Changing Approaches to the Future in Swedish Forestry, 1850–2010

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erland Mårald ◽  
Erik Westholm
Keyword(s):  
Forest Ecology ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Intensive Management ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Forest Production ◽  
Modeling Techniques ◽  
The Future ◽  
High Production ◽  
Future Horizon

This article explores the changing construction of the future in Swedish forestry since 1850. The framework is based on three concepts: (1) knowability, addressing changing views of knowledge; (2) governability, addressing changing views of the ability to steer the future; and (3) temporality, referring to varying ways of relating to time. The results reveal that until the 1980s, trust in science-based forestry triggered other knowledge-based activities, such as education, surveys, and field trials. The future was seen as predictable and forecasts were expected to support increased forest production. In the 1970s, the environmental debate about the forest incorporated a pluralistic futures agenda. High-production forestry using intensive management methods was questioned. Futures studies shifted focus from predictions to scenarios, highlighting a less predictable future open to human agency. Paradoxically, with increased knowledge of forest ecology and forest markets with improved modeling techniques, the future horizon shifted to one of risks and uncertainties.

The Knowledge Creation Organization: The Case of Alphana

2012 ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Thang Nguyen Ngoc
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sustainable Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
The Future

Knowledge and the capability to create and utilize knowledge today are consid- ered to be the most important sources of a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage. This paper aims to advance understanding of the knowledge creation of firm in Vietnam by studying Alphanam Company. The case illustrates how knowledge- based management pursues a vision for the future based on ideals that consider the relationships of people in society. The finding shows that the case succeeded because of their flexibility and mobility to keep meeting to the changing needs of the customers or stakeholders. The paper also provided some suggestions for future research to examine knowledge-based management of the companies in a different industry segments and companies originating in other countries

The Futurists. Experts in World Futures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Other ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Images Of The Future ◽  
The Way

Alvin Toffler’s writings encapsulated many of the tensions of futurism: the way that futurology and futures studies oscillated between forms of utopianism and technocracy with global ambitions, and between new forms of activism, on the one hand, and emerging forms of consultancy and paid advice on the other. Paradoxically, in their desire to create new images of the future capable of providing exits from the status quo of the Cold War world, futurists reinvented the technologies of prediction that they had initially rejected, and put them at the basis of a new activity of futures advice. Consultancy was central to the field of futures studies from its inception. For futurists, consultancy was a form of militancy—a potentially world altering expertise that could bypass politics and also escaped the boring halls of academia.

scholarly journals Hope against hope: COVID-19 and the space for political imagination

2021 ◽  
pp. 136754942110045
Author(s):  
Jonathan Gross
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Political Imagination ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
Devised Theatre ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
The Future

COVID-19 has loosened neoliberalism’s hegemonic grip on the future. Amid the enormous suffering experienced internationally, there is much discussion of how to ‘Build Back Better’, and hope for a more caring, just and sustainable world. But competing futures are being imagined and planned. Hope is never politically neutral, and the content of collective hope is a key site of political struggle. This is partly a question of space: who has the literal and discursive space in which to develop visions of the future? The following article considers the role that cultural studies can play in this struggle. ‘Conjunctural analysis’ has a key task, making visible the competing futures contained within the present. But cultural studies should go further: combining conjunctural analysis with methods drawn from a range of scholarly and activist traditions – including critical pedagogy, devised theatre and the interdisciplinary field of futures studies – that deliberately create spaces for imagining new futures.

scholarly journals Regulation of Lifelong in Education and İts Economic, Social Benefits

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1298-1310
Author(s):  
Allahyar Muradov Et al.
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Sustainability in education is important in ensuring knowledge-based and innovation-driven development and human capital reproduction. Sustainability is particular important for the prevention of some economic and social problems that may arise in the future and raising the competitiveness of the country. Sustainability - the prevention as some of economic and social problems that may arise in the future is of particular importance in raising the country's competitiveness. The aim of the research is to estimate the economic-social benefits of regulation of sustainability in education and to give the suggestions in the direction of the improvement of the effectiveness of the regulation. The impact of continuity in education on the formation and development of human capital, knowledge-based society building, labour intelligence, competitiveness and the improvement of welfare are assessed cross-country in the article. In particular, in recent years, researches and politicians have analysed the ‘4th industry’ revolution (‘Industry 4.0’) ‘the benefits and losses in the medium and long-term perspective and its interaction with the sustainability of education. Here are two issues: 1) socioeconomic disadvantages of ensuring sustainability in education, 2) socioeconomic advantages of ensuring sustainability in education. Firstly, it is analysed the impacts of increased unemployment, reduction of employment income, declining social security and welfare that will be resulted as problems on economic development. Secondly, it is analysed (ensuring in sustainability condition) the distinguished factors of rapid technological innovation, labour productivity, repatriation of human capital, raising competitiveness on the international level, innovation-based development, economic benefits of knowledge and skills.

Semantic Web, Ontology, and Linked Data

Web Services ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 127-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anindya Basu
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Web ◽  
Linked Data ◽  
Knowledge Organization ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Data Modelling ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Enormous Amount ◽  
The Future

Enormous amount of information is being produced every day and get consumed according to the needs of human being. Semantic web and ontology represent information which are machine processable and understand the semantics present among the entities. Ontology can be represented as Knowledge Organization and data modelling tool. Librarians are designated as “Information Custodian” or “Knowledge Keepers”. Implication and application of concepts in LIS can play big role in shaping knowledge-based services and mining and inferring them in better way in future. Ontology and semantic web is the future of LIS as speculated by several professionals and experts. This chapter would delineate a basic overview of Semantic Web, Ontology and linked data.

The Image Today: Field-Notes on the Interdisciplinary Use of the Visioning Workshop

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Cingel Bodinet
Keyword(s):  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Full Bloom ◽  
The Future ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Images Of The Future

Fred Polak wrote in his classic text, The Image of The Future: The rise and fall of images of the future precedes or accompanies the rise and fall of cultures. As long as the society’s image is positive and flourishing, the flower of culture is in full bloom. Once the image begins to decay and lose its vitality, however, the culture does not long survive. This is, arguably, one of the most important tenets of Futures Studies as an academic discipline. This essay explores the importance and practice of imbuing our communities (especially our youth) with the ability to create positive future images; assisting them in the recognition of their own agency in the creation of preferred futures; and encouraging them to become active participants in the creation of positive personal and communal futures today.

The future of the circular economy and the circular economy of the future

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-546
Author(s):  
Ricardo Weigend Rodríguez ◽  
Francesco Pomponi ◽  
Ken Webster ◽  
Bernardino D'Amico
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Alternative Futures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Paradigm ◽  
The Future ◽  
Bibliometric Review ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe circular economy (CE) has gained momentum in recent years as a new economic paradigm. While the CE sets a very defined vision for a sustainable future, it still operates in the present. As such, existing guidance on and research into the CE lack a necessary understanding of how to go from the present to the future. What if the future is different from what the CE expects? The CE cannot answer this question adequately and therefore is not capable of developing this understanding alone. To address this shortcoming, this paper proposes futures studies (FS) as a complementary discipline because it offers exactly what CE lacks: methods to explore alternative futures.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the level of interdisciplinary research in the built environment between CE and FS, a systematic literature review is carried out using a bibliometric review and a snowballing technique. This manuscript reviews seminal literature in both fields and their theoretical background.FindingsThis paper demonstrates the lack of collaboration between CE and FS and highlights a systemic failure within CE, which is to consider the future as unknowable. It further provides an initial understanding of where the synergy sits, recommendations on where to start and introduces some of the FS chief methods that could be used by CE in the built environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ bibliometric review and snowballing approach might have missed out on some literature that still falls within the scope. Such limitations are due, on one hand, to the authors’ bibliometric review approach by selecting publications based on matching keywords. On the other hand, the snowballing approach is affected by the authors’ subjective judgements on which of the publications are worth to explore based mainly just on the title and abstract of the paper.Practical implicationsThe inclusion of Futures Studies will allow a stronger focus on approaching possible futures to be integrated overtly into existing work, research and action within the CE community.Social implicationsIt is more reasonable to expect that by cooperatively creating and implementing constructed futures with FS methods and CE principles, a better future for the built environment be reached. This is why it is so relevant for humanity that these two communities start to interact as soon as possible and maintain and open and productive collaboration in transitioning towards a sustainable society.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind by considering FS into the CE debate.

A practitioner’s view of the future of futures studies

Futures ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Hines
Keyword(s):  
Futures Studies ◽  
The Future
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