science

Future workshop

Future workshop is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Future workshop rather than just read about it. In short: The future workshop is a futures technique developed by Robert Jungk, Ruediger Lutz and Norbert R. Muellert in the 1970s.

Key takeaways

Future workshop belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Future workshop to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Future workshop from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The future workshop is a futures technique developed by Robert Jungk, Ruediger Lutz and Norbert R. Muellert in the 1970s. It enables a group of people to develop new ideas or solutions of social problems. A future workshop is particularly suitable for participants who have little experience with processes of creative decision making, for example children or youth. However it is a useful method for any kind of complex problem that requires many stakeholders' involvement. The future workshop method requires an intensive preparation and support by trained moderators. It is used in spatial planning to involve citizens in the planning process, in software engineering to create a common vision of the future, and in health care to solve complex and multifaceted problems. The method is similar to Open Space Technology, Future Search, BarCamp or Unconferences. Future workshop may also be used as a kind of action research method.

Phases Preparation phase: The method, its rules and the scheduled course of the workshop (in accordance with the participants) is introduced. Critique phase: The problem is investigated critically and thoroughly. First of all, a visualised brainstorming is performed and a general and critical question concerning the problem is framed. Fantasy or visionary phase: All participants try to work out a vision of the future, to draw a picture of future possibilities. Implementation phase: The ideas found are checked and evaluated with regard to their practicability. Discussions are related to the first step in order to achieve the vision.

References

General Jungk, Robert, Müllert, Norbert (1987): Future workshops: How to Create Desirable Futures. London, England, Institute for Social Inventions ISBN 0-948826-39-8 Robert Jungk, Norbert R. Müllert: Zukunftswerkstätten. Mit Phantasie gegen Routine und Resignation. München 1989 (Erstveröffentlichung 1981) ISBN 3-453-03743-X Beate Kuhnt, Norbert R. Müllert: Moderationsfibel - Zukunftswerkstätten verstehen, anleiten, einsetzen. Neu-Ulm 2004 (Neuauflage) ISBN 3-930830-45-0 Olaf-Axel Burow & Marina Neumann-Schönwetter (Hrsg.): Zukunftswerkstatt in Schule und Unterricht. Hamburg: Bergmann & Helbig 1997. (2. Auflage) ISBN 3-925836-40-3 Petra Eickhoff, Stephan G. Geffers: Power of Imagination Studio - A Further Development of the Future Workshop Concept, chapter 26 in Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, Steven Cady (ed.): The Change Handbook - The Definitive Resource on Today's Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems - 2nd edition, San Francisco 2006 ISBN 1-57675-379-4

Notes

External links Heino Apel: The Future Workshop urn:nbn:de:hebis:34-1507 Heiko Rüppel: Zukunftswerkstatt-online "Workshop Methods" (section on "The Future Workshop"), The Danish Board of Technology (accessed 10 March 2014)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Future workshop

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Future workshop claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Future workshop before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Future workshop ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Future workshop

In research: Future workshop appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Future workshop in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Future workshop is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Futures techniques, Meetings, Social science methodology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Future workshop outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Future workshop in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Future workshop means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Future workshop out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Future workshop in simple terms?

The future workshop is a futures technique developed by Robert Jungk, Ruediger Lutz and Norbert R. Muellert in the 1970s.

Why does Future workshop matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Future workshop?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Future workshop.