Towards meeting futures’ educational needs: a case study of CERN IdeaSquare planet

With the future being increasingly perceived as uncertain, education must develop skills to foster sustainability and responsibility in unpredictable circumstances. This study explores how CERN IdeaSquare Planet (I2P), an innovative educational program at the intersection of innovation and transformative futures education, works towards meeting this need. I2P teaches key skills such as transformative thinking, openness to alternatives, and comfort with uncertainty, while also addressing the largely unexplored impact of futures exercises on present behavior. For explorative study of the impacts of I2P on these skills, we study three pilot program runs. We employ both thematic analysis of reflection text data from participants and facilitators, and ethnographic participant observation as methodologies. Findings suggest that I2P develops essential futures skills such as openness to alternative futures, managing uncertainty and complexity, and self-organized transdisciplinary teamwork. However, while openness to alternatives increased, participants ultimately gravitated towards adopting presently dominant future narratives like techno-optimism, limiting the consideration of fully transformative futures imaginaries. This study provides practical insights for educators interested in implementing similar methodologies for transformative innovation education, raises new questions for further research in futures education, and offers novel insights on previously unexplored futures imaginaries’ impacts on present problem solving.