What is Futures Literacy (Zukunftskompetenz), and on which two insights does it rest?

UNESCO defines Futures Literacy as the capability to better understand the role of the future in what we think and do. It rests on two insights: (1) the future does not exist, it can only be imagined; (2) humans have the capacity to imagine.

Because the future does not yet exist, every statement about it is an anticipation, an image we create now. Those images steer our decisions whether we notice or not: a student who expects AI to replace programmers chooses differently from one who expects it to augment them. Futures Literacy means becoming aware of these images, questioning them, and deliberately using imagination to widen them.

Its practical value is agency (Handlungsfähigkeit): someone who sees the future as a space of options, not as fate, can evaluate choices and act, instead of only reacting to fear-driven headlines.

Go deeper:

• UNESCO: What is Futures Literacy? — the definition and the two insights in UNESCO's own words.
• UNESCO: Futures Literacy — UNESCO's programme, labs and network.