Escape dominant narratives about the future and embrace new possibilities for action in this Futures Literacy inspired course. Learn to envision futures, utilise creative friction, and leverage uncertainty as a resource through hands-on exercises and industry case studies.

UNESCO considers Futures Literacy as one of the most important leadership skills in the 21st century. As a part of CIFS efforts to democratise futures literacy, we are thrilled to offer a targeted futures literacy course hosted by the UNESCO Chair in Anticipatory Leadership and Futures Capabilities in collaboration with Hyper Island.

Using futures to inform the present expand_more expand_less

Participants will develop the ability to anticipate, negotiate, and respond to emerging future scenarios, enabling them to raise new questions, proactively explore possibilities, and inform decision-making and strategic planning in the present.

Divergent thinking expand_more expand_less

Participants will enhance their capacity to generate creative ideas and explore alternative solutions to complex problems, fostering innovation and adaptability in their approach to decision-making.

Systems thinking expand_more expand_less

Participants will acquire understanding of interconnected factors and systemic relationships, empowering them to identify myths, metaphors, root causes, anticipate unintended consequences, and devise holistic solutions.

Collective intelligence expand_more expand_less

Participants will cultivate collaborative skills and harness the collective wisdom of diverse teams, fostering inclusive knowledge creation processes and shared ownership of organizational goals and outcomes.

By the time you finish this course you should have acquired you’ll have acquired the following knowledge and skills, which you’ll be able to use right away in your work, or add to your resumé:

Gain the competence of being able to consciously understand the role that thinking about the future has in the present.
Be able to explore expected and desired futures, identifying underlying assumptions.
Employ creative friction and open up for novelty and innovation by exploring and re-evaluating existing futures, questioning them and creating new ones.
Increase preparedness for the changes ahead by using the Futures Literacy Labs to create awareness of non-linear futures, foster imagination, and stimulate learning from different alternative futures.

Nicklas is a Facilitator, Keynote Speaker and Board Member at the Copenhagen Institute of Futures Studies. He is also the current UNESCO Co-Chair in Anticipatory Leadership & Futures Capabilities, and holds a Faculty Position within Strategic Design and Management at the Parsons School of Design. Nicklas works to cultivate anticipatory capabilities for individuals and organisations through futures and foresight, and has practiced large scale strategic foresight and thought leadership projects for almost a decade. He speaks, writes, teaches, and advises on futures thinking with an aspiration to democratise futures literacy through arts, culture, and education.

Lovisa is a graduated architect from the Royal Danish Academy and has worked as a facilitator & advisor with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies since 2021. She engages in futures studies and foresight through explorative, speculative, and critical practices, and her work often lies at the intersection of research, storytelling, and futures literacy. She has been involved in futures and foresight projects mainly focusing on the future of urbanism, architecture, and design. Lovisa is always dedicated to democratize futures thinking through participation and to challenge current imaginaries about the future, to explore how futures can act as an aid for the imagination in various design practices and methods.

Thomas is an experienced and awarded organizational consultant and change facilitator, who works from a holistic perspective, and bases his work on establishing frameworks that support groups and individuals to learn and grow collectively. He has worked with teams and leaders, to increase their innovative capacities, and lead organizational transformation processes. Companies and organizations with whom Thomas has facilitated transformation programmes include Unilever, IKEA, Adidas, Google, Target, Swedbank, General Mills, Wyden&Kennedy, BBDO, DDB etc. Thomas is a graduated Kaospilot and holds an MA in Cultural and Creative Leadership from University of Portsmouth UK.

“It was very hands on, with many tools you can immediately start applying in your workplace. I valued the opportunity to discuss day-to-day situations with the community. Having had the time to work with the learnings for a few months after I finished the course, both the learnings and tools are enabling better teamwork for our team.”

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Anne Verdaasdonk

Senior Digital Producer at Etcetera

"I found the course to be highly experiential. I enjoyed the design of the journey, which was emotional and built on deep connections. It exceeded my expectations in every way, particularly as I didn’t know much about Hyper Island prior to joining. My experience helped to ‘validate’ the course/product for me and I was positively surprised."

Domenico Dargenio

Consultant at Dardo Consulting

"Before taking the course I had been interested in the subject and studied bits and pieces here and there, so it was luxurious to be able to just enjoy the ride and suck in all the information. Most of what I learned I use at work daily. The course was an awesome experience for me."

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Nina Enroth

Account Director and Change Consultant at Ellun Kanat

"Each chapter of the course was crafted in a very purposeful way. Going into this with a growth mindset was key because it allowed me to be totally open to new ideas and approaches. Regardless of how much experience another course member had, there seemed to always be something to learn from each other."

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Liam James

Copywriter, Voice Over Artist & Storytelling Strategist

Futures Thinking and Creativity

USE THE FUTURE TO RETHINK THE PRESENT

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES

Got questions?

What you will learn

Learning Outcomes

Immerse yourself in live networking with our
on-site cohorts!

MEET YOUR COURSE LEADERS

Nicklas Larsen

Lovisa Volmarsson

Thomas Reibke