The inaugural Dubai Future Forum took place on the 11th and 12th of October, in the striking setting of the Museum of the Future in the heart of Dubai’s business district. The organizer, the Dubai Future Foundation, are to be congratulated on assembling what they said would be “over 400 of the world’s top futurists, from 15 futurist organisations”, with the purpose “to exchange ideas, share insights, foresee challenges, innovate solutions, imagine opportunities, and initiate change”.

The four main themes are familiar from previous gatherings of futurists in various venues over the years: Scenarios for the future of the world, Mitigating Existential Risk, Value and Humanity, Hedging our Bets through Foresight. Other ambitions for the forum include “Restore nature”, “Reimagine health”, “Transform industries”, and “Unite humankind”.

Viewed positively, the gathering has the potential to transform the international coordination of futurists – people who aspire to practice skills of foresight. It could accelerate the migration of futurist energy from mere dialog to tangible actions in the world. Finally, it could raise the profile of foresight studies among politicians and other leaders from different areas of society.

This London Futurists, UK Node, will run with David Wood a webinar to feature a number of the participants from the Dubai Future Forum on October 15, 2022. They will share their views on the highlights of the Forum, issues arising that merit further attention, and whether, indeed, futurists after Dubai will never be the same again.

The panellists will be:

• Ibon Zugasti, member of the Board of Directors and Spain Node of The Millennium Project
• Catarina Tully, Director, School of International Futures
• Anders Sandberg, Senior Research Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute
• Bronwyn Williams, Foresight Lead, Flux Trends
• Brock Hinzmann, Chairman, Silicon Valley Node, The Millennium Project

The webinar will start broadcasting at 4pm UK time on Sat 15th Oct.

As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.

This event will be hosted on Zoom. To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1SyCetxeQ-q13nDwjepgxw

More information on https://www.meetup.com/london-futurists/events/288930299/?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share-btn_savedevents_share_modal&utm_source=linkedin

***

Update: watch the recording