16/12/2025
𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗢 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗢. 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘇 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆’𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Northwestern University marked World Futures Day with depth, vision, and celebration as UNESCO Chair Shermon O. Cruz, UNESCO Chair on Anticipatory Governance and Regenerative Cities, delivered a culminating lecture to hundreds of Futures Thinking students gathered at the Student Center. Speaking virtually, Prof. Cruz opened with a warm greeting: “Happy World Futures Day… thank you very much for participating and joining the celebration there at Northwestern University.”
The lecture served as both a scholarly foundation and a heartfelt message, reinforcing the university’s growing global role in futures literacy. Prof. Cruz also highlighted a moment of pride for the entire NWU community: at that day, University President Atty. Ferdinand S. Nicolas was representing Northwestern University at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as a panelist for the global World Futures Day celebration, sharing NWU’s pioneering story of embedding Futures Thinking into Philippine higher education.
𝗔 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗪𝗨
Prof. Cruz traced NWU’s journey from introducing its first foresight programs in 2012 to today’s landmark achievement: Futures Thinking offered across all undergraduate programs. He expressed gratitude for the leadership of faculty, especially Mr. Jezreel Larry Caunca and the PhilForesight Institute, whose efforts have expanded futures literacy in the university and elevated NWU as a national leader in foresight education.
Prof. Cruz noted: “I am very, very happy to have this opportunity to discuss futures thinking with you.” His culminating talk distilled years of scholarship into a masterful lecture that centered on this essential reminder: the future does not exist yet and because it does not exist, no one can predict it.
𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀: 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Prof. Cruz introduced the widely used Futures Cone, first conceptualized by Joseph Voros, which maps possible, plausible, probable, projected, preferable, and even preposterous futures. He emphasized:
1. the future is invisible and a blank slate
2. predictions are inherently unreliable
3. there is no such thing as “future data”
4. what we can do is anticipate and imagine possibilities
This framing laid the groundwork for contrasting two major orientations of foresight:
1. The Technocratic-Modernist View
Familiar in military, corporate, and policy contexts, this view treats the future as:
a. a project
b. a plan
c. a strategy
d. something to create, control, or fix
Although useful, Prof. Cruz warned that this approach may reduce the future to things that are extractable, exploitable, and disconnected from ecological and cultural realities.
2. The Relational-Indigenous-Ecological View
Here, the future is not a blank slate, it is a living continuum tied to land, language, ancestry, spirit, and place.
He introduced the Filipino word “siyasip,” a fusion of siyasat (to investigate) and isip (thought), meaning prudent foresight grounded in inquiry and wisdom. He connected this with Ilocano futures thinking through the term “masakbayan,” which carries an inherent tone of care and responsibility toward what is yet to come.
Prof. Cruz invoked the proverb: “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” To understand the future, he said, one must be anchored in memory, heritage, and the intelligence of ancestors.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗻
One of the most powerful metaphors of his lecture described the future as kin, not a distant abstraction but a relative we must care for.
Thinking relationally, he said, means seeing:
a. rivers
b. forests
c. animals
d. communities
e. future generations
…as part of our extended family. In this worldview, foresight becomes a moral act rooted in reciprocity, respect, and intergenerational fairness.
𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Prof. Cruz encouraged students to cultivate imagination as a capability, especially when exploring “preposterous futures,” or futures that seem impossible today but may shape tomorrow.
He connected this with the global success of the Dreams and Disruptions foresight game, played in over 200 sessions worldwide and used extensively by NWU students in building their dioramas of the future.
“Futurists tend to think like crazies,” he said playfully, reminding students that foresight thrives in the space where the impossible becomes a source of insight, creativity, and transformation.
Prof. Cruz outlined six core competencies that Northwestern University hopes to nurture in every student:
a. Questioning the Future
b. Scanning Signals and Trends
c. Anticipating Alternative Futures
d. Choosing Preferred Futures
e. Designing for Tomorrow
f. Adapting and Acting Today
He stressed that foresight becomes meaningful only when it shapes our “Monday morning activities” when long-term vision influences daily decisions.
As he concluded, Prof. Cruz urged students to reflect on a single question: “What kind of relationship would you want to have with the future?”
He reminded everyone that learning foresight is not only about tools and methods, it is about building better relationships with oneself, community, nature, and all beings who share this planet.
The future, he said, is “a living entity.” And like all living entities, it deserves care and respect. The culminating lecture by Prof. Shermon O. Cruz, paired with NWU President Atty. Nicolas’ participation in UNESCO Paris, marks a historic moment, affirming Northwestern University’s growing influence in the global futures movement.
For the 677 Futures Thinking students present, the message was clear and transformative: The future is not something distant. It is alive, relational, and shaped by the choices we make today.
And at Northwestern University, the future is in good hands.
