We’re constantly thinking about the future, such as when we do our weekly shop, when we book a restaurant for Sunday or when we plan our summer holidays. In order to make decisions about what to buy at the supermarket, which restaurant to choose or what kind of trip we fancy, we first need to imagine that future. What do I need for my packed lunches? What kind of cuisine: Japanese, Mexican, Italian? Do I prefer to unwind in nature or explore a city?
The future is neither distant nor uncertain and it’s shaped, day after day, by the choices we make. However, there’s one fundamental distinction: our personal future is built on individual decisions whilst our future as humans requires a collective vision to guide our decisions.
We spoke to six fellows from our community in order to imagine and envisage that collective future, a future that’s fair and sustainable for everyone. So today, on the occasion of World Futures Day, we’ve mapped out the steps that will lead us to the future we want.
According to Adriana Pablos, an architect, urban planner and lecturer at the University of South Florida, we’re currently in a "complex transition phase that requires a deeper and more sustained approach in order to make the necessary changes for the future we want". She gives the specific example of when she had the opportunity to study and work as an architect in Switzerland, where she discovered an architectural culture that’s oriented from planning and responsibility in terms of building and urban planning. That experience changed her perspective regarding cities: they’re spaces that must be looked after and managed so that they are prepared to change.
And that’s how we should approach the cities of the future, says Adriana. "Apart from being socially and ecologically sustainable and climate resilient, cities must also be able to grow, shrink or transform as needed”. To reach that point, our planning must include flexible, adaptable infrastructures, in particular in relation to housing, which makes up 80% of the urban fabric.
On our expedition into the future, if we were to putIris Batalha and Elisa Izquierdo,
behind the wheel they’d certainly have a clear idea of the direction to take: to bring science closer to society. Both are researchers and are also involved in education.
Iris is a senior researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and also Director of the Nanotherapeutics course at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Continuing Education. A champion of science, knowledge and gender equality, she warns that misinformation has serious consequences for global health, as happened during the pandemic with the anti-vaccine movement. "The COVID-19 vaccines were the first to use mRNA. Many people didn't understand it but the science behind lipid nanoparticles and mRNA wasn’t new; there just hadn’t been enough of an incentive to develop it commercially". Iris’s ideal future would be achieved by pursuing the potential of nanoscience to transform health but also, at the same time, by involving scientists in the public agenda and in policymaking.
Elisa completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education and is convinced of the transformative potential of education. Elisa envisions a future in which schools encourage inquiry-based learning, applying the scientific method (i.e. investigation) to find solutions to problems, thereby enabling students to develop critical thinking. But how is this achieved? By improving scientific literacy. "We have to stop teaching science merely as content and also explain the values of science: how it’s improved, how it’s validated, how it’s nuanced, how it’s refuted and how knowledge is built up within a community". Scientists have a common universe made up of a language, rules and a way of analysing the world. According to Elisa, students should also be invited to enter this universe from an early age.
If we look to the future, we can’t ignore the important role that’s going to be played by the internet: in fact, a large proportion of life is already carried out online. "We enter into contracts via email, we express feelings via chat rooms, we share moments on social media" says Joel Samper, although he prefers to be called Sam. In his PhD thesis in Portugal, Sam’s researching methods to make the exchange of messages online more secure. At present, the main challenge facing cybersecurity is to find tools to combat digital crime whilst still respecting people’s privacy.
When he imagines his ideal future, Sam envisions the acquisition of digital rights. "We’ll have more control over the personal data we share and will know what to do with the online presence of someone who’s died" he explains. Likewise, new tools will also emerge to protect these rights, such as "cryptocurrencies that will be secure against fraud and keep our transactions private, or a system for valid online voting" he adds.
Even so, some rights acquired in the offline world should be revisited. For Matilde João Mota, who is studying the role of women in the labour market and their economic activity in her PhD fellowship at the United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), there’s one key area to address in order to achieve a gender-equal future: namely, the work of care. "The extent to which men and women have equal access to parental leave is fundamental in order to shape patterns of care" argues Matilde. Indeed, the mandatory parental leave already in place in Europe has not only increased men's use of such benefits but has also blurred gender roles in the family.
In her ideal future, Matilde imagines more women occupying more of leadership positions. First, because it would be a fairer world and, second, because female leadership is beneficial: "Diverse leadership teams have been shown to improve transparency, incorporate ethical and social perspectives in decision-making and achieve a more solid financial performance" Matilda notes.
Mental health has been increasingly discussed over the past few years and this is a big step forward, but there’s still a long way to go. What’s missing in this area in order to achieve that ideal future?
Nieves Rodríguez, a fine arts student whose aim is to put art at the service of mental health, points to persistent challenges such as limited access to psychological services, prejudice and a lack of information about disorders such as anxiety and depression. She’s also concerned about the fragility of the progress being made in mental health since, at times of crisis, such issues are often put on the backburner. "Resources tend to prioritise more urgent matters" she warns.
To ensure a future with emotional wellbeing firmly centre stage, it’s crucial to include mental health as a priority in public policies and education. In fact, Nieves' goal is to become a teacher so she can implement art as a tool in schools and public spaces. "Subjects such as art and music enable students to express themselves, to channel their emotions and develop socio-emotional skills, which is vital for their growth and all-round education" explains Nieves.
Imagining the future means not only thinking about possible scenarios but also being committed to finding present-day solutions. The opinions of Adriana, Iris, Elisa, Sam, Matilda and Nieves remind us that the future we want doesn’t come about spontaneously but through planning, education, innovation and, most importantly, joint action. Be it designing more sustainable cities, improving scientific literacy, safeguarding digital rights, promoting gender equality or prioritising mental health, each goal represents a critical piece of the puzzle to achieve a fair, sustainable and shared future.
The message is clear: the future doesn’t come to us ready-made; we create it ourselves. But the most important thing is, as Sam points out, to remain calm and optimistic, especially in the face of doomsday scenarios. "Humanity has already passed some incredible stress tests and, after millions of years of being ‘tested’ by all kinds of trials and tribulations, we’re still here, still standing. We shouldn’t forget this. If each of us collaborates and does their part, we can overcome the challenges that lie ahead" he reminds us.
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