Pergamon Futures, Vol. 29, No. 8, pp. 695-697, 1997

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LEARNING AND TEACHING ABOUT FUTURE GENERATIONS

Allen Tough

‘Future generations’ is not just some abstract concept or stirring slogan. Future generations consist of real people who have not yet been born. They are not alive today, but they will be someday. They will probably be as busy, concerned, musical, compassionate,

worried, and enthusiastic as we are. They will be real people who happen to live in the 21 st century or later, instead of during our current era. What do future generations need most from us?’ They want us to care about their well-being just as much as we care

about the well-being of the people who are alive today. Nothing is more important than the continued flourishing of human culture and society over the next few decades and beyond. A deep sense of caring about future generations can lead us to consider their

needs equal to our own. No short-term goals should be allowed to jeopardize our long- term future. The principle of equal opportunity for each generation insists that they should

inherit opportunities that are at least as good as the opportunities that our generation inherited.

Future generations are unable to lobby or vote today. They are unable to speak up when we establish policies and laws. Yet it is crucially important for us to understand

their perspective and their needs. We must find ways to heed the voices of future gener- ations, along with the other neglected voices that are legitimately clamouring to be heard today.

In the 1990s the field of futures studies has paid much more attention to the concept of future generations than in any previous decade. As the decade began, the Future Gen- erations Programme at the University of Malta was organizing new conferences and mak- ing its future generations journal more attractive to a wider audience. In 1991, my Crucial

Questions about the Future2 provided an intellectual foundation for considering the well- being of future generations and the planet as our core value.

Since 1993, Futures: The Journal of Forecasting, Planning and Policy has been at the forefront of the new emphasis on future generations. It has published future gener-

Dr. Allen Tough is a professor at the University of Toronto (OISE, Dept AECP), 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada, M5S 1 V6 (Tel: +l 416 444 3135; fax: +l 416 444 5538; email: atough@oise.utoronto.ca).

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Learning and teaching: A Tough

ations articles by Allen Tough, Rick Slaughter, Wendell Bell, and other well known futur- ist writers. The special issue of Futures that you hold in your hands is a continuation of this

journal’s admirable commitment to present cutting-edge aspects of forecasting, futures, planning, and policy.

Two key players entered the scene in 1993. Mr Katsuhiko Yazaki is a warm, astute, successful Japanese businessman. After an intense meditation experience in his mid-for- ties, he turned over the day-to-day operation of his company to his brother and began devoting his energies and skills to future generations and their environment. He estab- lished the Future Generations Alliance Foundation in Kyoto. Mr Yazaki chose Dr Tae-

Chang Kim, a well-known Korean academic, as the person to head up future generations research, conferences, and publishing. Together they have sparked future generations conferences in more than 20 cities around the world, including Toronto in May 1994j

and Kyoto in November 19944. MS Miki lchiyanagi has played a key support role at various conferences, in the Kyoto offices, and now in San Francisco.

At this pivotal moment in history, we are engaged in one of the greatest human

dramas ever to be played on the world stage. We are making some of the most important choices ever made by humanity. Thoughtful inquiry, widespread learning, and disciplined thinking can illuminate the problems, options, and consequences. If enough people around the world join the loosely knit effort to build a positive future, it will be possible

to achieve this goal. Working together, we can pass on to future generations a deeply relevant body of knowledge, a flourishing and peaceful culture, and a vibrantly heal- thy planet.

How do students and adults learn about future generations? What happens to them intellectually, emotionally, and personally when they come face-to-face with future gen- erations through their reading, class discussion, and role-playing? How can all of us, in

a variety of informal and formal settings, help others learn about future generations and their neglected perspective? These questions were at the heart of a small invitational

conference called ‘Learning and Teaching about Future Generations’ held in October 1995. I was very pleased when Dr Kim and Mr Yazaki asked me to organize this confer- ence in Toronto and asked Rick Slaughter to serve as the editor for the conference papers. Both of us are delighted to have these papers published in this special issue of Futures, the world’s leading English language journal in the field of futures studies.

At the conference, participants from six countries focused on the learning aspects first, in order to develop a knowledge base for thinking about two other aspects. This foundation aided their thinking about how to foster such learning in various settings, and then how to teach about the long-term future and future generations in an educational institution.

An early draft of each of the papers in this special issue was presented at the Toronto conference. The feedback enabled the authors to subsequently revise their papers to fit better with one another. In addition to these paper sessions, the conference agenda included a welcoming address by Mr Yazaki, a description of the Foundation’s work by Dr Kim, several brief presentations by graduate students at the University of Toronto whose research was related to the conference theme, an experiential session led by Mar- garita De Antunano and others, a presentation of art by Carolyn Jongeward and confer- ence photos by Cathy Rand, an affirmation spoken aloud by all conference participants, and a future generations song composed and sung by Anja Light (based on the affirmation).

Learning and teaching: A Tough

Notes and references

1. Tough, A., What future generations need from us, Futures 25(1 O), 1041-l 050 (1993). 2. Tough, A., Crucial Questions about the Future, University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, USA, 1991

and Adamantine Press, London, UK, 1995. 3. Tough, A. and Rogers, M., A Toronto seminar on future generations, Futures 27(3), 367-368 (1995). 4. Albery, N., If I were a millionaire..., Futures 27(3), 363-366 (1995).

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