Planet B
Published 3. 10. 2022
Zuzana Harmáčková / Why Think about the Future?
The first public lecture of the Planet B program is a talk by environmental scientist Zuzana Harmáčková. All students and staff of UMPRUM as well as the general public are warmly welcome.
WHEN: October 3, 2022
WHERE: UMPRUM's main building, room n. 115
The lecture will be held in English.
Why Think about the Future?
Future Studies in research and practice
Contemporary politics and practice show that when looking for solutions for the upcoming crises, we tend to limit our imagination to the current state of affairs. However, the future that we seek solutions for will differ from the present. How? And how should we deal with the uncertainty that is integral to the future? Future Studies, a domain of research dedicated to the creation and analysis of possible future trajectories, can help us unpack these questions. Future scenarios help us consider longer time horizons, employ more radical forms of imagination, and connect ideas about the future with events and developments we can observe in the present. They help us make better decisions and shape the world around us here and now. The lecture will present concrete examples of future scenarios and the way they are created and deployed.
Zuzana V. Harmáčková is a researcher in future studies and socio-ecological resilience at the Global Change Research Institute CAS and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. In collaboration with experts, political representatives and the public, she works on the creation and analysis of future scenarios and sustainability pathways. She has been involved in the co-development of scenarios across various contexts, from African farmers to the British government or the Czech natural reserves.