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I was fortunate to spend last week with my University of Houston Foresight friends in Paris at the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) 50th anniversary conference. The main event for us was being awarded the world’s first accreditation of a Foresight graduate program. This is a very important milestone for the development of our field. We are slowly but surely doing what we can to build awareness and our credibility. The WFSF has been a mainstay on the academic side of foresight and was the ideal candidate to offer the accreditation service (NOTE: they were founded a year before us; we will celebrate our 50th in 2025 … ya, don’t check the math). The professional association, the APF, was founded 20 years ago, and about 7 years ago the Foresight Competency Model was developed. We’ve also had three editions of the Knowledge Base of Futures Studies published, in the 1990s, 200os and most recently in 2020. These are examples of important developments in the building of our field.
In terms of field-building, what was really exciting to me was the spirit of the Houston community. Eighteen students and alums self-organized and made the trip to Paris to support the program. A cadre — Juli Rush, Heather Benoit, Sarah Wheeler, and Jeremy Wilken — stepped in to volunteer and help manage the conference, which really reflected well on our program — thank you! Perhaps the most fun of all was the late night talks about the future in the group AirBNB flat organized by Juli.
I have to admit I was a little weepy when I accepted the award and got a raucous ovation. The spirit was just amazing. It’s that spirit, more than anything else, that will build our field and bring more high-quality foresight to the world. We are building a community of talented individuals who believe in academic rigor and producing high-quality futures work, and who also believe in sharing deep intimacy and community-building with one another. In closing. I would like to acknowledge the yeoman’s work of my predecessor and long-time Program Coordinator Peter Bishop — we would not be here without you!! — Andy Hines
For more LinkedIn posts from the UH Foresight Community attending the 2023 WFSF Conference:
Andy Hines, Mina McBride, Abdulrahman Alsulaimi, Heba Alhadyian, Mushfiqa Monica Jamaluddin, Rich Erwin, Hauson Le, Heather D. Benoit Kampa, Ingrid Furtado, Jeremy Wilken, Emily Mudge, JT Mudge, David Geye, Nicci Obert, Sarah Wheeler, Timothée CHANUSSOT, Adam Cowart, John Sweeney, Dr. Derek Woodgate.
Congratulations for having your work recognized. You, your predecessors, and the UH have achieved much.