On April 18th 2021, join us for the Centennial Debate:
The expansion of future consciousness through the practice of
science fiction
and futures studies
on Zoom
A live online event on April 18th 2021
12:00 am Pacific Standard Time, 3:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, 20:00 Central European Time
Frederik Pohl famously said: "A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam". It could be said that the success in predicting, preventing or procuring a specific future phenomenon or event can be a pride for both science-fiction authors and futures studies scholars and practitioners.
Regardless if science-fiction and futures studies may grow from two different currents in civilization, respectively romanticism and enlightenment, or if they may actually be too close to each other to tell one from another, they are ways of using-the-future and making explicit anticipations, fears and hopes about the shape of things to come.
The Centennial Debate celebrates the creative aspects of both disciplines and the expansion of future consciousness that can be achieved through the practice of science fiction and futures studies. The live, open, online debate that we will hold on April 18th 2021 is also our contribution to the worldwide celebrations of Stanisław Lem Year 2021, marking the 100. anniversary of birth of Poland's most famous science-fiction writer and futurologist.
The debate also links science-fiction to Futures Literacy, a capability that allows people to better understand the role that the future plays in what they see and do.
Please join us on April 18th on Zoom and YouTube (live streaming) to follow the debate and ask questions from our international panelists.
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The Speakers
Prof. Thomas Lombardo
Thomas Lombardo, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Future Consciousness, Editor of Future Consciousness Insights (formally Wisdom and the Future), Professor Emeritus and Retired Faculty Chair of Psychology, Philosophy, and the Future at Rio Salado College, and past Director of The Wisdom Page.
He is a Fellow and Executive Board member of the World Futures Studies Federation and member and contributing editor of numerous futurist organizations and publications. He has published nine books and over sixty articles and given an equal number of professional presentations on many futurist topics, including wisdom and the future of education; the future of consciousness and the human mind; dystopian and utopian thought; theories of the future; and science fiction.
His newest books include Future Consciousness: The Path to Purposeful Evolution, winner of the 2017 Network Book Award; Science Fiction: The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future: Vol. I - Prometheus to the Martians (2018), hailed as “a brilliant piece of work” and “a ‘must-read’ in the study both of science fiction and the future;” and The Pursuit of Virtue (2019), "A brilliant, timely, erudite exposure of the shallow, divisive individualism of modern life.” He has just completed two more volumes of his Science Fiction book series. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and University of Minnesota and a graduate fellow of Cornell University.
More information at www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com
Dr. Karlheinz Steinmueler
Steinmüller is scientific director and founding partner of “Z_punkt GmbH – The Foresight Company” at Cologne.
Since 1991 in the field of futures studies, he is engaged in foresight activities for large enterprises and public administrations. Recent public clients include the German Armed Forces, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the European Environment Agency.
His special fields of expertise include technological foresight, scenario generation, and in particular wild cards. He has also done research into the history and methodology of foresight, and lectures about it at Free University Berlin and the (German) Federal Academy for Security Policy.
For the time being, he is member of several committees, like the working group on methodology of the (German) Network Futures Research and the program committee on infrastructure of the German space flight management. In former times he collaborated in the (now defunct) Collège Européen de Prospective Territoriale.
Steinmüller, born in 1950 at Klingenthal/East Germany, has been trained in theoretical physics and obtained his PhD in philosophy of science. He has worked at the East German Academy of Sciences in the field of ecological modelling, and he has published together with his wife Angela thirteen science fiction books, four books about foresight and a biography of Charles Darwin.
More information at www.steinmueller.eu.
Kacper Nosarzewski
Kacper Nosarzewski is a partner at 4CF and a board member, as well as co-founder at the Polish Society for Future Studies (est. 2011).
He served as a strategic foresight consultant for international institutions such as UNESCO or UNDP as well as for enterprises and non-governmental organizations.
He is listed as an expert by the Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Technology. He is also a NATO expert and has developed methodologies and facilitated foresight projects for the Ministries of National Defense in Poland and the Netherlands.
He conducted workshops for companies and government institutions around the world, corporate clients from FMCG, mining, energy, finance, banking, logistics and pharmaceutical sectors. He also worked with several government agencies in Poland, Tunisia, Norway and for the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Colombia.
He graduated from University of Warsaw, where he studies European Civilization and Public International Law. He is a member of Association of Professional Futurists.
More information at 4cf.pl
This event is organized by Polish Society for Futures Studies
Polish Society for Futures Studies is an independent think-tank dealing with futures and the ways they are perceived. It was established in 2011. It brings together people of science, professionals from various industries and enthusiasts who share a belief in the importance of responsible planning. We operate both on a micro (individual people, companies, small communities) and macro (societies, countries, the world) scale.
The primary objective of the Polish Society for Futures Studies and its mission is to promote and organize initiatives related to the formation, and responsible planning in various fields. We also deal with the development of technology, resource management and dissemination of information on valuable initiatives in the field of futures studies and foresight. We increase awareness of the latest scientific developments and through these we aim to raise the level of knowledge.
Streaming and hosting courtesy of 4CF Strategic Foresight
4CF has had a clear mission for over a decade: we study the future to help our clients make the right strategic decisions. In other words: we support companies and institutions around the world in reaching their goals by helping them shape the future and take advantage of emerging opportunities.
We specialize strictly in strategic foresight, a branch of strategic consulting which is crucial to the realisation of goals in a dynamic market environment. We guarantee the highest quality of services, our best recommendation are satisfied clients from Poland, Europe and other continents. We make sure that our clients always keep a step ahead of their competitors. We stay in the lead by constantly perfecting our methodology and actively cooperating with key international institutions.
To Futures Studies scholars and practitioners we offer cutting-edge online tools for real-time-delphi surveys, decision games and interactive visual tools for real-time expert collaboration.
Share this event with other science-fiction and futures studies fans on your social media!
We would like to thank our partners and patrons for their support:
The Milllennium Project
The Millennium Project is a global participatory futures research think tank established in 1996 under the American Council for the United Nations University that became independent in 2009 and has grown to 67 Nodes around the world.
World Futures Studies Federation
WFSF is a UNESCO and UN consultative partner and global NGO with members in over 60 countries. We bring together academics, researchers, practitioners, students and futures-focused institutions. WFSF offers a forum for stimulation, exploration and exchange of ideas, visions, and plans for alternative futures, through long-term, big-picture thinking and radical change.
Lem Estate
The year of 2021 is declared to be the Year of Stanisław Lem in Poland, according to the November 27, 2020 resolution of Sejm (the lower house of the parliament of Poland).
4CF Strategic Foresight
4CF is a strategic foresight consultancy.
Center for Future Consciousness
The Center for Future Consciousness offers educational experiences that challenge and stimulate the mind, expand conscious awareness, empower creativity and imagination, deepen knowledge and understanding, enhance ethical character, and promote personal and social growth.
Association of Professional Futurists
The Association of Professional Futurists is a global community of futurists, dedicated to promoting professional excellence and demonstrating the value of strategic foresight and futures studies for their clients and/ or employers.
