Creating a better future by first imagining it

LEADING international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future (FFTF) wants a “just and regenerative future” – and is using an approach that depicts three time horizons to help it do so.

“A just and regenerative approach means embracing the power of nature to renew and replenish itself, understanding that humans are a fundamental part of nature, and where universal human rights and people’s potential to thrive are realised and respected,” said Ariel Muller, managing director, Asia, at FFTF.

Such a just and regenerative future is the third of its “Three Horizons” framework, which was first developed by futures and systems practitioner Bill Sharpe as a practical framework for thinking about the future.

The framework enables FFTF to see three different timeframes at the same time:

• Horizon One represents the present: current problems and root causes that need to be tackled;
• Horizon Three is the desired “just and regenerative future”; and
• Horizon Two is the near-future innovation horizon, which depicts what will make a difference: how the world innovates such that it moves towards true transformation, instead of extending aspects of Horizon One.

“Creating a better future begins with the ability to imagine a better future,” Muller said. “We’ve used the 3 Horizons to help leadership teams assess how they might transform their business for the future context.”

For example, she added, FFTF is currently working with a business in the beef industry – helping it explore ways in which they might create value beyond selling beef, while still leveraging their natural assets, such as land, and capabilities.

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This collaborative futures thinking approach enables its customers to imagine the range of possible future trajectories, and then determine how it might navigate towards the future it prefers. “It’s a powerful process when done with a cohort of organisations that collectively want to move the dial on an issue,” Muller said.

FFTF also offers systems thinking, which is a means to explore what keeps a problem locked in place. “This requires holding the space to explore risks, opportunities and barriers to change to unlock what might be the next level of transformation.

“The Three Horizons is a great tool to have to spark conversations about the future. It enables people, whether individuals or organisational leadership teams, to consider how change from the past informs the current context, and to take a long-term view on how they want to create change.”