Everything digital? What first sounded like a crazy idea became reality during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Renato Soldenhoff from Zürich University of the Arts talks about imagining alternatives and organising training in futures thinking. He also speaks about using art and improvisation to communicate on a different level and bringing people together to cooperate.

Technology plays a big part in how we imagine the future.

In this episode, Gül Akcaova, Lead Futurist at SURF in the Netherlands, talks about working with the future and technology, as well as how to approach the hype and different possibilities when thinking about new digital technologies like brain-computer interfaces and quantum communication.

Delphi is not only an oracle. In this episode, EUA’s Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik speaks to Toni Ahlqvist about how you use expert evidence in collective foresight processes.

Toni explains why universities should study the future as part of their role as societal knowledge providers. He shares his insights from leading foresight process at the University of Turku and provides useful tips for newcomers to the field who wish to apply futures thinking for their own university’s strategy development.

Learn more about Delphi: Future Directions and Possibilities for the University – Report on Literature Review and Delphi Study: https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/179116

Foresight has been used to create TU Delft’s strategic agenda.

Beyond that, the university has established a foresight and innovation unit to assist and advise colleagues who want their work to have a perspective on the future. EUA’s Thomas Jorgensen talks to Gert-Jan Scheurwater about managing foresight, risks to universities and the specificities of technical universities.

Why are futures thinking and foresight important tools for universities? In this episode, EUA’s Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik talks to Chris Luebkeman about how they are used for strategy development at ETH Zurich.

Chris explains that when using foresight you need to show your university some tough love, look at the big picture and dare to ask difficult questions. He describes why the future is a strange place for most people to visit, what foresight has to do with storytelling and how to create common vocabulary for meaningful and authentic exchanges about the future across the university.

Speaker:

Chris Luebkeman, Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Anna-Lena, Deputy Director of Policy Coordination and Foresight, EUA