futures activism
Strategic foresight & guerrilla futurism. Art, research & social experiments driving positive change to build better futures.
BURNING MAN 2024 - COOL & CURIOUS INNOVATION PROGRAM
WHY & WHAT?
Cooling is the #1 contributor to CO2 emissions at Burning Man, so inventing new sustainable cooling solutions is a priority of the Burning Man Regeneration team.
This year at Burning Man, we’re going to tap the radical curiosity, creativity, and resourcefulness of the Burning Man community to ideate, innovate, and co-create sustainab
Cooling is the #1 contributor to CO2 emissions at Burning Man, so inventing new sustainable cooling solutions is a priority of the Burning Man Regeneration team.
This year at Burning Man, we’re going to tap the radical curiosity, creativity, and resourcefulness of the Burning Man community to ideate, innovate, and co-create sustainable solutions to dramatically reduce cooling power usage and CO2 emissions.
FUTURES ACTIVISM PROJECTS
CURIOUS FUTURES
Analysis of +500 futurists' forecasts of life in the year 2030 depicted in one data visualization infographic.
INSIGHT ALCHEMY
Limited edition risograph zine made from the collaboration of artists and 25 world-renowned futurists.
NOBEL PRIZE 2030 ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Speculative fiction article for QRCA magazine showcasing futuristic research technologies and sciences in the year 2030.
AI vs. HUMANS IN FUTURES WORK
Five (5) experiments that pit humans against AI to identify signals and trends, and apply various foresight methods.
THE FUTURE OF BEVERAGES @ MAKER FAIRE
Maker laboratory experience for children to imagine themselves in the future, then design and prototype beverages for the future.
MONOPOLY 2030
Multi-player (30 people) monopoly game event where players bid on future states and tech, and align on 2030 business strategies.
THE FUTURE OF INSIGHT
Research white paper surveying 155 insights professionals and 24 futurists on the future of insights (augmented by AI analytics).
TOMORROW TIMES
Design Fiction (speculative futures) newspaper that time travels back from the year 2030 with news of cautions and opportunity.
EMOJI FUTURISM
1,0000 dermatologists were asked "What is the future of skincare?" and they replied with their futures thinking exclusively in emoji texts.
FEELING THE FUTURE
Experiment with 500 random people asked to draw where they feel the future ("Where on your body do you feel the future?").
IKEBANA TOMORROWING
Hands-on (literally) futuring activity where plant materials symbolize trend drivers and arrangements are metaphors for future states.
CHINA vs. USA: CULTURAL CONTRAST OF FORESIGHT
Study contrasting the differences in 2030 foresight between China & USA (including analyzing AI images of the future from each culture).
EMOTIONS OF FUTURES THINKING
7k people were surveyed "How do you feel about your future?" and responses were analyzed by Heartbeat.ai emotion-recognition AI.
PORTAL TO A WATER-SCARCE WORLD
Life-size hi-res livestream connection between drought-plagued Kigali, Rwanda and NYC to discuss a water-scarce 2030 world.
QUANT FORESIGHT ANALYSIS
>100 methods published in the Assoc. of Professional Futurists' Knowledge Base of Foresight methods were counted and classified.
VR "INSIDE-SIGHTS"
Multi-person (20 people) VR "futures party" to explore future lifestyles together but alone.
PERSONA 2035
50 young adults imagined the people, lifestyles, jobs, technologies, etc. in the year 2035 - with the UN's SDGs in mind.
LIFE IN SPACE 2050
Multi-person (15 people) improv acting out a day-in-the-life of living on the ISS in 2050 (space living) to identify pain-points for innovation.