28: Responsible futures – theory and practice (Effie Amanatidou, Hugues W. B. de Pingon, Jessica Bland, Judit Gáspár, Kathleen Randerson, Ted Fuller)
The sense of uncertainty and complexity has been growing in the ways we are thinking about the future. We are experiencing manifestations of ‘wild cards’ like natural disasters, wars and pandemics all at the same time. We are living in a world of high connectedness, yet with increasing inequalities that are further exacerbated under conditions of socio-economic and environmental crises. Such conditions intensify our desire to build a better future. The freedom of agency, however, comes with an implication of responsibility. but what is a better future? Can there be one better future for all? Where does responsibility come into play and what does ‘responsibility’ mean for the act of anticipation? The purpose of the track is to address future-oriented action from an ethical perspective by considering the ways that responsibility is, or is not, evident in a variety of contexts. We aspire to offer ethically driven inspiration to those concerned with the professional and academic aspects of futures thinking, foresight and anticipation such that responsibility becomes more explicit in their methods and practices. The overall aim is to build a basis of insights, research and reflective practice to develop a framework of responsible futures theory and practice by reflecting on:
• What do we mean with responsibility and how our perception of responsibility relates to/affects the future?
• How can implicit notions of responsibility be made more explicit in future-oriented planning and preparation?
• How do novel formations of responsibility emerge and how can these be better recognized in normative processes?
• How values, morals and ethics have changed/might change over time?
• What are the tensions and biases inherent to the notion of responsibility?
• What do concepts like ‘care’, ‘pluralism’, ‘inclusivity’, and ‘ethics’ offer to ‘responsibility’ in anticipation and futures research and practice?
• Ultimately, what might be the principles in futures literacy and practice that lead to actions which are collectively beneficial for wider humanity and the environment?
The track will also address participatory and action oriented research methods – focusing on the local needs, engagement and involvement of the local communities, reflection on the role of the researchers, and will also discuss the theory and practice of the collective action/responsibility in the present for the future.
The track converges with the conference topic 'exploration of futures, imaginaries, and anticipatory practices in STI policy and how these are shaped by explicit and implicit values, knowledges, and understandings of a (better) world'. Through the notion of responsibility, it addresses several of the questions posed, i.e. how are “better worlds” cognitively constituted, socially negotiated, culturally constructed, how such perceptions affect futures theory and practice and eventually STI governance and policy. It goes beyond identifying the underlying ‘values’ to setting certain principles that should govern ‘’responsible futures”, but also asserting its limitations, illusions and overly high expectations. We are interested in developing a track session of full or early-stage research papers that will stimulate thinking and debate among participants with a focus on futures practice and STI policy implications.
Keywords: responsible futures, pluralism, inclusivity, ethics, participatory foresight, futures, anticipation