Youth work as a field and an environment constantly deals with change: in young people’s lives, in their communities, and in the world around them. However, when talking about ‘change’, we also talk about the future, or, actually, about futures. It is relatively easy to fall into the habit of thinking that there is just one path ahead, something fixed that we are all heading towards. But is there?

 

This ‘Types of Futures’ tool takes a different view. It invites you to think in ‘futures’, plural. That means recognising that there are many ways that the future could unfold, and that what we do today can, to a certain extent, shape those multiple ways.

 

It also means being curious and open to uncertainty, holding space for different perspectives, even when we do not have clear answers.

A ‘quantum mindset’

To support this process, it is worth adopting what we call ‘a quantum mindset’, not as something scientific or complex, but as a supportive way of thinking and sensing. In other words, it is about being OK with ‘not knowing everything’. It is also about seeing how things are interconnected. Finally, it is about imagining more than one possibility at a time before making any step or any decision.

 

Do you feel ready, curious and open?

 

In a moment, you will explore the seven types of futures. Those are not types of categories that you need to know by heart, but they will help you think about futures differently. Some may feel familiar, others weird, perhaps, or even uncomfortable. No worries, this is part of the process and often happens when assumptions are challenged 😊

Purpose, target group and process

The purpose of the 5 exercises proposed below is to explore a diverse spectrum of futures and possibilities, going from signals and trends to strategic and desired outcomes, to better navigate uncertainty with a bigger openness, imagination, and curiosity.

 

Working with the types of futures will support you to:

  • Reflect on how you relate to different ideas of different futures
  • Challenge your assumptions
  • Pay attention to what is already changing around you
  • Use your body, senses, and curiosity, not just your thoughts
  • Slow down before jumping into actions (solutions, decisions…).

The exercises that follow are for youth workers, educators, and anyone curious who wants to deepen their understanding of different types of futures and explore what it means to develop a ‘future mindset’ in a youth work context.

The list of futures, a notebook, pen or drawing/recording material, depending on how you wish to take notes.

These exercises can be done individually, on your own, or with others. The aim is not to ‘do it right’ but to stretch your reflection, hopefully spark your imagination, and stay connected to the people and possibilities around you.

 

Take your time, be honest, open, and stay curious 😊 The future is already taking shape, sometimes in ways and places that we would not imagine.

Using the ‘Types of Futures’ – a ‘future mindset’ workbook

What follows the types of futures is a series of standalone exercises that you can do alone or with peers. You can write, draw, reflect, walk, whatever helps you connect more deeply with yourself, and with everything and everyone around you.

The seven Types of Futures *

When we look toward the future, we are not facing one single path, but a larger spectrum of possibilities, each offering a unique way to perceive, shape or respond to what lies ahead. From the signals we see and sense today to the unavoidable paths we face, and from the futures we can strategically plan to those we desire, the seven types of futures below invite us to navigate uncertainty with foresight, imagination and curiosity.

Download the seven types of futures in cards format. Just click on the button below!

Download here!

Download the seven types of futures in a text format. Just click on the button below!

Download here!

Exercises

Exercise 1. Flip your brain: challenging assumptions about the future

Intention: to support you in noticing the ‘mental filters’ that you spontaneously use when thinking about change or the future.

 

Process:

1. Choose two types of futures that feel ‘weird’, hard to relate to, or, why not, that sound even boring.

 

2. Exchange with a colleague, a peer, a friend about:

  • What do I usually believe about how the future works?
  • Why might this type of future feel difficult or unrealistic to me?
  • What if the young people I work with live more in this future than I do? In fact: do they?

 

You can also imagine that you had to explain this future to a group of young people or your colleagues. What story or image would you use?

 

Write down, record or draw your reflections.

Exercise 2. Storytelling the Future(s): seeing the future through seven lenses

Intention: to experiment with how different types of futures change our understanding of a single issue, and to deepen strategic and imaginative thinking through storytelling. The idea is for participants to realise the future is not ‘out there’ or in trends alone: it also lives in how we imagine, question, and choose, here and now.

 

Process:

Note: this is an exercise to do in group(s).

 

1. Choose a real situation – Identify a youth work-related issue you care deeply about (e.g., digital exclusion, climate anxiety, youth unemployment).

 

2. With peers or other participants, form a pair or a small group – Each pair or group gets one type of future (alternatively, you can also create bigger groups and select only 3 or 4 futures that seem the most relevant to explore).

 

3. In group, create your story – Using the future type as a lens, imagine and tell a short story set in that future:

  • What does youth work look like?
  • Who is involved?
  • What is valued?
  • Where does it take place?
  • What power structures exist?

 

Go for creativity. This is not about prediction!

 

4. Share with others – present your stories. The idea here is for others to listen without judging but to challenge and stretch your thinking. Feel free to use a collage, symbols, or create an AI image that illustrates that future and the place of youth work in it.

 

5. Insights and reflection – all together, reflect on:
How did the lens shape the story?

  • Was this future open or closed?
  • Did it allow for creativity and justice?
  • Did it amplify or reduce inequalities?
  • Which futures felt hopeful? Which were uncomfortable? Why?

 

6. Meta question – How might this exercise change how you approach the issue today?

 

Write down, record or draw your reflections.

Exercise 3. Sensing the future: feel it before thinking about it

Intention: to invite different ways of knowing (beyond words and analysis, or logic) and to connect with each type of future.

 

Process:

For each type of future, try to:

1. Sense the future – stand or sit in a position that matches what this future (one of the 7 types that you pick or choose) feels like to you.

 

2. Feel that future – close your eyes and ask yourself: what emotion or body sensation emerges? How does it feel there? Comfortable? Known? Or perhaps uncomfortable and strange? Does this type of future make you smaller, bigger, or are you in your actual size and strength? What does it say about your relationship to the future?

 

3. Write down a word, a sentence, or an image that comes to you.

 

Optional: turn one feeling into the lyric of a song (or an entire song!), sketch it, and share with others.

 

Write down, record or draw your reflections.

Exercise 4. Signal Spotting: noticing the futures in our community

Intention: to train oneself to notice where change might already be starting around us (in tiny, small and every way).

 

Process:

Have at your disposal a short diary or journal that you can use every day. You might wish to pay special attention to potential sources of information, such as your youth work environment, projects or initiatives around you, online trends, art, an ad, a conversation with family, friends, news, tensions you might feel around you… anything that feels ‘new’ or ‘different’. As stated in the ‘Futures of youth work‘ research, “Weak signals related to the distant future may be the hardest to distinguish from the background noise, which is why we ask you to keep an open mind and include anything that sparks even the smallest insight. Be creative in your insights and imagine a possible future based on what you notice.”

 

For each signal you spot, ask:

  • Could this grow into something bigger?
  • What future might this be part of?
  • What kind of support would it need from youth work(ers) and/or the community?

Write down, record or draw your reflections.

Exercise 5. The ‘silent futurist’: practising deep and mindful listening

Intention: to explore how to listen to each other, without trying to solve, fix or judge, to allow potentially unlocking new insights.

 

Process:

Note: this exercise is to be done with at least one other person.

One person shares a thought or reflection on one of the types of future and how it relates to their life or (youth) work. The other person(s) only listens or, if necessary, asks questions for clarification. Otherwise, remember: no opinions, no interruptions.

And then you switch roles.

 

Afterwards, everyone writes:

  • What did I hear that surprised or moved me?
  • What changed in how I see this future?

 

Write down, record or draw your reflections.

Worth keeping in mind

No matter whether you did all exercises or only one, you have now explored different types of futures: some probable, others preferable, and many that probably challenge how you ‘normally’ (automatically, spontaneously…) think and function.

 

Yet, these exercises are not meant to give answers. Instead, they aim to open questions, create awareness, spark creativity and curiosity, and, perhaps, encourage the field to make braver choices in youth work.

 

When exploring the Types of Futures, the idea is to realise that futures are not only shaped or made visible by global shifts or big systems. They are also emerging through what you notice, what you imagine, and even through what you choose (today, tomorrow, individually and with others).

 

So, what can you do next?

  • Keep practising! Futures thinking is a mindset, not a one-off activity. The more you engage with these exercises, on your own or with friends, colleagues, peers, or young people, the more your mindset – and all your senses –  will gain fluidity.
  • Spot signals. Pay attention to small, emerging changes around you. They often contain clues about where things are going or heading to. These little ‘pockets of the futures’ are already in the present.
  • Share stories! Conversations that include diverse perspectives and possibilities will enrich the way you approach the future and help you prepare for it. Be open and curious to inspiring exchanges, and at the same time, be ready to listen wholeheartedly.
  • Create spaces! Let uncertainty be part of your work. Futures thinking is not about knowing but grows in reflective, curious environments.
  • Challenge assumptions! The way you imagine futures can reinforce today’s injustices (inequality, exclusion, economic injustice…) or support changing them.  What stories are you amplifying?
  • Use different sources of knowing! Futures are not only thought out. They are also sensed. Use your body, intuition, feelings and imagination, and of course, critical thinking 😊

 

And remember that futures do not begin somewhere else; they begin in the questions you dare to ask now.

 

* Inspired by the futures described by Nikolas Badminton in his book Facing Our Futures: How Foresight, Futures Design, and Strategy Creates Prosperity and Growth (2023)