Plurality of Perspectives (Back to the Futures #6)

This month reminded us how vital it is to hold space for difference.

May has been hectic, in the best way. Four conferences in four weeks took us from Copenhagen to Leipzig, Lisbon, and back again (this time for a half-Japanese digital innovation event) to Copenhagen. Along the way, we met people reshaping everything from democratic systems and AI tools to cultural narratives and financial flows.

We spoke with global investors rethinking impact, visionaries building futures once confined to sci-fi, and civic actors navigating a new wave of securitization in liberal democracies. At Future Days, we explored symbiotic futures through zine-making. At Rulebreaker, we reflected on how foresight must evolve. Each encounter challenged us to see the world differently.

We’ve also been building. The development of the experimental Global Futures Barometer has highlighted how expectations of the future vary dramatically across borders. In conversations and collaborations, we’ve learned new methods, reframed assumptions, and expanded our own understanding of what foresight can—and must—become.

One thing remains clear: people are still our greatest hope for better futures. But it’s not about one way or one vision, it’s about the many. To get there, we need to embrace that plurality, listen with intent, and keep pushing the boundaries of how we think, act, and co-create.

Let’s get into it.

LOOKING BACK

📌 Future Days 2025 (Lisbon) At this year's festival, we co-hosted a zine-making unconference on Symbiotic Futures with Andreas Korntved from the Danish Design Center. With designers, artists, and technologists, we explored alternative modes of governance, care, and creativity, and the power of the zine as a format to amplify marginalized voices.

📌 Rulebreaker Future Congress (Leipzig) Mathias took the stage to explore how strategic foresight is shifting, from boardrooms and reports to more participatory, creative, and transformative approaches. He highlighted how foresight needs to be reimagined as a muscle and mindset.

📌 Digital Innovation Conference (Copenhagen-Japan) We contributed to the Digital & Social Innovation Conferences, a bilateral innovation summit between Denmark and Japan. Our talk focused on urban wellbeing, systemic innovation, and how to ensure digital transformation is human by intention and digital by design.

📌 Copenhagen Democracy Summit For the second year running, we hosted a Democratizing Futures Lab, this time with 15 emerging entrepreneurs from Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia. In partnership with DemAI, we explored the role of anticipation and participation in future democracies, and how to counter rising authoritarian trends.

📌 ConsilioCircles on AI & Transformation In collaboration with ConsilioNexus, we facilitated three closed sessions for business leaders across Denmark. The themes: AI, disrupted supply chains, and how to make strategic choices under pressure. Foresight was used as a tool to align near-term actions with long-term direction.

📌 Megatrends Webinar Recap Missed our May 8 session? No worries, the recording is live. We shared the thinking behind the Framework, the new PRISM tool, and how to use megatrends to inform strategy. Watch here

📌 Futures of Impact Investing Interviews continued across regions, from Southeast Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa. The work is helping surface diverse views on systemic investing, risk, and the next generation of metrics and mechanisms.

📌 New ANTICIPATE Advisory Board We have announced 2/3 of our new Advisory Board, comprising sharp minds from foresight, strategy, and systems innovation. They’ll help guide ANTICIPATE into its next phase of growth and experimentation. Final member to be announced next week.

📌 AKA Entrepreunership Programme Mathias returned as an alumni speaker to the Akademikernes Startup Growth program, the very one that helped him launch ANTICIPATE nearly two years ago. Sharing his founder journey, he reflected on lessons learned, breakthroughs, and the power of hindsight.

📌 Photography as Parallel Practice Lisbon also offered a pause for reflection through the lens, literally. Mathias visited MAAT to see Jeff Wall’s "Time Stands Still" exhibition. Photography, like futures thinking, is about perspective. Observing. Framing. Letting time unfold.

📌 Wishful Thinking and Strategic Blind Spots In a new post, we explore how hope can cloud judgment—and how strategic foresight helps us surface the uncomfortable questions we often avoid. When we assume things will stay the same, we miss the signals of change. Read the post

📌 Reflections from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit This year’s Summit asked tough questions: not just how to defend democracy, but how to renew it. Insights from leaders, entrepreneurs, and activists showed the importance of relevance and resilience.

📌 Global Futures Barometer (Beta Build) We’re developing a new platform to compare and explore future perceptions across countries and regions, drawing on over 15 existing barometers and surveys. Launching later this year. Sneak peek

LOOKING AHEAD

📌 ANTICIPATE Turns Two We’re celebrating two years of building, learning, and growing. Join us in Copenhagen on July 1 for a special gathering, details to follow. Theme: Breakthrough > Breakdown.

📌 ConsilioCircle: Supply Chains & Strategy Our next and final session before the summer dives into global supply chains. This fall, we return with new topics like Megatrends, Cybersecurity, and AI futures.

📌 Podcast Conversations Mathias will appear on several podcasts in the coming month, diving into meaningful change, driving futures thinking, and the role of passion in building resilient strategies.

📌 Impact Investing: Final Phase With interviews for our foresight study complete, we’re now connecting the dots across regions and themes. Expect sharp insights and new frameworks to emerge soon.

📌 Futuresstorm Article in Compass Our method for kickstarting foresight—Futuresstorm—will be published soon in the APFs own Compass Magazine. Inspired by the Futures Triangle, reimagined to be more dynamic and participatory.

📌 Advisory Board Launch Our first session lands in late June. We'll align on strategic priorities across three timeframes: Now, Next, and North Star.

📌 Summer as Synthesis Time With many seeds planted over spring, summer offers a chance to reflect and focus. One priority: launching the ANTICIPATE Academy, a learning space for foresight in action.

📌 Collaborations & Residencies Looking for a futurist-in-residence or fresh outside perspectives? The summer come with a few open slots. Let’s talk.

SIGNAL OF THE MONTH: When Conspiracy Theorists Uncover... Nothing

In this piece (in Danish) from Zetland, conspiracy theorists uncover… nothing. When all evidence is laid out, the conspiracy collapses. It’s a fascinating look at how belief systems persist, and what it takes to challenge them. For us, it connects to our Blurring Realities megatrend: how truth becomes personal, and how identity can override facts. Worth a read: Zetland article

RECOMMENDATIONS

For those seeking big ideas and plural perspectives:

• Aeon – Essays, philosophy, and deep reflections on the human condition from leading thinkers.

• Works in Progress – Practical optimism meets rigorous analysis—insights on science, technology, and institutions.

• Noema – Future-focused cultural journal exploring geopolitics, AI, ethics, and planetary challenges.

• Arts & Letters Daily – A curated feed of provocative essays, critiques, and commentary on arts, literature, and ideas.

• Farsight – Futures publication from our good friend at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, blending insights, thought pieces and cases studies for how to do foresight.

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT

Our Talks page has been refreshed with new topics, formats, and examples from recent keynotes, panels, and workshops. Explore what we offer, and what we’ve been up to.

Back to the Futures is your monthly glimpse into what we’re doing at ANTICIPATE. If you’d like to collaborate, bring foresight into your work, or just stay more plugged into the futures space, we’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, stay curious.

—The ANTICIPATE Team