A Public University Futures Collaboratory: A Case Study in Building Foresightfulness and Community

What happens when a public university decides to construct a cross-disciplinary, cross-functional initiative to explore the future, build capacity to be more “future ready” and resilient, and serve as a resource for the university and broader community to help them do the same? This article presents a case study of a “Futures Collaboratory” launched at a Pacific Northwest public, urban university in the 2019 to 2020 academic year. The three intersecting goals of the effort were to: explore and cultivate interest and capacity among interested individuals across campus; develop institution-wide “foresightfulness” as a collective; and end the year in a position to make thoughtful, creative, and well-reasoned recommendations about being more future-facing as a university. The dual pandemics of Covid-19 and white supremacy proved to deepen the commitment to learn and practice futures thinking. A primary goal was to ensure that the university would benefit from efforts to democratize foresight activities while taking practical steps to navigate our own systemic volatility, uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity. This article discusses the effort, early work, disruptions, and risks during the Collaboratory’s first year, as well as the emergent reflections, opportunities, and recommendations prepared for university leadership. Special attention is paid to the consideration of equity and social justice in the future of higher education and the tools and resources needed by the sector to build liberatory futures.