Program

Last update: June 4, 2026

Day 2 - Friday, 4 September 2024

09:00 – 09:40: Asia Pacific Futures - Powering People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace

Keynote 1: Sean Pillot de Checeney, Foresight Strategist & Bestselling Author. UK Associate Partner, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies and Innovation Strategist & Director of Public Affairs, World Futures Studies Federation

Keynote 2: Ms. Valery Wichman, Pacific Community (SPC), Futurist, Cook Islands 

09:40 - 10:45 : Book Launches and Special publications 

Publication 1: EcoMoney: Currencies Powered by the Sun by Stan Rodenborg

Publication 2: Publication 2: Special Edition edited by Dr. Sohail Inayatullah and Ms. Maryam Yousuf. Published by the Global Futures Society and the Journal of Futures Studies follows up on last year's issue, "Compass on What Makes a Futurist.

Publication 3: Futures Thinking Playbook written by Dr. Shermon Cruz and Jezreel Larry Caunca

Publication 4: Planetary Cities: Future-Hacking the Urban, Eds. Dr. Jose Ramos and Dr. Bharat Dahiya 

Publication 5: Futures of our sea of islands -  Voices across the Blue Pacific, published by the Pacific Community (SPC) 

Publication 6: "The Grid and the Wave.", written by Jan Krikke

Publication 7: The Futures Triangle Reader: Theory and Practice” published by CFAR, Tamkang University 

Publication 8: The Other Side of Algorithm -The Global South AI Story by Sudhir Tiku

Moderator: Mr. Adam Sharpe, UK/Australia 

10:45 - 11:15 : Networking Coffee Break & Group Picture @Sasin Hall

11:15 – 12:45 : Parallel Workshops

Workshops D1: Two new approaches in Futures Thinking: The 4x4 Futures Matrix: Linking Possible Futures and Preferred Futures for Policy Strategy developed by Dr. Seongwon Park & What Are You Afraid to Ask? A Workshop on Critical Compass Inquiry by Dr. Shermon Cruz 

On the 4x4 Matrix

Conventional futures methods treat possible and preferred futures as separate exercises, leaving a critical gap: the strategic terrain where they diverge. Strategy lives in this tension. Building on the Manoa School's four generic images of the futures, the 4×4 Matrix crosses four probable futures with four preferred futures, generating sixteen positions. A second axis—whether actors hold or close the gap—yields twenty-eight actionable strategies. This workshop introduces the matrix, applies it to a policy case, and equips participants to use it in their own work.

On the Critical Compass Inquiry

The questions we avoid are often the ones that matter most. The Critical Questions Compass is a foresight method developed by Shermon Cruz that creates the conditions for honest and courageous inquiry — moving foresight practitioners, clients, and teams from scattered concerns to a strategic and unified challenge that shapes strategy, reveals blind spots, and unlocks the future. This workshop will also share actual cases where the method has been deployed in information technology, national security, science and technology innovation, real estate development, national youth policy, and university futures settings, among others. 

Workshops D2:  Developing Future Literacy: Approaches from Japan 

This session offers a compelling introduction to the evolution of futures studies in Japan—where it has come from, how it is practiced today, and where it may be heading next. It also explores a key challenge in the field: the gap between analytical foresight and participatory futures design, and why bridging them matters. Through a live workshop demonstration, participants will experience an approach that combines structured analysis with the perspectives of “good ancestors” and “future generations.” Join this session to discover how a more integrated form of “future literacy” can inspire practical action and fresh thinking across generations.   

Moderator: Mete Yasuji (Yazici), PsyD, Tokyo 

Workshops D3: Academic Track: Tamkang University PhD Students Research Presentations 

This session features the latest research from Tamkang University's Department of Education and Futures Design, PhD. students/candidates and other academic institutions.  

Ricardo Schnug (Tamkang University)

Edward Niedbalski (Tamkang University)

Po-Ta Chen (Tamkang University)

Edilhynie Jambangan (University of Southeastern Philippines)

Moderator: Professor Kuo-Hua Chen, Tamkang University

Workshop D4: The Future is Care: Visioning Inclusive and Resilient Care Systems in Asia and the Pacific 

This parallel session will present key insights from ESCAP’s forthcoming publication "The Future is Care: Visioning Inclusive and Resilient Care Systems in Asia and the Pacific" which applies a strategic foresight lens to examine how demographic transitions, climate change, digital transformation, urbanization and inequality are reshaping the future of care across the region. Through an interactive dialogue, participants will reflect on how investments in the care economy and social protection measures can strengthen inclusion, resilience and social cohesion, while helping shape more equitable and people-centred futures. The session will explore emerging policy pathways and the choices governments face in adapting care systems to changing social, economic and demographic realities. It will also highlight the importance of anticipatory governance, integrated policy approaches and regional cooperation in building care systems that are fit for the future.

Moderator / Presenters: Cai Cai (Ms.), Chief, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Section
Social Development Division & Dr. Katinka Weinberger, Chief, Sustainable Socioeconomic Transformation Section at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP). 

Workshops D5: Seeing the Future Is Easier Than Acting on It -  Exploring the inner and institutional “boxes” that shape how we imagine and respond to the future

Futures thinking often focuses on external change — trends, signals, scenarios, and emerging disruptions. But less attention is given to the internal and institutional “boxes” through which people interpret, accept, resist, or act on those futures. This interactive workshop combines elements of systems thinking, experiential futures, and reflective facilitation using the BOX method. Participants will explore how assumptions, identities, cognitive biases, institutional narratives, and behavior under pressure shape which futures feel plausible, desirable, threatening, or even imaginable.Through individual reflection, paired dialogue, and group interaction, the session invites participants to examine why awareness of long-term challenges does not always translate into consistent action — even in organizations deeply engaged in foresight work.

Facilitator: Martin Venzky-Stalling, Thailand 

12:45 – 13:45 : Networking Lunch 

13:45 – 14:10: Keynote 4: Powering Peace 

Dr. Ivana Mijojevic, Co-Founder Metafuture 

14:15 - 15:30 : Parallel Workshops 

Workshop E1: Futures Bazaar

Description to be added

Facilitators: Dr. Jawn Lim and Khai Hong Sen

Workshop E2: Feminist Futures Mosaic: From Seeds to Possibilities

How might many small stories help us see a larger feminist future?

In this participatory session, Feminist Futures Mosaic: From Seeds to Patterns, participants will share brief “seed stories” from their work, practice, research, or lived experience. Using a light Causal Layered Analysis approach, we will explore what these stories reveal about care, power, voice, knowledge, justice, and transformation.

Facilitators: Dr. Ivana Milojevic, Dr. Lavonne Leong and Dr. Nur Anisah

Workshop E3: The Futures of Money in a Sustainable Society

The present monetary system is specifically designed to enable exponential growth, and could not function within a sustainable economic system. This workshop asks what money would look like, how it would be created, and who would control it, in an economy aimed at sustainably caring for the needs of its people. Starting with a review of how the monetary system presently functions, it explores various proposals for monetary reform and their implications, and sets out a preferable future in which money is no longer a tool for exponential growth, but a means of distributing the gifts of nature equitably and sustainably.

Moderator/Resources Person: Mr. Sten Rodenborg, Dr. Sohail Inayatullah

Workshop E4: D/F/S Thinking as Polycrisis Starter Kit — Towards a 3Rs (Design / Futures / Systems Thinking) for a Post-MBA Age

Workshop Descriptions coming soon

Resource Persons: Sam Chua, Founding Curator, Seapunk Studios & Luke Tay, Founder, Cornucopia FutureScapes Board Member & Asia Rep, APF

Workshop E5: Planetary Cities Workshop

"The planetary century is driving and inspiring a new Urban imaginary, as cities must reinvent themselves for a new era. Planetary Cities, Future Hacking the Urban, published by Springer Nature, took on this challenge through a variety of emerging themes and the application of futures methodologies.

In this workshop, the editors present some of the key ideas and themes, not as conclusive propositions, but rather as open-ended provocations for those in the room. We're interested in participants' interpretation of planetary cities, embedded in the variety of contexts within which participants live and work. Can the framework for planetary cities provide participants an opportunity to reinterpret their urban issues and challenges? And how might planetary cities be imagined through the variety of issues and challenges participants face today.

The session will be highly interactive, providing opportunities for group discussion and plenary dialogue  

Facilitators: Dr. Jose Ramos and Dr. Bharat Dahiya 

15:30– 16:00 : Networking Coffee Break

16:00 - 16:45 : Asia Pacific Futures - Powering People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace 

In this session we have invited colleagues to share in up to seven minutes thoughts, reflections, insights or strategies for a sustainable future and our role as futurists. 

Speakers:

1. Food Systems Transformation and the Role of Foresight, 

Dr. Rathana Peou-Manns, Food Systems Transformation Hub Asia-Pacific Coordinator, FAO

2  Title to be added 

Dr. Seongwon Park, Founder and Managing Director 50000 Actions and current president of President of the Futures Studies Association of Korea , Seoul, Korea

3. Title to be added

Dr. Shermon Cruz, Founder of Center of Engaged Foresight, Manila, Philippines

4. Beyond Control: A Curious Look at Shared Agency in Human–AI Futures

Dr. Elissa Farrow, Australia 

5. Title to be added

Mr. Adam Sharpe, Founder Futurely, Australia

6. The Quiet Rewiring 

Sudhir Tiku, Author and AI Thought leader  

7. Countering the Futures Thieves

Mr. Jost Wagner, Managing Director, The Change Initiative and APFN Chief Navigator, Bangkok, Thailand

17:00 Closing Reflection

Prof. Sohail Inayatullah, Chair of the APFN Steering Committee and Co-Founder of Metafuture

17:15 - 17:30 : Closing Remarks, Vote of Thanks, Outlook to APFN 13

Dr. John Sweeney, Member of the APFN Steering Committee

Prof. Piyachart, Sasin School of Management