This group was approved and started its activity in 2003 under the title of “Future Thinking Research Group”. In 2018, it was renamed “Futures studies Group”, and finally, in 2019, it was approved under the title of “Science and Technology Futures Studies Group.”
Futures study is a set of efforts that visualize potential futures and plan for them by analyzing sources, patterns, and factors of change or stability. Futures Studies reflect how the reality of “tomorrow” is born out of changes in the present.
The use of the plural word for the future is because in this scientific field, by using a wide range of methods and techniques, instead of imagining only one solid and inevitable future, several imagined futures are envisaged, which are referred to as alternative futures. This diverse spectrum of futures includes a cone of the “possible”, “believable”, “probable”, and “desirable” futures.
Therefore, Futures Studies is the art and science of discovering the future and shaping the desirable world of tomorrow. It is not only a mere science but a combination of science and art that identifies and discovers the future based on cause-and-effect relationships. Futures studies believe that the future forms from the interaction of the four main factors: trends, events, images, and actions. Our today’s action as active actors in the social space where we live; is the main element of future-making. Recognizing based on past trends, identifying the signals (indicators) of current changes leading to the creation of probable and possible situations in the future, and finally shaping the desirable world of tomorrow; are the three levels of perception in this scientific field. Today, Futures studies emphasize the approach of shaping the desirable future of societies from mere prediction and revelation in the future.
The goals of the group are as follows:
The group’s main fields of research
Phd in Political Science
PhD in Technology Management
Technology Foresight
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