After rising from the ashes of the Second World War, many countries in the industrialised world experienced an epoch of long-term growth and stability, but instead of preparing for the future, the predominant mode was to live as if there was no tomorrow. Individuals, firms and nations borrowed with abandon, not realising how overconsumption, the absence of ecological awareness and cultural decay gradually undermined the foundations of future well-being. Small fissures in the cultural, economic, political and ecological fabric widened to cracks; cracks broadened to crevices. During the 21s century, the crevices are about to expand to tectonic faults, unleashing forces in society comparable to earthquakes and eruptions of volcanoes. To understand this complex process and its implications for life on this planet, we jointly undertake a mind-opening transdisciplinary journey that takes us back in history and forward to the future. The main emphasis of this course is not on apocalyptic scenarios, but on the question how we can individually and collectively contribute to regenerative futures.

Course World Futures starts with a “big picture” survey of key macro trends that shape the 21st century in areas such as environment, energy, agriculture, nutrition, architecture, transport, health, psychology, demography, technology, media, economics, politics, and education. As macro trends are interdependent, it is not sufficient merely to make a list of trends. We need to train ways of thinking that grasp causal linkages. In this course, we explore why these macro trends arose, how they evolved, how they might further develop in the future, and how they relate to the evolution of consciousness and culture.

The mainstream educational system, with its emphasis on hyperspecialisation, neglects integrative ways of thinking and other critical competences for understanding causal linkages across fields, and for engaging meaningfully with the Great Transition in the 21st century. One of the key capacities is “future imagination” and the related process of “learning from the future”. In this course, participants imagine vision-to-action cycles guided by wisdom, leading to projects that will continue after the course ends.

The main aim of this course is to stimulate personal development and imaginative capacities in ways that improve our readiness for the future, not only in the sense of “preparation” for possible scenarios of world development, but also in the sense of active co-creation of desirable futures. The course inspires participants to develop authentic ways of being as a basis for healthy interventions in the world. The course integrates concepts and practices from fields like system innovation, nnovation ecosystems, social labs, transition management, cultural dynamics, complex adaptive systems, transformative leadership, integral development, regenerative design and future design.

Although we will touch on possible future dystopian scenarios, the course will not emphasise possible catastrophes. Instead, we spend most of our time and creative energies developing practicable visions of a thriving society for the future, with concrete projects to support it. Participants will imagine scenarios of cultural, societal and environmental renewal and they will ask: how can I/we contribute to these scenarios? During the course, they will take the first (or next) steps to realise their visions.

Hodnocení studentů AR 2025/26

Hodnocení studentů AR 2024/25

Hodnocení studentů AR 2023/24