The futures wheel

The science fiction author William Gibson said in the 1990s: “the future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed”. Some of the solutions required for building a better future might already exist in today’s small “future pockets”. This tool examines what would happen if such solutions became more common. At the same time, it helps to define the vision, or the view of the intended future. The tool is based on the Seeds of a Good Anthropocene project and the Future Wheels method.

Do the following

Choose an example solution that you want to review. You can use the examples identified in the Next era vision work (see the Materials section below).

Imagine that the example you choose is in common use. Write down on a note a description of a predefined operating model or service and place it in the middle of a flip chart. This is now a seed of change.

Think about the impacts that such a seed of change might have. You can make use of the “PESTEC” framework, i.e. separately think about the political, economic, social, technological and environmental impacts. Write down each impact on a separate note and paste the notes around the seed of change. They describe the direct impacts.

Next, consider what would follow from the impacts you listed, i.e. what the “impacts of the impacts” are. Write them down on notes and create an outer circle with them. They describe the indirect impacts.

If there is time, you can also add a third ring, to show what you think will follow from the indirect impacts. Similarly, you can think about the links between the impacts.

Finally, write a short story about the seed of change and its impacts.

Material

You can use the solutions below in the exercise, if you wish.

Links to articles compiling solutions:

• Ten ways to strengthen democracy around the world
• Ten fascinating initiatives in societal progress
• Top 10 initiatives in the fields of work and income