Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to the study of the future.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes six foundational concepts (the used future, the disowned future, alternative futures, alignment, models of social change, and uses of the future), six questions (will, fear, missing, alternatives, wish, and next steps as related to the future) and six pillars (mapping, anticipating, timing, deepening, creating alternatives, and transforming), giving examples and case studies where appropriate.
Findings
In an increasingly complex and heterogeneous world, futures studies can help people to recover their agency, and help them to create the world in which they wish to live.
Originality/value
The paper integrates and builds on a variety of futures studies' concepts, ways of thinking and techniques and integrates them into a new approach.
Keywords
Citation
Inayatullah, S. (2008), "Six pillars: futures thinking for transforming", Foresight, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 4-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/14636680810855991
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Company
