World Futures Day 2025 Join The Global Conversation On Building A

Leo Migdal
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world futures day 2025 join the global conversation on building a

March 1st The Millennium Project and five other international futurist organizations will host the 12th annual World Futures Day — a unique 24-hour online conversation around the world exploring possibilities for our shared future. WASHINGTON, D.C., February 18, 2025 — World Futures Day begins at 12 noon in New Zealand. This round-the-world event will move westward hour-by-hour, ending 24 hours later in Hawaii. The public is invited to drop in anytime to listen, share ideas, and discuss how to create a better tomorrow with futurists, thought leaders, and engaged citizens worldwide. “No matter your time zone, you can pull up a virtual chair and join the conversation on Zoom”, said Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project.

“People come and go as they please, sharing insights with global thought leaders on the future”. Each year, total strangers discuss ideas in a relaxed, open, no-agenda conversation making new collaborations and friendships. Previous World Futures Days have discussed the transition to Artificial General Intelligence, living in space, inventing the future work, addressing climate change, giving rights to the living planet, fighting transnational organized crime, developing future... Who knows what stimulating topics and perspectives will come up this year? The Millennium Project, a global foresight participatory think tank, will host this conversation on the future in collaboration with the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Humanity+, theLifeboat Foundation, the World Academy of Art and... Every year on March 1st, World Futures Day (WFD) brings together people from around the globe to engage in a continuous conversation about the future.

What began as an experimental open dialogue in 2014 has grown into a cornerstone event for futurists, thought leaders, and citizens interested in envisioning a better tomorrow. WFD 2025 will mark the twelfth edition of the event. WFD is a 24-hour, round-the-world global conversation about possible futures and represents a new kind of participatory futures method (Di Berardo, 2022). Futures Day on March 1 was proposed by Humanity+ in 2012 to celebrate the future. Two years later, The Millennium Project launched WFD as a 24-hour worldwide conversation for futurists and the public, providing an open space for discussion. In 2021, UNESCO established a WFD on December 2.

However, The Millennium Project and its partners continue to observe March 1 due to its historical significance, its positive reception from the futures community, and the value of multiple celebrations in maintaining focus on... Thanks for reading Futures Digest! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This year’s edition of the event is hosted by The Millennium Project in collaboration with the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Humanity+, the Lifeboat Foundation, the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), and... Together, they ensure that diverse perspectives are represented. WFD on March 1st provides a virtual space where self-selected, future-oriented individuals from around the world can discuss humanity’s biggest challenges and opportunities in a relaxed, agenda-free format.

The method explores possible and desirable futures and solutions, helps define aspirations and strategies, and contributes to a framework of understanding that supports decision-making on complex problems. It illustrates shared perceptions, disseminates knowledge, and highlights the contributions that the futures community can make, drawing on input from hundreds of people (Di Berardo et al., 2023). It fosters collective intelligence by facilitating debate, gathering ideas, generating new knowledge, encouraging cross-disciplinary exchange, exploring alternatives, and emphasizing global interdependence through diverse perspectives. World Futures Day, observed each year on 2 December, invites the global community to pause and consider the kind of world it is shaping. Created by UNESCO in 2021, the day encourages a patient and thoughtful examination of long-term change. It also highlights the skills needed to guide that change with fairness.

Although the observance speaks to broad global concerns, its meaning becomes especially clear when viewed through the eyes of children, who will inherit the consequences of present decisions. The theme for 2025, Anticipation in an Era of Volatility, points to the value of steady thinking at a time marked by rapid technological progress, environmental strain and shifting social expectations. These conditions shape childhood in immediate and lasting ways. They can widen opportunities, yet they can also deepen vulnerabilities. To prepare children for a world that moves quickly, societies must learn to understand uncertainty instead of rushing to meet it without preparation. UNESCO’s programme for the observance includes lectures, plenary discussions and expert panels.

The meeting takes place at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris and draws participants from education, culture and the social sciences. The event is open to registered attendees, with sessions offered in English and French. While specialists lead most discussions, the ideas raised are relevant to families, teachers and community leaders who influence children’s daily experiences. A central focus in 2025 is the relationship between artificial intelligence and the future of education. Digital tools are changing how children learn and how teachers organise lessons. The agenda explores curriculum development, digital responsibility and access to open educational resources.

These issues touch on essential questions. How can children develop curiosity in a digital world. How can schools help them think clearly, make sound choices and treat others with respect. These are practical matters that shape a child’s growth and confidence. World Futures Day also draws attention to the need for systems that support children beyond immediate protection. Futures literacy provides a means to examine long-term risks and opportunities with greater clarity.

When governments and communities recognise how today’s choices influence future outcomes, they are better placed to design policies that are fair, resilient and centred on a child’s well-being. This approach helps create environments where children can develop safely and express their ideas without fear. In November 2021, the UNESCO General Conference unanimously adopted 2 December as “World Futures Day” (WFD). Over the years, key milestones recognizing the importance of anticipatory decision-making have been met, such as the Secretary General’s Our Common Agenda, the adoption of the Pact for the Future along with the Global... This year’s World Futures Day will highlight UNESCO’s intersectoral and multidisciplinary approach to addressing today’s major challenges through futures thinking and foresight and will illustrate the benefits of the practical application of foresight in... It will also leverage the interdisciplinary network of over 1100 UNESCO University Chairs, including 35 UNESCO Chairs in Futures Studies across the world as antennas who are identifying and exploring issues that are emerging...

World Futures Day will also be the occasion to announce UNESCO’s Global Anticipatory Policy Coalition, led by UNESCO’s MOST Programme. Serving as a global platform, the Coalition will foster knowledge exchange and peer learning by convening government officials and foresight experts experienced in applying foresight to share lessons and best practices to promote foresight... The Coalition will operate in an interdisciplinary manner, engaging across sectors to ensure that foresight and anticipation is mainstreamed into policy development and implementation. 8.30 – 9.30 Registration and welcome coffee 9.30 – 9.40 Opening and setting the scene Latest News: Reworlding Planetary Governance: YOUTH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TH...

Foresight in Focus: UNESCO Hosts World Futures Day 2025! Anticipation in an era of volatility is the crucial theme for World Futures Day 2025, convening on 2 December 2025 at UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris. As global challenges, from tech disruption to the climate emergency, accelerate, this event will be a critical hub for exploring how governments and societies can effectively use futures thinking and foresight to navigate instability... The day will move beyond theory, specifically illustrating the practical application of anticipatory methods in policy development. It will bring together leading interdisciplinary experts, including the network of university-based UNESCO Chairs in Futures Studies, to collectively identify and map emerging issues that will define our shared future. On March 1st, The Millennium Project and five other international futurist organizations will host the 12th annual World Futures Day — a unique 24-hour online conversation around the world exploring possibilities for our shared...

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 18, 2025 — World Futures Day begins at 12 noon in New Zealand. This round-the-world event will move westward hour-by-hour, ending 24 hours later in Hawaii. The public is invited to drop in anytime to listen, share ideas, and discuss how to create a better tomorrow with futurists, thought leaders, and engaged citizens worldwide. “No matter your time zone, you can pull up a virtual chair and join the conversation on Zoom”, said Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project. “People come and go as they please, sharing insights with global thought leaders on the future”.

Each year, total strangers discuss ideas in a relaxed, open, no-agenda conversation making new collaborations and friendships. Previous World Futures Days have discussed the transition to Artificial General Intelligence, living in space, inventing the future work, addressing climate change, giving rights to the living planet, fighting transnational organized crime, developing future... Who knows what stimulating topics and perspectives will come up this year? The Millennium Project, a global foresight participatory think tank, will host this conversation on the future in collaboration with the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Humanity+, Lifeboat Foundation, the World Academy of Art and... by Josie McGuinness | Feb 28, 2025 | Project ForesightNZ World Futures Day is on 1 March – it’s an annual global event that brings together the public and futurists to share their thoughts in open, collaborative discussion.

The conversation begins at 12 noon in New Zealand and moves westward hour-by-hour, finally ending 24 hours later in Hawaiʻi. Anyone is encouraged to drop in and share how to create a better tomorrow – or simply listen to others’ ideas. Different futurists co-lead each hourly session, which are held on Zoom and streamed on YouTube. – Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project. World Futures Day begins at 12 noon in New Zealand.

This round-the-world event will move westward hour-by-hour, ending 24 hours later in Hawaii. The public is invited to drop in anytime to listen, share ideas, and discuss how to create a better tomorrow with futurists, thought leaders, and engaged citizens worldwide. “No matter your time zone, you can pull up a virtual chair and join the conversation on Zoom,” said Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project. “People come and go as they please, sharing insights with global thought leaders on the future”. Each year, total strangers discuss ideas in a relaxed, open, no-agenda conversation making new collaborations and friendships.

Previous World Futures Days have discussed the transition to Artificial General Intelligence, living in space, inventing the future work, addressing climate change, giving rights to the living planet, fighting transnational organized crime, developing future... Who knows what stimulating topics and perspectives will come up this year? The Millennium Project, a global foresight participatory think tank, will host this conversation on the future in collaboration with the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Humanity+, the Lifeboat Foundation, the World Academy of Art...

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