In This Issue:
Youth Summit Builds Public-Service Campaign
Pollution Reduces Rain in China
U.S. States Scramble to Balance Budgets
Gloomy Mood May Doom the European Union
Click of the Month: Timeline of Education 1657-2045
News for the Futurist Community
What's Hot @WFS.ORG
If you want something done, assign it to people who don’t know it can’t be done.
It took just one weekend for a group of 20 young people from across the United States to create a public-service campaign promoting a society that is more inclusive of individuals with disabilities. (The accomplishment is especially impressive when one considers how long it would take a typical organization to complete such a task.)
The National Youth Inclusion Summit took place January 8-10 at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Maryland, organized by the Including Samuel Project and led by filmmaker Dan Habib.
The teenage advocates hosted viewing parties of Habib's documentary about his son, “Including Samuel,” and then brought their insights and ideas to the Summit.
Working in small teams, participants ultimately created two videos that could be used in viral marketing campaigns: “I Am Norm” used the theme that everyone is different, so we are all normal. “Inclusion: It’s That Easy” dramatized a simple lunchroom scenario of kids noticing when someone is feeling left out.
The Including Samuel Project is a program of the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability. Groups participating in the Summit included the National Inclusion Project, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Kids Included Together, Girl Scouts of the USA, Victor Pineda Foundation, and VSA arts, with support from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation.
DETAILS: The Including Samuel Project
High levels of air pollution have reduced the amount of light rainfall in eastern China by almost 25% over the past 50 years, according to an international study supported by Sweden’s University of Gothenburg. The reduced rainfall negatively impacts agriculture and human health (not to mention the environment) in the most densely populated region in the country.
Excess smog, smoke, and airborne particles reduce the size of raindrops in the atmosphere. The smaller the water droplets, the harder it is for them to gather into rain clouds.
China’s population growth over the past century has contributed to an 800% increase in air pollution, according to the researchers. China is now the world leader in carbon-dioxide emissions.
SOURCE: University of Gothenburg
Learn how to build a better future along with a thousand futurists from around the world at the World Future Society’s 2010 conference in Boston, to be held July 8-10 at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.
In addition to an outstanding program of 150 speakers--such as eminent inventor Ray Kurzweil and Yale University ethicist Wendell Wallach--you’ll have the opportunity to hone your own futuring skills with a diverse selection of courses, ranging from an introduction to the field to advanced strategies in foresight, planning, and futures building.
The global economic recession has left most U.S. states focused primarily on balancing their budgets and generating revenue, the number-one legislative priority, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Collectively, the states had a nearly $146 billion budget gap at the end of 2009.
Other priorities for the states include controlling health-care costs while increasing coverage, lowering unemployment rates, making higher education more affordable, and addressing the costs of prisons while maintaining public safety and reducing recidivism.
The unexpected impacts of new technologies also have legislators scrambling for ways to better serve constituents. For instance, some states are now considering prohibiting drivers from texting and talking on cell phones and expanding the collection of DNA to all offenders and not just felons.
SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures
The rapid expansion of the European Union in the past decade parallels that of the United States just before the Civil War. In both cases, the unions seemed strong until the economic environment soured. Could the EU be headed for a civil war?
Perhaps not war, but “divorce” (civil or otherwise) may be imminent for Europe, claims the Socionomic Institute.
“Both unions appeared to be strong when markets were rising. But once stocks reversed, the stress of a bear market severed those bonds quickly,” explains study author Brian Whitmer, editor of Elliott Wave International’s EUROPEAN FINANCIAL FORECAST. “War eventually broke out among the U.S. states, and I believe that an equally perilous period is coming for the countries of the EU.”
COMMENT: Just as money problems often uncover long-buried grudges among married couples, leading to divorce, economic stressors may undo the bonds that European states have forged in recent decades. Perhaps "marriage counseling" in the form of proactive conflict resolution could help European leaders identify and resolve underlying tensions and avert the nightmare scenario of civil war.
SOURCE: The Socionomics Institute
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http://www.educationfutures.com/resources/timeline/
Education Futures celebrates its fifth anniversary by looking back at the history of education and forecasting the next 35 years.
"Utilizing many of the best resources for projecting futures for human capital development, this timeline presents a glimpse of the past, present, and plausible futures for education," states the site, developed by John Moravec, a faculty member of the University of Minnesota's Innovation Studies program.
Among the timeline's forecasts: New York City will close 80% of its public schools by 2023 due to shifts in demographics and competition from informal modes of learning. By 2032, teachers and faculty who refuse to upgrade their cognitive functioning will be asked to resign. By 2035, intelligent machines deciding to have children will lead to a "golden age" of nonhuman creativity.
* IS EGYPT TOO POOR FOR FORESIGHT? In an end-of-the-year op-ed for AL-AHRAM, economics futurist Ibrahim El-Issawy argues that futures research should not be considered a luxury but rather a priority in developing countries such as Egypt. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common, he notes. "A long list of future visions for developing countries exists, including, for example, India 2020, Malaysia 2020, and China 2050. Almost all development success stories have involved futures research of one sort or another. Good development requires good planning...." READ "Selecting a Better Tomorrow"
* GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE SITUATION ROOM: The latest venture by the Millennium Project is a situation room for deploying collective intelligence on climate science, energy, green technology, adaptation, mitigation, and integration of sustainable development and climate change. The project will develop new software and user interfaces to link networks of outstanding experts as a resource for helping the UN, governments, businesses, NGOs, and individuals to understand climate change and its potential impacts. DETAILS The Millennium Project http://www.millennium-project.org , http://www.mpcollab.org , or http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/presentations/Fact_Sheet_De...
* ORGANIZING FUTURIST INTEREST GROUPS: A special session devoted to organizing local futurist interest groups (FIGs) is now being planned for the World Future Society's annual meeting in Boston, July 8-10. The session will discuss what a local FIG can do for its participants and examine opportunities and challenges for keeping local groups vibrant. If you plan to attend, please help the planners tailor the session to your interests and needs. CONTACT Dave Stein, mailto:info@futuretakes.org
* SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE: Why support futures studies? Because it helps solve major world problems. In fact, good foresight regularly practiced can alleviate many of the most intractable problems, such as health care, hunger, resource shortages, and transportation issues. Many examples of futurism as problem solving are profiled in a special report by FUTURIST senior editor Patrick Tucker.
- READ SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE
- SUPPORT THE WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY and its programs for future problem solving
* TOP 10 FORECASTS ON FUTURE TV: Our searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, sustainable energy solutions, and love will all get a boost in the decade ahead. A new video Illustrates the top 10 forecasts from the World Future Society's annual Outlook report.
* THE FUTURIST magazine and Encyclopædia Britannica are partnering for a joint blog series on Learning and Literacy in the Digital Age, to run on Britannica.com. The series will feature essays from FUTURIST contributors Nick Carr, Mark Bauerlein, Patrick Tucker, and WorldFuture 2010 Speaker Janna Anderson. READ
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FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine. Copyright © 2010, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; e-mail mailto:info@wfs.org Web site http://www.wfs.org
Editor: Cindy Wagner, mailto:cwagner@wfs.org
Senior Editor: Patrick Tucker, mailto:ptucker@wfs.org
Staff Writer: Aaron M. Cohen
Network Administrator: Jeff Cornish, mailto:jcornish@wfs.org