We developed a method by which stakeholders within a region or organization can adopt the perspective of future generations and create their own visions of a sustainable society. We also clarified why the dissemination of such methods throughout society can contribute to the realization of sustainability.

What have we learned and to what extent?

(1)   We developed a method by which stakeholders within a region or organization can adopt the perspective of future generations and create their own visions of a sustainable society.
Specifically, this included:
① Producing picture-story videos to introduce the perspective of future generations (four in Japanese and four in English, for a total of eight);
② Refining the Past Design method as an introduction to incorporating the perspective of future generations;
③ Organizing variations in ways to set discussion themes for group work conducted by future generations;
④ Developing a method to extract narratives on visions from the outcomes of group work discussions.
Among these, (④) is regarded as the most important achievement.

(2)    We also clarified why the dissemination of the method described in (1) throughout society can contribute to realizing a sustainable society. Specifically, through applications of this method to various cases, we found that its effects include the following (see Figure 1 for details):
① Individuals can acquire a sense of wanting to protect the interests of future generations without having it imposed by others.
② They become less likely to avert their eyes from inconvenient matters expected to occur in the future.
③ They can overcome the status quo bias of expecting tomorrow to be the same as yesterday and today.
④ People who have experienced the role of future generations can build networks with each other.
⑤ Rigid relationships among actors, caused by conflicting interests, can be softened.
With these features, Future Design can also be used in combination with methods such as backcasting and participatory technology assessment, making it highly versatile.

Our concept of global environmental studies

Looking back at history, it is common for social transformation to take 50 or even 100 years. I believe that global environmental studies should clarify how to build mechanisms that allow researchers, government agencies, private companies, and citizens to work together to continuously discuss three key points:
① What should society look like at the ultimate goal of transformation?
② Where are we now within this long process of transformation?
③ How do we wish to reach the ultimate goal?
Future Design also aims to address these questions.

New connections

The Future Design Project will conclude this year, but collaborations with the Sustai-N-able Project, the Fashlocks Project, the SceNE Project, and others will continue.