Community & Collective Imagination (Back to the Futures #3)
Building better futures isn’t a solo effort—it’s a collective one. This month, community has been a recurring theme in our work. From exploring how organizations can embed foresight through Futurist-in-Residence, to the growing need for social imagination, to the ways we connect and collaborate across industries, the question is: how do we build the right conditions for futures thinking to thrive?
Two discussions stood out:
📌 Futurist-in-Residence – Why every organization should embed foresight into decision-making, ensuring they spot early signals, build futures fluency, and create more adaptive strategies. Read more
📌 The Imaginary Crisis – A growing deficit of social imagination is limiting our ability to create alternative futures. We can picture dystopias, but struggle to imagine better possibilities. How do we collectively reclaim imagination as a tool for change? Read more
With more people engaging in futures thinking than ever, we’re excited to welcome new followers and collaborators into the ANTICIPATE community. Whether you’re here for the first time or have been part of the journey for a while, we hope this space will continue to spark new ways of thinking, imagining, and shaping the futures.
We’re also looking forward to Future Days 2025, where we’ll be co-hosting an unconference session with DDC—diving into how futures can be co-created. More on that below!
Looking Back
📌 APA TREND REPORT & FUTURES OF CITIES
Thrilled to be part of the APA Trend Scouting Community, contributing signals and insights on the futures of urban life, community engagement, and foresight in city planning. The 2025 Trend Report for Planners is now out, offering a fresh perspective on emerging shifts in urban design, sustainability, and resilience.
📖 Download the report: here
📖 Explore ANTICIPATE’s work on Cities & Retail: here
📌 CULTURE CONNECTORS: A LOVE LETTER TO DENMARK
Our founder, Mathias Behn Bjørnhof, is part of the new program Culture Connectors contributing with a piece on Denmark’s cultural and societal shifts.
📌 INFORMAL FUTURES COMMUNITY MEET-UPS
We’ve been hosting informal meet-ups in Copenhagen for the past few months, bringing together futures thinkers, strategists, and innovators. These gatherings are part of a bigger effort to create a space for foresight practitioners to exchange ideas and collaborate. We are also looking to expand the reach.
📌 FUTURE DAYS 2025: UNCONFERENCE & ZINES
Excited to announce that ANTICIPATE will be partnering with DDC at Future Days—a global festival on the futures of urban life and equitable societies. Our session will use zine-making as a tool to explore symbiotic futures and democratize futures thinking.
📅 Join us in Lisbon, April 30 - May 2
📌 MEGATRENDS TALK: UAE INNOVATION MONTH 2025
We shared a sneak peek into our upcoming Megatrends framework, breaking down the biggest forces shaping the future. Covering 8 Megatrends + 24 Shifts, we’re laid out how these large-scale forces intersect, challenge assumptions, and create opportunities. More on Megatrends coming soon.
📌 NEW WORKSPACES: EXPANDING INTO BLOXHUB & REPUBLIKKEN
To match our evolving work, we’ve expanded into two new spaces in Copenhagen:
BLOXHUB – A central hub for urban innovation and sustainability.
Republikken – A creative space for collaboration and foresight work.
If you’re in Copenhagen, drop by for a coffee!
📌 LAUNCHED OUR THEMES PAGES
We’ve revamped our website for a clearer overview of what we do, spanning futures thinking across sectors.
📖 Explore ANTICIPATE’s themes here: link
Signal of the Month: Collective Power & The Year of Cooperatives
💡 2025 has been declared the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives.
In a world largely driven by competition and profit, cooperatives offer a different model—one built on shared ownership, fairness, and long-term value creation.
Why does this matter?
🔹 Cooperatives as an alternative model – Beyond traditional business structures, they prioritize collective decision-making and community-driven progress.
🔹 A response to economic inequality – Worker-led organizations like Mondragón (Spain’s largest cooperative network) show that businesses can be both profitable and equitable.
🔹 A model for the future of work – As AI disrupts industries, could cooperative structures be a way to create fairer economies?
How can shared ownership shape better futures?
Program Pitch: FUTURES SHAPERS
A foresight program for policymakers and engaged citizens
Futures Shapers is a new initiative, we are pitching to public institutions and organizations as an for strengthening critical thinking, futures literacy, and participatory governance. Focused around core pillars.
🔹 Empathy & Curiosity – Building skills to challenge assumptions and navigate uncertainty.
🔹 Engagement & Imagination – Creating space for new ideas and collective action.
🔹 Citizen Assemblies – Turning foresight into real-world democracy-led initiatives.
The goal is to re-engage people in democracy and its futures.
📖 Interested in bringing foresight into policymaking? Reach out to hi@anticipate.dk.
Looking Ahead
📌 Democracy Reimagined Lab – Co-hosting an event on World Futures Day in Copenhagen. Register here
📌 Visit(s) to Amsterdam – Working on sustainability and circular economy initiatives. Let us know if you want to have a coffee while we are in town.
📌 Talk for the European Council – Exploring Democrisis and futures thinking for democracy.
📌 Megatrends Framework – Finalizing our new approach to making megatrends actionable.
📌 Future Congress Leipzig – Presenting at Germany’s leading futures conference in May.
Upcoming Futures & Foresight Events for March
📅 World Futures Day – Young Voices 2025 | March 1
📅 Foresight Practitioner Conference 2025 | March 3-4
📅 Democracy Reimagined – Futures Literacy Lab | March 4
📅 SXSW 2025: Forge New Frontiers | March 7-15
📅 Hacks to the Futures – The Futures Festival | March 19
📖 See the full Futures & Foresight events calendar here: link
Back to the Futures is your monthly dose of foresight insights, highlights, and happenings from ANTICIPATE.
Thank you staying connected and being part of our informal, little community. We can't express our gratitude for all the people engaging with our content and work. We hope it perhaps even makes you imagine that things could be a little bit different and a little bit better.
See you in the futures!
