My visit

The point of my visit is to make the future more understandable and less scary. We will talk about what constitutes the future. What do we think is going to happen? How can we be prepared?

The future can seem as a distant and vague concept that many of us are aware of, but rarely give much thought. This uncertainty might for some, come with anxiety and fear. But - the future is a playground for us to exercise our creativity and learn to build empathy and optimism for our tomorrow.

I will also show and tell my story as an immigrant kid, who’s been around the world, explaining why and how I became a futurist, and what kind of job it is. I will challenge the students to be openminded and curious about how education and jobs might be different in the future.

In our talk of the future, we will also discuss and explore possibilities outside of planet earth – what will happen in space? Will it finally be possible to live on Mars? Will anyone be able to travel in a spaceship?

Activity

The activities as well as the level of difficulty will vary depending on the grades and ages.

I will demonstrate different kinds of ‘thinking tools’ as an exercise for the students to imagine what could happen in the future. We will discuss “What if” questions, to make the students think more creatively about their own future and what and who they can become.

Exploring the universe further, we can also do an exercise where the students in groups will make a short presentation of what would be necessary to create a community on Mars in the future. I will show examples of similar projects I have made with students.

Subjects

• The future
• Abstract thinking
• Environment
• Space