Posted: 16th April 2025
Colourful blank – The Future Narratives training in Germany
“Super exciting, for your own life, for social interaction and for the world anyway. Your eyes get big because you understand how many paths your own future can take.” (Training participant)
“I overcame the inhibition threshold to use my imagination to tell stories free of judgment. That was empowering for me. I have often experienced that I take a step back and think “I can’t tell, write and think like this”. But through the exercises and methods in the workshop, I was able to break with this belief a bit. In any case, I had a lot of fun, and I want to work with the methods in the future and tell and write about futures. Maybe together with others.” (Workshop participant)
The first round of the Future Narratives training is behind us. It was a pilot in the framework of the EU Erasmus+ co-funded project Future Narratives 2.0. People working in educational contexts took part in the training and then conducted their own Future Narratives workshops.
Writing this here is a small sensation for me. When I was asked three years ago whether I would like to take over the project management for Future Narratives, I could not have imagined that this would result in a European training course and that I would also lead this training myself. For me, the launch of Future Narratives was a series of things that I couldn’t really imagine. I had never worked with organizations from five different European countries; I’ve never had to do all project management in English; I was not familiar with the structure of EU projects; I had no experience in transnational online meetings; I had never heard of Futures Literacy.
Years ago, however, I had already made the following basic condition for my attitude to life from improv theater: Say “Yes!” to the offers that your fellow actors make you, only then can something new emerge on stage. So, I said “yes” to the project management of Future Narratives and exposed myself to the feeling of uncertainty that resulted from the future development in this project, which was completely incalculable for me, and the nagging question of whether I would be able to cope with it at all. That was really “about:blank” – like when you call up a new page on the net and still need it to load, so only a white page appears, and the URL alone reveals “about:blank”.
Now, of course, I’ve spoiled in advance that everything has had a really good ending. But I didn’t know that three years ago. I just couldn’t have imagined it. What a shame it would have been for my life if I had answered “no” to the question. I answered “yes” because I have had good experiences in the past with simply saying “yes”; because I am part of a good team that supports each other and in which it is allowed to take detours and because I have an optimistic attitude to life. I dared not to know what was coming. But not all people feel the same way and then maybe great new things don’t happen that would have been possible for sure.
Futures Literacy has become a topic close to my heart. I firmly believe that the world of tomorrow can be shaped and that all people can strengthen their own competence to do so. Because everyone has the ability to think about the future, we do it casually every day, again and again: Can I cross the street now or do I think that a car that is just arriving will reach me at the exact moment I am on the road? Zack. Future was there. And this is where the problem lies. Just as I imagine the future, I also align my actions with the now: The car seems too fast to me, I prefer to wait. The ideas or narratives that we develop for ourselves about the future or the very powerful narratives that shape the public sphere, influence our planning of the present. But we don’t know 100% how it will happen, we just assume, we make predictions. The future is “about:blank”. The more we are able to think about different possible futures, to question assumptions, to invent alternative narratives, the more we can meet challenges with optimism, serenity and real new ideas. Let´s colour the blank.
Future Narratives can teach us the qualitative nature of the world of tomorrow. And we depend on us to do that. We must put the value of the future into words, so that people come together with the desire to achieve this future. (Based on: Helene MacDonald: Abendflüge. 4th edition 2021. p, 10).
The Future Narratives Trainer is a five-day training course for all those who work with people and want to stand up for a future that can be shaped.
Here you will learn methods that can open doors to:
- Recognise the past, present and future as opportunities,
- (Re)find optimism,
- Encourage a change of perspective and to question apparent truths and assumptions,
- Develop new answers to new or old questions,
- Awaken the collective power of innovation and imagination,
- Recognise the ability to act: Do not leave the decisions to others,
- Strengthen empathy as a basis for real togetherness, even and especially in dissonant times.