The Inaugural Forum
What does it mean
to practise futures well?
This was the question connecting participants at the inaugural Bali Futures Forum.
Drawn from diplomacy, design, science, education, sustainability, technology and culture, participants brought different methods and vocabularies to a shared concern: how futures practice can improve the conditions around us and help societies respond intelligently to what lies ahead.
Co-hosted by Futures Imagined and Tent Futures, the Forum created an intimate, practitioner-led setting for candid exchange, collaborative enquiry and reflection.
Sessions
Seven windows
onto the future
Different questions, held together by a common purpose: putting futures practice in the service of people, communities and the planet.
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01
The Future of Adaptive Capacity
This conversation examined how climate advocacy can shape perceptions of what vulnerable nations are capable of surviving. It considered how narratives of vulnerability can mobilise support, but can also diminish recognition of local knowledge, agency and adaptive capacity.
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02
Batik Motifs of the Future
Led by Cheryl Chung, this interactive making workshop invited participants to imagine possible worlds through heritage and pattern. Participants developed batik motifs inspired by the values, rituals, environments and forms of work they hoped might endure or emerge.
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03
The Future of Meaning-Making
Vaughn Tan explored meaning-making as a vital human capacity: how we decide what matters, create value and navigate genuine uncertainty in a future increasingly shaped by AI. Konstantin Levinski complemented this discussion by examining the underlying architecture of risk associated with artificial intelligence.
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04
AI and the Future of Work
This session considered how AI might enhance strategic, creative and organisational work. It examined what can be delegated to machines, what must remain a matter of human judgement and where people should direct their attention as working practices change.
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05
The Future of Travel and Connection
Marko Russiver used Wayfolk, his platform for place-based connection, as the starting point for a conversation about how meaningful relationships might be created and sustained across increasingly mobile lives.
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06
The Future of Education
Led by Esther O’Callaghan OBE, this interactive workshop considered whether education is keeping pace with emerging technology, who risks being left behind and what young people need in order to shape what comes next.
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07
The Future of Art, Science and Design
This emersive lecture explored what becomes possible when creative imagination, scientific enquiry and design practice meet. It considered how these disciplines can work together to make emerging questions tangible, engage different publics and expand the range of futures we are able to imagine.
Participants and Contributors
Different disciplines,
shared questions
The Forum brought together practitioners working across diplomacy, foresight, technology, education, sustainability, design, science and culture, including Cheryl Chung, Honor Harger, Jeffrey Salim Waheed, Joseph D’Cruz, Vaughn Tan, Konstantin Levinski, Marko Russiver, Esther O’Callaghan, Diego Maranan and more.
Reflections
Different forms of
knowledge in contact
The inaugural Bali Futures Forum created a candid, practitioner-led setting in which different disciplines, methods and forms of knowledge could meet. Presentations, workshops and open conversations gave participants space to examine emerging questions, share work in progress and reconsider aspects of their own practice.
The ideas and relationships developed during the gathering will inform future editions of the Forum.
If you would like to learn more or express interest in participating, please get in touch.
