“Visions of the future are powerful rhetorical devices, enabling us to work on problems that current systems cannot address” (Makoe, 2022) 

As a pioneer health sciences center in the country, the University of the Philippines Manila leads in the health research sector by ensuring necessary steps are taken in order to lead towards a more anticipated and sustainable future. Knowing this, problem solving in research requires individuals, particularly the REPS or the Research, Extension, and Professional Staff, to consider multiple perspectives to come up with multiple possible outcomes to achieve the most optimal result. 

In materializing such futures, the Human Resource Development Office, in partnership with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension and the Futures Thinking Technical Working Group, continued the Futures Thinking Education Caravan. Aimed towards REPS employees, the training “Futures Thinking 2.0” was held on May 19, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, located at the 8F Social Hall of the UP-PGH Building.

The first session of this training talked about FT 2.0 with the theme, “The Office You Haven’t Met Yet.” Guided by Dr. Emerito Faraon, he delved into the topic that this kind of initiative is in order for the office to create and curate the desired future that everyone wants. In his talk, he highlighted the significance of the technical discussion during the FT 1.0, the foundational training, even if it seemed inappropriate to their office and work functions. Hence, the secondary training was followed and is filled with workshops and applications of what they have learned from the first training. Dr. Faraon stated that the main application of futures thinking was for the strategic planning of offices, by ensuring that the employees are actively creating the ecosystem that they would like to have in the future; thus, the office they have yet to meet but they desire to have one day. Moreover, Dr. Faraon noted five voices in the room or office to consider in attaining the future office they would like—workflow, direction, leadership, opportunity, and anticipation. Anchoring these five voices, he exclaimed that the current office they have right now is built for the past it inherited and not the future it now faces; therefore, making it crucial to apply futures thinking.

Dr. Raymond Yu, the second session speaker, discussed the significance of scanning the futures of REPS employees in UP Manila. Starting from the key takeaways from Dr. Faraon, he jumpstarted towards the foresight framework, a tool that can be utilized in scanning possible futures. This involves mapping (i.e., framing, scanning, futuring) & influencing (i.e., visioning, designing, adapting) in order to determine the facets that could affect the anticipated futures. Each factor of mapping and influencing were tackled extensively and were coupled with activities, allowing participants to apply their learnings right away. Under framing, activity on Focal Issues by identifying time horizons and stakeholders, as well as on Casual Layered Analysis to understand problems and the worldviews persisting around the issue were presented. Under scanning, techniques such as the STEEP framework were presented. Whereas on futuring, Dr. Yu highlighted the futures triangle (i.e., pull of the future, weight of history, and push of the present). He provided activities for each facet so that the participants will be able to understand better how they can utilize these in their office.

Lastly, Dr. Callanta expounded on the visioning and backcasting for work productivity and career alignment. In her session, she highlighted the difference between manifesting and visioning, wherein the former is simply having a vision and letting the world work around it, while the latter is a process that requires effort from an individual to ascertain the success of their vision. The value and impact of community visioning was also discussed in this segment, connecting vision with backcasting to make an office inclusive, aligned, trusting, and belonging to all employees. Steps of backcasting were also outlined and participants were given an activity on backcasting, allowing them to voice out their goals and with Dr. Callanta commented on how they can improve their process on achieving their goals. Particularly, offices such as the University Library, NIH, and OSA shared their sentiments on the need to digitize their records and documents and Dr. Callanta took the opportunity to provide feedback to better their alignment and practice towards their goal.

We, the Learning and Development Section of the UP Manila HRDO, strive to deliver training programs and caravans that are both conducive and beneficial to our fellow UP Manila constituents. Look out for more exciting updates on events that we’ve got for you here at our website!