Are you working with futures literacy or one of its elements—such as futures thinking, foresight, speculative or futures design, or other imaginative and speculative methods? Are you ready to co-create new ideas and projects that bring futures thinking into the lives of young people?

Join us for the Futures Innovation LAB, a three-day gathering of curious minds, changemakers, and educators who are passionate about exploring the power of futures literacy in practice. This seminar will provide a platform for sharing knowledge and expertise, fostering partnerships and creating innovative projects.

Why Participate?
● Networking: Connect with colleagues and organisations that share your interest in Futures Literacy. Form relationships that can lead to future collaborations and impactful projects.
● Learning: Engage with leading experts in the field of Futures Literacy. Learn about cutting-edge trends and innovative approaches in youth work.
● Collaboration: Contribute to discussions that can shape the future of youth work and Futures Literacy. Collaborate with others to develop ideas and projects.
● Inspiration: Gain insights from the experiences of others and share your own. Be inspired to take new approaches in your work with young people.

Who are we looking for?
Participants who:
● Are familiar with the concept of futures literacy or its elements (futures thinking,
foresight, speculative/futures design, etc.)
● Ideally have previous experience applying futures literacy in any context
● Have the motivation and capacity to develop or implement projects—especially
with or for young people—through futures literacy
● Are 18+ years old
● Speak English at B2 level or higher

Practical info:
● Participation fee: 100 €
● Accommodation, meals, and travel costs will be covered by Erasmus+ programme (details on reimbursement will be shared with selected participants) 

What We Offer
To support your participation.
● Travel: Economy class travel to and from Chorvátsky Grob/Bratislava. You might
use travelling days 25th and 29th November to take part for the whole duration of
the programme.
● Accommodation: Comfortable lodging (in 2 beds shared rooms) during the
seminar in hotel Agatka.
● Meals: All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be provided.
● Interesting program

To join the first round of selection, please fill in the application form.

Participants selected in the first round will be notified by the end of September. A second
round may be opened later.

The Project Team Consists of:
Alena Tomanová
She has been involved in non-formal education in the field of youth work since 2008. She is currently working at YouthWatch, where she focuses on project coordination, as well as expert, methodological, and research activities. At present, she particularly enjoys mapping and analysing new youth trends and collaborating with a network of trendspotters. She is also part of the network of social innovators in Slovakia, where she introduces futures literacy into youth work and experiments in this field through various international and national projects. For example, she has worked on topics such as the future of healthy relationships, leisure time, education, and more.

Thomas D'hooge
He is a Belgium-based speaker, trainer and facilitator in Futures Literacy. He works with youth workers, educators and public organisations to make futures thinking practical and inclusive, from classroom activities to full Futures Literacy Labs. Active in the Teach the Future community, he helps teams imagine multiple futures, test assumptions and act with more agency today. Thomas is developing the “Futures Barometer” for schools and is writing a handbook, translating field practice into accessible methods. He works in Dutch and English.

Tomáš Pešek
For two decades, Tomáš has been dedicated to developing the potential of young people and seeking innovative ways to support their development. He is most familiar with non-formal education, coaching, and experiential pedagogy, areas in which he has long been active. He lectures in several programmes and also conducts long-term training for youth workers on the use of a coaching approach. He is a speaker at various conferences, where he often discusses the young generation, current youth trends, and how to prepare them for the future. He values long-term visions, an emphasis on quality, and projects with real impact.

Petr Fridrich
He graduated in Andragogy and Human Resources Management at Charles University. He has worked as an HR specialist, learning manager, development consultant, and lecturer. He also has experience with cultural projects and is known as a “laughologist,” public speaker on mental health, and founder of the stand-up show Nudná konference (“The Boring Conference”). For fifteen years, he worked in research and media, later as a strategic and innovation consultant. He collaborates with the international think-tank Innovation in Politics, co-founded the Czech platform for the Inner Development Goals, and is a member of the global Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Since 2020, he has been active in Futures Thinking and Futures Literacy, engaging in many international communities in this field. In 2022, he completed a UNESCO facilitator seminar, and in 2023, he co-organized the first Futures Literacy Lab in the Czech Republic at Kampus Hybernská.

YouthWatch.sk
Address: Office:
Topoľčianska 3203/22 Štúrova 3 (Budova Luxor)
851 05 Bratislava 811 02 Bratislava
Slovensko Slovensko

VAIA is a unit of the Deputy Prime Minister's Office for the Recovery Plan and the Knowledge Economy of Slovakia, that is responsible for the creation and coordination of research and innovation policies with the aim of transforming Slovakia into an ambitious and innovative country.

The first Mutual Learning Event (MLE) took place on May 23, 2024 in Bratislava, Slovakia as part of the Horizon Europe project Eye of Europe, which aims to contribute to the maturing of a vibrant Research and Innovation (R&I) foresight community in Europe and to support the integration of foresight practices into R&I policy-making.

Forty participants from partner organizations and external representatives of ministries, governmental bodies, R&I funding agencies and the European institutions gathered in the premises of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic.

This MLE, organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), focused on the identification of emerging needs and approaches in the practice of foresight for research and innovation. To this end, the MLE in Bratislava was structured along the following phases:

• Eye of Europe’s vision and main building blocks, presented by project coordinator Radu Gheorghiu
• The context and role of this MLE, and a brief overview of other mutual learning events that took place since 2020, presented by Michal Pazour 
• Showcasing preliminary results of the Stocktaking of the organisation of R&I Foresight activities in the European Research Area (ERA), by Simone Weske. The presentation highlighted key benefits of the R&I foresight activities, constraints and bottlenecks, as perceived by the survey respondents.
• Four country studies - Slovakia, Finland, Austria and Sweden - have brought interesting insights and comparisons related to R&I foresight uptake and potential for improvement:
  Slovakia: Research and Innovation System and the potential for R&I Foresight |Michal Habrman, Government Office of the Slovak Republic
  Finland: Finnish national foresight ecosystem | Juha Kaskinen, FFRC University of Turku Finland
  Sweden: Leading from the Future in Sweden | Joakim Skog, Vinnova Sweden
  Austria: R&I foresight | Christian Naczinsky, Austrian Ministry of Education
• Discussions in four participant groups on emerging functions and approaches of R&I foresight. Overall, the group discussions touched on the dynamics of R&I foresight demand and supply and on the diversification of tools and methods for establishing dialogue with policy-making.
  
  This video created by the event host, Výskumná a inovačná autorita (VAIA), offers a glimpse into the spirit of both the MLE and the R&I foresight masterclass that preceded it. The detailed outputs of the MLE will be published in a dedicated report.
  
  
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  Five MLEs are planned in the project, with the following one being held online in September 2024. All Eye of Europe MLEs are organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), Eye of Europe partner and key Czech national think tank and academia based NGO with a rich experience with knowledge-based policy making support and (participatory as well as expert based) foresight activities.