Creating fairer futures for sustainability transitions

Area of Science:

• Interdisciplinary studies
• Sustainability science
• Geographical research

Background:

• Futures thinking is vital for achieving global sustainability goals.
• Urgent need to reconfigure systems for complex sustainability challenges.
• Current futuring approaches lack explicit attention to power, participation, and nature-society relations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Critically review dominant futuring approaches.
• Identify limitations in current futuring methodologies.
• Outline insights from critical perspectives for fairer futuring.

Main Methods:

• Critical literature review of dominant futuring approaches.
• Analysis of contemporary futuring processes.
• Integration of critical perspectives in geographical research.

Main Results:

• Dominant futuring methods often overlook power imbalances and unequal participation.
• Existing approaches inadequately address complex nature-society interdependencies.
• Critical perspectives reveal significant limitations in current futuring practices.

Conclusions:

• Fairer futuring requires explicit consideration of power dynamics and diverse participation.
• Integrating critical insights can enhance the inclusivity and equity of futures thinking.
• Geographical research can benefit from more equitable and critically informed futuring methodologies.