The Global South: futures thinking on its own terms

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What the Global South Futures Community did

Futures thinking has too often been shaped by voices from the Global North, with everyone else expected to inherit the resulting picture of tomorrow. The Global South Futures Community (GSFC) was founded to change that. It is an international network of futurists, researchers, policymakers and community leaders dedicated to amplifying Global South perspectives in foresight and strategic planning, and to building a more inclusive conversation about what the future could hold.

By Specialgst - Blank map: mapchart.netUNCTADstat - Classifications. UN Trade and Development.Classifications - UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2023. unctad.org., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139254470

How it Delivered

GSFC hosts events and workshops that challenge dominant paradigms and promote culturally grounded approaches to the future. It has embraced technology in creative ways, for example showcasing an augmented reality tour developed with the Thámien Ohlone to help communities reclaim and narrate their own histories. Through webinars, workshops and training, the community equips members with practical foresight skills, building capability across regions and enabling South-to-South exchange.

What Made it Work?

The community starts from local knowledge rather than imported models. By treating cultural preservation and futures work as two sides of the same coin, GSFC gives participants tools they can genuinely use in their own contexts, and a network of peers facing similar questions.

Future Generations Takeaway

Whose imagination shapes the future matters. The GSFC reminds us that intergenerational fairness includes fairness between regions, and that the future will be richer if more of the world helps to write it. Keeping the future open means keeping it open for everyone.

This case study is based on one kindly shared with us by the us by School of International Futures (SOIF) and can be found in their digital implementation handbook: 'One Year in Practice: Stories of Global Action for Future Generations'.  We have updated and expanded some case studies with more recent developments and additional sources where relevant.