Futures studies

About: Futures studies is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2996 publications have been published within this topic receiving 49505 citations. The topic is also known as: futurology & futurism.

A note on the classification of future-related methods

Abstract: If futures studies aims to become someday an autonomous field of research and application, it must prove that it contributes knowledge, methods, and viewpoints different from those distinctive of other already established fields. A futurist’s toolbox requires both collecting the methods that make futurists different from other academics and practitioners (without implying that futurists must limit themselves to those methods alone) and organizing those methods according to future-based criteria, that is, according to a futures literacy typology.

Applying student-generated theories about global change and energy demand

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how learning technology could be applied to the development of educational tools for global climate change. The task to be performed in an informed dialogue is to assess the causes and drivers for global climate change and to produce an improved basis of scientific understanding for the implementation of the climate protection targets suggested for each country. By character, this approach integrates the political and the scientific level. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies learning theories and options for educational technologies to socio-economic, technological, biospheric, political and scientific themes relevant to present climate change. Findings – Drivers, effects and subsequent measures are subject to highly nonlinear effects. Thus, the combination of a (scientific, fact based) “Global Change Data Base” and a (dialogic, communication based) discourse (in the spirit of “Surfing Global Change”) seems best suitable to produce solutions fo...

Technological trajectories and scenarios in seaport digitalization

Abstract: Digitalization has become a widely used term both in professional language and in scientific literature. It may be seen as a manifestation of technological progression which has been traditionally given a strong emphasis in theories of economic growth. The roots of digitalization are thus old, but the terminology has experienced rapid growth during the last decades. This paper focuses on the future prospects of digitalization in Finnish ports operating international trade and transports. In the case of transport, logistics, and ports the public sector has, mainly through ministries and offices focusing on economic development and employment, initiated numerous development programs with foresight ambitions. Commonly, these programs have a mid-range target setting referring to a 5–10-years time span into the future. The primary data is collected from two workshops (group interviews). As a result, the research identifies the main drivers and technologies that are significant for port digitalization. These are discussed in the context of three alternative scenarios: Digital supremacy; business as usual; and digital failure. These three scenarios are classified with SWOT (Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; Threats) and PESTEL (Political; Economic; Social; Technological; Environmental; Legal) frameworks. It is assumed that the actualized future development will follow the mid-sections of the scenarios depending on global trends in politics and trade that impact the supply and demand that underlie the need for transport.