On March 5 and 7, the College of Education held 2 "Futures Literacy Workshops" in room ED601, led by visiting research scholar Dr. Sohail Inayatullah. The workshops were attended by about 70 participants, including members of the Futurization Committee, such as the Academic Vice President and Director of the Sustainable Development and Social Innovation Center, Dr. Hui-Huang Hsu, as well as faculty members and students exploring sustainability. Dr. Hsu delivered a speech during the workshop, expressing the hope that through the guidance and application of tools and methods by Dr. Sohail Inayatullah, we can achieve our expected future goals.
Dr. Sohail Inayatullah is one of the top 2% scientists globally. In the 2-day workshop, he discussed "futures studies" with the teachers. He told them that futures studies are better than a crystal ball. "Because a crystal ball asks others to tell you what the future is, while futures studies involve making the crystal ball yourself." He tried to ask questions from different angles to guide the discussion among the members. He said, "There's no correct answer. But this will immerse you in the mindset of future literacy and futurist thinking."
In addition to guiding teachers to understand futures research methods, he further mentioned the "use of the future" to create visions for the future, "making the future compelling, making it different." He used the example of collaboration with the Singapore Department of Transportation to transform Changi Airport to compete with Dubai Airport. They conducted workshops with Dr. Inayatullah to discuss the idea of "3D printing aviation electronics." By 2030, they aimed to turn Changi into the world's first learning hub airport and immediately put it into action. He used this example to illustrate how futurists try to identify "what's next" and help change strategies to turn visions into reality. "We are not just studying futures studies, but also doing our best to change the future."
The second workshop not only involved case studies but also utilized Causal Layered Analysis (CLA). Dr. Inayatullah focused on future thinking and emphasized that futures studies are a core focus of education departments worldwide. He cited the example of the Norwegian Ministry of Education, which expands future education through fostering individual achievement, collaborative cooperation, response to emergencies, and practice among ministries and commissions.
Addressing the challenges of future development, Dr. Inayatullah used the example of rural Roma in Australia to discuss human responses to threats. Apart from promoting industry alliances and developing precision farming, he emphasized the coexistence of technology and threats. He stated that the ability to respond to and perform in the face of the future is an influential factor in becoming an industry leader. Regarding learning, he believed that interdisciplinary thinking, openness to different scenarios, and positive future thinking are the keys to cultivating future literacy, which can enhance work efficiency and life satisfaction.
Regarding the future university model, Dr. Inayatullah invited distinguished guests and students to participate in a workshop to discuss their visions for the future of Tamkang University. Ideas included removing age limits for students, campus Uberlization, and creating an E-campus without traditional classrooms. Through brainstorming sessions, he enabled participants to deeply understand the concept and practice of futures education, gradually achieving the goal of "making learning something that brings genuine joy from within."
Participating in the workshop, Rung Yeh, a first-year graduate student in Transportation Management, expressed a further focus on the concept of futurization. He supports sustainable education and technological changes, and hopes that "starting from the field of futures studies, we can anticipate new forms of technology and education in the future."
