a sense of stewardship, interdependence and indivisibility of the ecosystem, working with predictable cycles of change and yet at the mercy of nature and forces outside of her control. The jester challenges assumptions and disrupts conventional thinking, reminding us to embrace playfulness and creativity, but can have an anarchic and subversive streak too. As author, I relate to, and rely on, the archetype of the weaver. Her role is to emphasise the interconnectedness of ideas, help unify the archetypes in service of the reader, and interlace diverse insights from many different people into a cohesive narrative. What they all have in common is the collective nature of their craft, the role of experience to unify the science and art of their practice, and the importance of bringing the hand, heart and head to bear on their work. And by analogy, I hope to help communicate and share with the reader some of the more intangible and invisible – yet vital – qualities of the craft of foresight.

Where have the insights come from

The book draws upon SOIF’s experience from the past thirteen years of working with innovative changemakers using foresight, around the world. We have developed an intergenerational fairness assessment applied by a President, Parliament, in universities and communities; piloted national strategy for next generations; developed a toolkit for integrating foresight into higher education institutions; supported an emerging community of incredible Next Generation Foresight Practitioners; we have trained over 1000 emerging leaders from different countries and run multiple projects and programmes. This collective experience has provided unique perspectives and many case studies – and we have learnt collaboratively to surface common ingredients of good practice and made an attempt to codify first through the annual collective learning experience that is our SOIF retreat and now in this book. But the community also forms the basis of our field and movement building strategy that is core to achieving our vision that all communities can tap into the power of collectively imagining and shaping their own futures. We hope the work of these communities – the source of stories and evidence for the book – illustrate the practice and inspire you to have a go.

Throughout that journey, we have been increasingly focused on the governance question. We were invited into the room where the Future Generations legislation was signed in Cardiff, wrote the OECD DAC Annual report first chapter on foresight, worked to integrate foresight into the 2014 UN Chisinau Declaration in the lead up to the SDGs, and since then supported thinking around how foresight and long-term thinking are key to addressing major global challenges as a key dimension of policymaking, including writing the UN Committee of Experts in Public Administrations’ Guideline Principles for Strategic Planning and Foresight. Especially in the last few years, we have been focused on the danger of foresight being applied technocratically in the policymaking and business community: as a tool for technical efficiency and de-risking current plans and understanding of the world, rather than as an approach for participatory coalition-building with supportive leaders aiming for intergenerationally fair and transformed outcomes. The Foresight Prism came out of these exchanges from 2020 onwards. And the Whirlpool emerged in 2022 in response to the call for clarity from growing numbers of foresight novices confused at the different ways and levels in which the same term “foresight” was being used in the policy world.

SOIF has worked with lots of different movements and sectors, in many different countries and communities around the world, with citizens and governments – but the focus has always been on implementation and action. So the book is a collection of implementation insights from a community, in service of the community.

The book is mostly focused on helping you, the reader, apply the work to your community, organisation and work by taking you through the three levels of the whirlpool, with a focus on the systemic level – and providing guidance on applying approaches and tools using the head, heart and hands. It does however, also explore in depth: why this is a critical moment to be a transformative steward; the ways in which the strategic foresight field has been changing to meet this moment; the challenges of writing a Gaia story – as a book that relies on connecting many different observations and experiences from different movements and people; and outlines some ideas for future focus and progression of the field.

And why is Future-Inspired Transformative Stewardship important NOW?

The Declaration on Future Generations was adopted by 193 countries in the UN unanimously and without dissent – a remarkable feat for a process that was fraught with challenges to begin with. It was a testament both to the co-facilitator Ambassadors’ skill as well as the realisation from other countries that indeed this was a time for hope, for creating better futures for their children and “to seize the opportunity that present generations possess to leave a better future for generations to come and to fulfil our commitment to meet the demands of the present in a way that safeguards the needs and interests of future generations, while leaving no one behind.” It makes for interesting reading. The action and implementation measures include “a whole-of-government approach to coordination, including at the national and local levels, on the assessment, development, implementation and evaluation of policies that safeguard the needs and interests of future generations.” Implementation of this commitment alone in governments would be nothing less than revolutionary.

So we are at a catalytic moment. In the riptide of the 2020s, the Declaration can be a defining moment – a northstar – for connecting often lonely changemakers wherever they are. Whether early adopters in governments, civil society, businesses, officials, media, schools, communities, they – you – can be part of a unifying movement for the wellbeing of current and future generations. Indeed the work SOIF has been privileged to witness over the past year – from the Kenyan Caucus of the Future, to intergenerational conversations about financing for development in the G20, to the Cameroonian new Future Generations Commissioner in the Mbessa kingdom, to emerging networks of cities across 4 continents connecting to intergenerational fairness, to New Zealand’s long-term insights briefings, and 10 year olds imagining more hopeful futures – shows the depth of desire and activation that is possible.

But – as we see above – using foresight only as a tool at best will lead to incremental results. And yet, even when institutionalised well, the work is difficult and risky – it is mostly poorly resourced, and often easy to back away from as “too hard”. This is a recipe for co-option, futures-washing and performative adoption. Key to activating the potential of the DFG is to ensure that foresight and future generations thinking is done well. It is important to maximise learning and early impact, minimise reinventing the wheel and falling into the same traps – and build solidarity, language and norms about the value and the practice of adopting and applying foresight transformatively at scale. So all change-makers can connect to the practice of stewarding transformation by being inspired by the future.

What you can do

Join us on this future generations journey…

In our experience, many people are already doing parts of this work intuitively. So let’s do it together! You can find a community of practice, share your insights, pick up some useful language and tools and approaches, and connect with other early adopters in different domains. More practically, here are some suggested immediate next steps:

• Find solidarity and mutual support across the community: Reach out and join the Pioneers and Pledge networks; and access resources including by downloading the DFG Implementation handbook and other toolkits (intergenerational, policy, educationalist, youth, etc).

• Assess where you are and reach out to allies: whether you are a public official, politician, civil society activist, citizen, business person, journalist, academic – use the Foresight Governance Prism Assessment to map out current pockets of good practice. You can start building a coalition of early adopters across the community who could be interested in establishing a movement in your country or community. Why not hold a DFG implementation event?

• Read the book: I am looking for initial readers – please reach out via email and I would love your thoughts on the content.

• Share your stories: if you would like to share your work and innovations, we would love to amplify, connect and make them part of this collective story.

Many of us feel very physically and painfully caught in the middle of today’s “rip-tide”. For some, it is a disorienting time where it can feel difficult to know which way is up or what to do to escape. After all, Martin Luther King did not only say (as we have been reminded a lot in the last week) “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice” but also that “we are moving into a world of catastrophic change and calamitous uncertainty.” Finding a sense of direction and agency is challenging when it’s hard to see past apparent catastrophe and calamity.

But there is an inspiring sense of hope, determination, and community among our fellow travellers. I have seen remarkable reframing, opportunities flourish, and change unlocked at an incredible speed. The Vikings used Iolite – a gemstone that finds sunlight even through the heaviest cloud cover – to navigate in any weather. Let’s hold the Wellbeing of Current and Future Generations as our Iolite, guiding us as we steward transformation in our individual communities, all while joining a global movement. Whether we are navigating vast oceans or cultivating landscapes for future growth, let’s be sure to keep the spirit of the jester alive—embracing playfulness and joy along the way.

Playing With Time: a preview

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