The 25th Futures Conference focused on the futures of technologies, their development, importance, role and risks as a driver of social change. A record number of 330+ participants from more than 35 different countries met up in Turku (Finland) to discuss the effects of social and environmental changes on technological development and vice versa.
I have been asked to provide a brief summary of my key takeaways from the well-attended conference. This is not an easy task. As with in any conference with many parallel tracks - here, as many as seven sessions were underway during the same time - one could not help to leave with the feeling that one had missed many things, that many discussions had been unfolding in spaces that one could not (also) be present in, and that any conference experience by default may be more individual than reflecting all participants. A conference is thus a wonderful reminder that we are living in a world not only of multiple futures, but also consisting of multiple presents.
Below, therefore, is not so much the takeaways from the 2025 Futures Conference as my takeaways from my 2025 Futures Conference presented with an emphasis of what might interest European foresight communities:
The foresight community is growing - and becoming more diverse
As the record number of participants, and the incredibly diverse set of papers and presentations, documented, the interest in foresight and futures studies is at a remarkable high. It also attracts new groups of people - policymakers, corporate representatives, technology specialists, and defense and military organisations were all represented within the conference. It was clear that the current state of the world highlights the importance of navigating uncertainties, and that for many groups perceived technological transformations raises as many questions as answers at the moment. On a personal note, I was happy to help organize a panel discussion featuring high-level Finnish life science industry representatives - and that these took time out of their calendars to attend an academic futures conference sent a key signal of how they value foresight and technology foresight at this present moment.
European policy foresight is advancing
Several presentations also outlined the many ongoing foresight-related activities across Europe. Besides presentations from academics and foresight practitioners, the conference in Turku featured inputs from the European Commission, from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and from the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) which have become a leading light amongst EU institutions in utilizing and advancing foresight as a key part of policy development.
Futures of Technologies? AI
Perhaps it is not surprising that a 2025 conference on Futures of Technologies saw plenty of discussion about topics related to Artificial Intelligence. This was the focal point for several keynotes, including Director of the Millennium Project Dr. Jerome Glenn, whose call for global anticipatory governance of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) before it's too late reverberated through the conference.
Defense and security a big part of our presents
Another major takeaway that said much about the state of the world in 2025 was the emphasis on defense and security issues. This emphasis was clear from the list of attendees, from the presentations, and from the corridoor discussions throughout. Keynote speaker Elina Hiltunen set an inspiring start for this, as she discussed how military organisations can learn from weak signals presented in science fiction literature.
Against Blank Slate Futuring
Finally, with so much talk (not least in society at large) about the uncertainties in the current world environment, it was refreshing to hear keynote Cynthia Selin's call against 'blank slate futuring'. During her keynote, she underlined how important it is for scenario work to consider not only key uncertainties, but also certainties and the stickiness of elements unlikely to change. As she noted, "the future is not a blank state, but cranky and crammed" and a better understanding of this allows also for better understanding of what can be changed and how. Along these lines, she also warned that futurists (and people in general) should beware when new forms of lock-in emerges that constraints our futures. With a conference full of discussions on technological development (e.g. AI), it was hard not to see her words as a reminder of the dangers of unreflected lock-in caused by technological determinism.
