Teaching about the Future was awarded first prize in the “methodology and practice” category in this year’s Association of Professional Futurists “Most Significant Futures Works” competition.
This textbook summarizes the Ho
uston Foresight program curriculum in a comprehensive yet readable fashion. We use it as the text for our “Introduction to Foresight” course as well as providing it to those who take our week-long certificate course.
The book is organized into three parts:
- Part One, Understanding, contains the conceptual backdrop to thinking about the future.
- Part Two, Mapping, describes how to construct forecasts of potential future outcomes or alternative futures.
- Part Three, Influencing, explores how to take action to shape the future.
Individual topics range from the basics of scanning, forecasting, visioning, and planning to social change, systems thinking, and alternative perspectives.
It is an honor to have professional colleagues recognize our work. Among the comments from the judges:
- “The book represents a milestone in academia generally by successfully ‘bridging the gap’ between theory and practice.”
- “Grounded in many years of practice, Teaching about the Future frames the futures field beautifully. The book’s structure and style render the material eminently accessible to a variety of audiences.”
The awarded was presented at the APF reception in Orlando on July 12. Andy Hines
