November 2010, Vol. 11, No. 11

In This Issue:

  • Thrivals 3.0 and a Festival of Ideas
  • Saving the Ogallala
  • End of McMansions?
  • Jailhouse Lab
  • Click of the Month: Global Foresight Books
  • News for the Futurist Community
  • What’s Hot @WFS.ORG

THRIVALS 3.0 AND A FESTIVAL OF IDEAS

University of Louisville business professor Nat Irvin recently organized Thrivals 3.0, a daylong future-oriented conference held on September 29, 2010, in Louisville, Kentucky. The event, part of the annual Idea Festival, billed itself as “a way of thinking and learning about the broad social, political, environmental, economic and technological trends that are shaping the mid- to long-term future now.” And, notably, it was geared toward young people. Most of the 600 or so attendees were under 25, and half were under the age of 18.

Speaking with FUTURIST UPDATE, Irvin described the conference as “a fun, mind-bending, future-focused learning event bringing together people of all different ages, ethnicities, and races.” Thrivals, according to Irvin, are young, multicultural, multidisciplinary, future-oriented people who are motivated to excel in every field—in other words, to thrive, not merely survive.

Presenters included Howard Bloom, author of The Global Brain (Wiley & Sons, 2000); humanitarian and direct trade coffee entrepreneur David Robinson; and Grammy-nominated recording artist Janelle Monáe, along with the Wondaland Arts Society collective. Monáe, a self-identified Thrival who has been described by Pitchfork as a “genre-flouting singer-songwriter-dancer-futurist,” also performed an evening concert at the close of the event. Between sessions, attendees formed groups, or “thrival hives,” to brainstorm together on various future-oriented topics.

Irvin wrote about his concept of Thrivals for THE FUTURIST magazine: “The Arrival of the Thrivals,” March-April 2004.

DETAILS: Nat Irvin II, mailto:nat.irvin@louisville.edu. The Idea Festival, http://www.ideafestival.com. Thrival self test, http://cobweb2.louisville.edu/thrivals.

Link to Flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1535603@N23/pool/with/5037417358/

SAVING THE OGALLALA

The Ogallala Aquifer’s ability to continue supplying water to America’s “bread basket” is in jeopardy, warns hydrogeologist David Hyndman of Michigan State University.

For the past 80 years, withdrawals for irrigation have far exceeded the aquifer’s ability to replenish itself, and this vast underground system--storing nearly as much water as lakes Erie and Huron combined--is shrinking.

Hyndman is now leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers to analyze the dynamics among hydrological, atmospheric, agricultural, regulatory, and socioeconomic systems to generate predictions and impact assessments of various solutions for protecting the Ogallala’s future--and that of its users.

“Navigating a patchwork of state laws, regulations, and economics means any change will require complex solutions. And since scientific solutions don’t exist in a vacuum, our plan will also address social and economic variables,” says Hyndman.

SOURCE: Michigan State University http://news.msu.edu/story/8467/

advertisement

GETTING AHEAD OF CHANGE AT WORLDFUTURE 2011!

The World Future Society’s conference WorldFuture 2011: Moving from Vision to Action, to be held July 8-10, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, will focus on developing specific action plans for meeting--and getting ahead of--the challenges we face now.

Approximately 150 speakers will offer their latest insights and strategies; among the speakers already confirmed are:

  • Aubrey De Grey, cutting-edge expert on human longevity and co-author of “Ending Aging.”
  • Maria H. Andersen, Learning Futurist at The LIFT Institute, Higher Education Editor at eLearn Magazine, and member of the math faculty at Muskegon Community College in Michigan.
  • Jared Weiner, business futurist and vice president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc.
  • Lawson Brigham, Arctic futures specialist and professor at University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The conference will also give you the opportunity to make connections and expand your thinking in a wide range of areas, including technology, education, health, business, families, communities, work trends, social change, the environment and resources, globalization, governance, futures methodologies, and much more. In addition, keynote speakers and special events will focus on significant global issues and breakthrough ideas.

END OF McMANSIONS?

Single-family houses in the United States are shrinking, and the trend is likely to extend well beyond the end of the recession, predicts the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

New homes have dropped to a median size of 2,100 square feet, down from a peak of 2,268 square feet in 2006. NAHB attributes the decline to home buyers’ desire to minimize energy costs, a tighter credit market, and a reduced interest in home buying as an investment.

Median sales prices for new homes have also dropped, from $256,000 in 2006 to $211,000 in 2009, a 17.6% decline.

SOURCE: National Association of Home Builders http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=148&newsID=11485

JAILHOUSE LAB

Using prisoners to help unlock nature’s mysteries is the goal of a National Science Foundation research project led by forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni.

Inmates at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington, assist researchers by planting seeds and recording their observations on plant growth.

Nadkarni’s goal is to learn how best to cultivate the dwindling prairie plants, but she notes that the inmates’ learning is equally valuable: “Everyone can be a scientist--everyone can relate to nature, everyone can contribute to the scientific enterprise, even those who are shut away from nature.”

The project may also serve as a model for other prisons to provide useful skills to inmates and meet the scientists’ need for reliable research collaborators.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/sciencebehindbars.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_196

CLICK OF THE MONTH: GLOBAL FORESIGHT BOOKS

www.globalforesightbooks.org

Former FUTURE SURVEY editor Michael Marien has developed a virtual library of futures literature that promises to help make policy making more integrative and visionary.

This database of searchable abstracts covers more than 1,600 titles published in 2009 and 2010, with Marien’s authoritative perspective on the works that offer the most significant, paradigm-changing ideas.

The cross-disciplinary nature of the titles Marien chooses makes the Global Foresight Books database an invaluable resource for policy makers worldwide and in every field.

NEWS FOR THE FUTURIST COMMUNITY

* FUTURE-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS: The Fourth International Seville Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis has issued a Call for Abstracts for papers that will address the conference theme. The meeting, to be held May 12-13, 2001, in Seville, Spain, will focus on the need and potential of future-oriented technology analysis to address disruptive transformations in response to grand societal challenges. The deadline for abstracts is November 23. DETAILS: European Foresight, http://foresight.jrc.ec.europa.eu/fta_2011/intro.html

* SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE IN FINLAND: A first call for papers has been announced for “Trends and Future of Sustainable Development,” to be held June 9-10, 2011, in Tampere, Finland. The 13th International Conference, organized by Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Academy at University of Turku, will deal with the many dimensions of a sustainable future. DETAILS: Finland Futures Research Centre http://www.futuresconference.fi/2011

* YES YOU CAN! A new book by innovation strategist Howard Rasheed offers lessons for leaders striving to anticipate the “next big thing.” Rasheed’s unique innovation mapping system, which he has described at World Future Society meetings and in the 2008 conference volume, “Seeing the Future Through New Eyes,” shows how to “connect the dots outside the box.” To learn more or order the book, visit The Innovation Strategist, http://www.theinnovationstrategist.net/publications.html

* LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Arthur B. Shostak, emeritus professor of sociology at Drexel University, will be honored with the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award at the College of Arts and Sciences awards gala on November 12. Shostak is one of the first members of the World Future Society and currently serves as THE FUTURIST magazine’s contributing editor on Utopian Thought. He is a pioneer in applying futures in education programs and recently edited the book “Creating the School You Want: Learning @ Tomorrow’s Edge.” DETAILS: http://www.futuresconference.fi/2011 or arthurshostak@gmail.com

WHAT’S HOT @WFS.ORG

* NEW BOARD MEMBERS: The World Future Society welcomes two new members to its board of directors: marketing and public relations specialist Marian Salzman and business consultant Jared Weiner. Salzman is president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR and a pioneer in applying futuring tools, such as trend spotting, in the corporate milieu. Weiner is vice president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc., one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms.

* ON THE BLOG ROLL: Don’t miss these thought-provoking posts by the Society’s growing roster of futurist bloggers. (Remember, World Future Society members may log in and comment freely on all blogs and articles):

JOIN OR RENEW your WFS membership now to join in the conversation! http://www.wfs.org/renew