‘Futures of Technologies’ is the 25th international Futures Conference of Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Academy, University of Turku. It is co-organised together with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.
The conference will aim to generate multidisciplinary, stimulating and critical discussions concerning futures of technologies. The event promotes networking between people interested in futures issues from different backgrounds and perspectives.
The conference program will consist of keynote lectures, parallel sessions and participatory workshops. The event will be organised onsite in Turku. Conference starts on Tuesday 10 June 2025 and continues until Thursday 12 June.
Welcome to Turku!
https://futuresconference2025.com/about/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Futures Conference 2025 focuses on the futures of technologies, their development, importance, role and risks as a driver of social change. What are the effects of social and environmental changes on technological development and vice versa?
The conference will focus on question like how can organisations and societies proactively manage the dual role of technology both as a solution and a source of new societal dilemmas; how can AI and other technologies contribute in advancing the scientific discipline and innovative approaches to technology within futures studies and foresight; how to perceive and rethink the linkages between novel technologies and policy-making; and how to reconstruct innovation policies in an era of pervasive technological changes.
Technology often emerges both as a solution to and a source of new societal dilemmas. ‘Mutual shaping of socio-technical transformation’ refers to the idea that technological and societal changes influence and shape each other in a reciprocal manner.
Futures studies has emphasised envisioning multiple, competing preferable futures and recognising that the future is not predetermined but shaped by our collective choices. Our choices will also lead to impacts, calling for ex-ante impact assessment of our technological futures. Assessing the potential effects of technologies before they are fully implemented, we can better foresee and mitigate negative consequences while enhancing positive outcomes. This proactive approach to foresight enables societies to navigate the uncertainties of technological innovation more effectively. In the industrial context, the pursuit of competitiveness through the adoption of new technologies underscores the necessity for stronger integration of foresight into management practices in both strategic and tactical level.
Policy-making, especially in technology and innovation policies, are connected in multiple ways to technology development. Recently, there has been multiple calls from various actors to ‘reboot’ innovation system policies and to rethink the linkages between novel technologies and policy-making. Thus, there is a need to scrutinise and reconstruct different aspects of the ‘new innovation policies’ in the context of new pervasive technologies.
The ‘Futures of Technologies’ conference will create a cross-sectoral platform where participants can meet, share, and discuss these issues. The conference program will consist of plenary lectures, parallel paper and panel sessions as well as participatory workshops. The conference will aim to generate multidisciplinary, stimulating and critical discussions that promote networking between people interested in futures issues from different backgrounds and perspectives.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2025: Futures of Technologies – Mutual Shaping of Socio-Technical Transformations,
10–12 June 2025, Turku, Finland
Chair & Invite Session: Futures in action ¨
Time: Thursday 12 June at 15.00–16.30
Room: GOTO 31
Chair: Michel Saloff-Coste
Futurs in action (wiley 2025) ¨
Carine Dartiguepeyrou – Michel Saloff-Coste
International Foresight Research Network, France & Université Catholique de Lille, France
Futures in Action: Strategic Anticipations and Deployments in Organizations Facing the Future
Edited by Carine Dartiguepeyrou & Michel Saloff-Coste, and published by ISTE / Wiley in November 2024, this book is a vital resource for organizations navigating an increasingly unpredictable world. Clocking in at approximately 256 pages, this collective work provides a comprehensive guide to proactive future-building by bridging the gap between strategic foresight theory and its practical application.
What the Book Covers
The book is structured into three distinct parts, offering a holistic view of strategic anticipation:
- Part 1: The Prospective Mindset lays the groundwork by introducing fundamental concepts, methods, and approaches to futures thinking. It emphasizes the importance of a long-term vision, the detection of weak signals, and the crucial roles of values and imagination in shaping the future.
- Part 2: Case Studies from Organizations brings theory to life with real-world examples of foresight in action across various sectors. You'll find insights into how organizations in tourism manage uncertainty, how media companies are reconfiguring journalistic practices in the age of AI, and how public institutions and academia are experimenting with participatory foresight tools. Each case study details methodologies and provides actionable insights.
- Part 3: Scenarios and Strategic Lessons delves into strategic scenario building around critical themes like post-COVID futures, low-carbon transitions, and alternative civilizational models. This section offers valuable lessons on shock management, discontinuity, and leadership in uncertain times.
Key Concepts You'll Learn
Futures in Action highlights several core concepts essential for effective future-building:
- Consciousness of the Future: Developing an anticipatory awareness and fostering collective resilience.
- Operational Foresight: Implementing structured frameworks—framing, exploring, designing, and deploying—to effectively conduct futures work.
- Collective Mobilization: Utilizing foresight to cultivate a shared vision, enhance engagement, and achieve strategic alignment within an organization.
- Scenarios as Tools for Navigation: Leveraging scenarios to empower leaders in making informed decisions amidst volatility.
Who Should Read This Book?
This book is an invaluable resource for a diverse audience, including:
- Foresight professionals, strategists, and public administrators
- Innovation leaders, consultants, and academics
- Change agents involved in transformation initiatives
- Any organization committed to navigating long-term challenges and seizing opportunities
Why This Book Matters
As the key quote from the book states, "Foresight helps to rally players around a common vision, influence strategic decisions, and inspire innovation and organizational transformation." This book doesn't just discuss anticipating the future; it provides a practical roadmap for acting on it collectively and strategically. By blending methodology with real-world practice, it demonstrates how various organizations can embed foresight into their governance and innovation processes, enabling them to shift from a reactive stance to a proactive one.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Futures, the great turn (book Wiley, 2023) •
Time: Thursday 12 June at 13.00–14.30
Room: TEATRO
Chair: Pasi Keski-Pukkila
Futures, the great turn (book Wiley, 2023) •
Carine Dartiguepeyrou – Michel Saloff-Coste
International Foresight Research Network, France & Université Catholique de Lille, France
Global Synthesis: Futures: The Great Turn (2023)
Executive Overview
"Futures: The Great Turn" represents a comprehensive examination of civilizational transformation through the lens of futures studies, offering a transnational perspective on how humanity might navigate the critical turning point of our era. Edited by Carine Dartiguepeyrou and Michel Saloff-Coste, this 2023 work challenges conventional approaches to foresight by embracing cultural diversity and ethical considerations in imagining desirable futures.
Core Conceptual Framework
The Great Turn Paradigm
The central thesis revolves around "the challenge of the great turning point of our civilization," which demands liberation from existing prejudices to "imagine and build desirable futures" through an inherently "ethical and prospective" process. Futures : The Great Turn by Michel Saloff-Coste (2023, Hardcover) for sale online | eBay This framing positions our current historical moment as a critical juncture requiring fundamental shifts in how we conceptualize and prepare for the future.
Pluralistic Futures Methodology
The work operates on the foundational principle that "there are many futures, not just one" and correspondingly "many ways to conceive and practice foresight." Futures: The Great Turn - Carine Dartiguepeyrou, Michel Saloff-Coste - 9781394225750 - E-book | Krisostomus This multiplicity approach rejects deterministic forecasting in favor of exploring diverse scenarios and methodological approaches, reflecting the complexity of our interconnected world.
Structural Architecture
Epistemological Foundation
The book begins with "Epistemological Outlines" that establish the theoretical groundwork for understanding foresight as both science and art. Chapter 1, "Foresight and Civilization," explores the relationship between unpredictable futures and civilizational dynamics, examining how media perspectives shape our understanding of change and identifying key megatrends that influence foresight epistemology.
Cultural and Temporal Trajectories
Chapter 2, "Cultures and Trajectories," delves into how different cultural contexts shape future-oriented thinking, providing the framework for the book's transnational approach to futures studies.
Global Perspectives Integration
Transnational Scope
The work "proposes different cultural and ethical views on civilizational transformation by offering a rare, transnational panorama of the visions of the future in a European, American and Chinese context." This tri-continental approach recognizes that future-building cannot be divorced from cultural contexts and value systems.
Ethical Imperative
The emphasis on ethics throughout the work suggests that futures studies must grapple with questions of desirability, not merely possibility. The editors position foresight as an inherently moral endeavor that requires careful consideration of values and outcomes.
Methodological Innovation
Complexity Navigation
In our "complex, uncertain and geopolitically transforming world, we must be open to the diversity" of perspectives and approaches. Futures: The Great Turn - Carine Dartiguepeyrou, Michel Saloff-Coste - 9781394225750 - E-book | Krisostomus This acknowledgment of complexity drives the book's methodological pluralism, suggesting that no single approach to foresight can adequately address the multifaceted challenges of civilizational transformation.
Media and Communication Dynamics
The inclusion of media perspectives in examining foresight recognizes the crucial role of communication technologies and narrative frameworks in shaping collective future consciousness.
Scholarly Positioning
Academic Integration
As part of the "Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Management: Innovation and Technology" series (Volume 18), the work bridges academic rigor with practical application, positioning futures studies within broader discussions of innovation and technological change.
Expert Collaboration
The editorial partnership between Carine Dartiguepeyrou, "a political scientist and independent futurist" collaborating with the Department of Foresight at Université Catholique de Lille, and Michel Saloff-Coste, "Director of Foresight at the Université Catholique de Lille" and organizational advisor, Amazon.com: Futures: The Great Turn (Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Management: Innovation and Technology, 18): 9781786308665: Dartiguepeyrou, Carine, Saloff-Coste, Michel: Books represents a fusion of independent scholarly perspective with institutional expertise.
Contemporary Relevance
Civilizational Crossroads
The timing of this 2023 publication positions it within contemporary discussions about global challenges including climate change, technological disruption, geopolitical realignment, and social transformation. The "Great Turn" concept captures the sense of living through a historical inflection point.
Practical Application
Beyond theoretical exploration, the work appears oriented toward actionable insights for building "desirable futures," suggesting practical applications for policymakers, organizational leaders, and civil society actors.
Synthesis Conclusion
"Futures: The Great Turn" emerges as a significant contribution to contemporary futures studies by advocating for a culturally inclusive, ethically grounded, and methodologically diverse approach to civilizational foresight. The work's transnational perspective and emphasis on the "great turning point" position it as both a diagnostic tool for understanding our current historical moment and a prescriptive framework for navigating toward more desirable futures.
The book's integration of epistemological rigor with cultural sensitivity, combined with its practical orientation toward "building" rather than merely predicting futures, represents a mature evolution in futures studies that acknowledges both the complexity of global challenges and the diversity of human responses to uncertainty. As such, it serves as both an academic resource and a practical guide for those engaged in the critical work of civilizational transformation.
