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July 19-21, 2013
Hilton Chicago Hotel
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Preconference Courses: July 18-19, 2013
Professional Members’ Forum: July 22, 2013

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WorldFuture 2013 Sessions

Envisioning the Future of Technology through "Sci-Fi Scaffolding"

A whirlwind overview of how technology is changing our lives. Mr. Zappa will explain how technology and humanity are fundamentally intertwined, the presentation establishes the imperatives and trends that will drive the near future.

Michell Zappa is a global emerging technology strategist who publishes a project entitled Envisioning Technology. His focus is on explaining futurism and technological scenarios using visualizations and creativity drawn from science fiction, London, United Kingdom

From Highly Centralized to Highly Decentralized Society

Modern society depends on centralized food and energy production. But distribution is a critical link, vulnerable to natural disasters, devastating pandemics, war, and other events unlikely in the short term but risky to assume will never happen. Then modern society and many millions of people would be in serious trouble.

Daniel Berleant is a professor, University of Arkansas, author of The Human Race to the Future: What May Happen—and What to Do, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

The Future of Celebrations

Retirement. Weddings. Birthdays. What milestones will define the next horizon and how will we celebrate them? Technological innovations will intersect social changes to shift the way we highlight the extraordinary. Augmented reality, gamification, robotics, and virtual worlds will impact existing networks to drive new landscapes of interaction.

Emily Empel@localrat is a trend spotter, marketing disciple and corporate futurist, Winter Park, Florida, USA

Hurricanes, Droughts, and the Global War Cycle

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy exceeded the 1960 modern record and 1821 all-time record for flooding in New York City’s Battery Park. The national drought of 2012 exceeded the droughts of 1988, 1934, and 1936.

Bob Reuschlein is president of Reuschlein Peace Institute, has taught “Weather, Wealth, and Wars,” and has written on the temperature cycle, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Rateocracy: When Everyone and Everything Is Rated

Rateocracy, a future in which everyone and everything has a rating, is quickly approaching. Today we rate people, products, restaurants and places in a fragmented way. But, there are strong commercial reasons for a peer-generated, numeric rating system that allows cross-comparison. How will Rateocracy evolve and what are its implications?

Robert Moran is partner in the Brunswick Group and leads Brunswick Insight in the Americas. He frequently speaks and writes on market research and data-driven decision making, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Prospective for Earth and Governance Forecasting for the Year 2033

The coastline of France is a laboratory link between earth and sea. It's a melting pot of great biologic and landscape diversity. It is subject to great constraints from human beings and nature (tourism, transport, and fishing). Urbanism is taking possession of nature, dunes, ponds and forest.

Roland Rizoulieres is a senior lecturer on prospective forecasting and is a development expert at Sciences Po Aix, Marseille, PACA, France

Transition Engineering

Adapting to the exponential increase in fuel and resource consumption of the last century was challenging, but accomplished by engineering that focused on growth of infrastructure and new products to keep up with demand. What happens as growth in resource and energy supply stalls and declines over the next century?

Susan Krumdieck has worked to develop the analysis and design methods of transition engineering for more than 15 years. The new methods have now been published and deployed to reveal distinctly different future visions for various cities and organizations. Dr. Krumdieck is working with other academic and professional engineers to establish the International Society of Transition Engineers, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Frank Kreith, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Daniel Kenning, IMechE, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Carey King, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

The Power of Mentoring Urban Students

What realistic, specific ways can adults assist urban students in the future? What can educators do in the future to meet the challenges of this critical area of public school education in the inner city?

Catherine Shane McVey is a certified “Master Teacher.” She has been teaching lower socioeconomic, minority, and immigrant middle- and high-school children for over twenty years in urban Chicago schools. A Fulbright Scholar, she develops curriculum to meet the needs of a very specific type of lower socioeconomic, urban, and immigrant children.

Student participants to be announced

The Rise of Citizen Science

Thousands worldwide participate in citizen science projects, from counting backyard birds to searching for extraterrestrial communication. In-person and online, this popular pastime is evolving from hobby to serious science.

Kathleen Toerpe teaches social sciences at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and is a citizen scientist, Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, USA

Transforming Local Economic Development for the New Global Economy

This session will provide an update on how the economic development business is adapting to new global trends and forces in order to fulfill its mission of assisting people to have a good standard of living; governments to have adequate sources of revenue; and businesses to have good places to operate.

Mark D. Waterhouse (moderator) is president of Garnet Consulting Services, Inc., an economic development consulting firm. He is a certified economic developer, has served as chair of International Economic Development Council (IEDC); former dean of Oklahoma University Economic Development Institute (OU/EDI), president of Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS), Pleasant Valley, Connecticut, USA

Rick Smyre is president, Center for Communities of the Future, Gastonia, North Carolina, USA

Barbara Johnson, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Scott Gibbs, is president of the Economic Development Foudation of Rhode Island, Cumberland, Rhode Island, USA

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