THIS IS THE VERY BEST NEWS FROM THE FUTURE
New award captures the spirit of 'Learning from the Future'
- Dateline
- 5 January 2009
The Wall Street Journal’s annual innovation awards were this year coupled with FutureWorld’s ‘Best Headlines from the Future’ award.
The FutureWorld awards are based on subscribers’ views of the future scenarios in their weekly MindBullets publication. The competition is designed to encourage businesses to explore alternate scenarios, and the entries came, not from the writers and strategists, but from business executives themselves – a sure indication of relevance in the marketplace.
This year, award nominations ranged from the comic to the tragic and highlight the vastly different perspectives on our alternate futures. It goes to show once again that forecasting is difficult, if not impossible – especially when it concerns the future.
At last night’s nomination ceremony, Arthur C. Clarke commented: “The future is never a problem. The challenge is to get people to act on it – before they have to.”
ANALYSIS >> SYNTHESIS: How this scenario came to be
The Wall Street Journal’s annual innovation awards were this year coupled with FutureWorld’s ‘Best Headlines from the Future’ award.
The FutureWorld awards are designed to encourage business to explore alternate scenarios, and these entries came not from writers and strategists, but from business people themselves. This is a clear indication that the approach continues to gather popularity.
This year, nominations included everything from the funny to the tragic.
Here are the nominations for the award of
‘Best Headlines from the Future – Dateline 2029’
The London Sunday Times
EU UPS RETIREMENT AGE TO 100
The New Scientist
BABY CONCEIVED NATURALLY – SCIENTISTS STUMPED
The Independent
OZONE CREATED BY ELECTRIC CARS NOW THOUGHT TO BE KILLING
MILLIONS IN CHINA
Greenpeace Monitor
EXPLOSION OF BALD EAGLE NUMBERS THREATENS UNITED STATES
LIVESTOCK
Wall Street Journal – Europe
IRAQ REMAINS CLOSED OFF; PHYSICISTS ESTIMATE IT WILL TAKE 10
MORE YEARS BEFORE RADIOACTIVITY DECREASES TO SAFE LEVELS.
Le Monde
FRANCE MUSLIM MAJORITY SEEKS POLITICAL CHANGE
USA Today
AT CASTRO’S FUNERAL PRESIDENT CHELSEA CLINTON STOPS BAN ON
CUBAN CIGARS BUT BANS ALL SMOKING
Miami Herald
GEORGE Z. BUSH SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2032.
Melbourne Sun
OIL PRICE HITS $25 A BARREL. MID-EAST IN TURMOIL AS
FUNDAMENTALISM RISES
Der Spiegel
RESULTS OF 20-YEAR, $20 BILLION US STUDY: DIET AND EXERCISE THE
KEY TO WEIGHT LOSS
Washington Post
NEW US FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES THAT ALL NAIL CLIPPERS,
SCREWDRIVERS, FLY SWATTERS AND ROLLED-UP NEWSPAPERS MUST BE
REGISTERED BY JANUARY 2030.
Warning: Hazardous thinking at work
Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. Our Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, challenge and stimulate strategic thinking. Use these at your own risk. Any reference to actual people, entities or events is entirely allegorical. Copyright Futureworld International Limited. Reproduction or distribution permitted only with recognition of Copyright and the inclusion of this disclaimer.
