Foresight & capacity building

Futures Literacy

Meaning statusEstablishedSource recordDirect document linkedWhy these are different

Definition

Futures literacy is the capability, developed within UNESCO under Riel Miller, that allows people to better understand the role of the future in what they see and do. Being futures literate empowers the imagination and enhances the ability to prepare, recover, and invent as change occurs. UNESCO builds the skill through structured learning-by-doing Futures Literacy Laboratories.

References

UNESCOWhat is Futures Literacy? (the capability that allows people to better understand the role of the future in what they see and do; Futures Literacy Laboratories)

UNESCO definition and method

Eurac ResearchWorkshop with Riel Miller (UNESCO Futures Literacy pioneer; capacity to understand different kinds of futures and their uses)

origins and framing

Overview

What it means

People constantly use imagined futures — for prediction, planning, or reassurance — usually without noticing. Futures literacy makes those uses conscious, distinguishing probabilistic and optimisation-driven "futures" from open, exploratory ones, so decision-makers stop being trapped by a single expected tomorrow. In sustainability it counters short-termism and lock-in to business-as-usual scenarios.

How it is used

UNESCO and partners run Futures Literacy Laboratories with governments, cities, companies, and communities; the capability informs strategic foresight, anticipatory governance, and education for sustainable development.

Why it matters

Transformative change requires imagining futures that do not extrapolate the present; futures literacy treats that imagination as a learnable, universal skill rather than an expert technique.