Unlock Your Futures Literacy Skills

Prepare to rethink what’s possible and reimagine tomorrow with Futures Unlocked. This event series is designed to empower individuals and organisations with the knowledge, strategies and tools necessary to not just survive, but thrive in an increasingly unpredictable and complex world.

When: The last Tuesday of each month

Where: QUT Gardens Point Campus

Cost: There is no cost for this event series.

Transforming insights into action

Futures Unlocked bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and practical application. At its core, this series translates empirically grounded future insights into actionable frameworks, offering unparalleled value to researchers, strategists and leaders engaging with abductive methodologies. Participants will gain exposure to prospective theorising, speculative rigor and scientifically driven approaches to conceptualising desirable futures. Whether you are seeking to construct theoretical paradigms around possible futures or explore methodologies that combine creativity with analytical precision, this series will illuminate pathways for rigorous, impactful foresight work.

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Multidisciplinary perspectives from visionary leaders

Our program features an exceptional lineup of globally recognised speakers and thought leaders, bringing diverse disciplines together to explore the future through both theoretical and practical lenses. From foundational theories in future studies to innovative, data-driven methodologies, this series provides a rich spectrum of insights that resonate across fields and industries.

Expect to deepen your understanding of critical topics such as:

Future-focused abductive reasoning and theory building.
Data-informed speculative modeling.
Systematic approaches to mapping trends, forecasting scenarios and mitigating risks.

The dialogue doesn’t stop at theories. Our speakers emphasise actionable foresight, showing you how to harness emerging opportunities in dynamic and complex systems.

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Who will benefit from Futures Unlocked?

If your work, passion or influence involves shaping what lies ahead, this series is designed for you. Whether you are:

An entrepreneur or business leader navigating market complexities,
A policymaker or decision-maker influencing societal outcomes,
An educator or scholar preparing the next generation, or
An individual committed to understanding global shifts and their local implications,

Futures Unlocked provides the critical tools and network to prepare for what’s next.

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Keynote speakers and thought leaders

Our speaker lineup includes some of the most prominent voices in futures thinking, foresight strategy and advanced decision-making. With deep expertise across academia, industry and policymaking, these thought leaders bring a wealth of experience to help participants tackle the challenges of uncertainty and innovation.

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Prof Katja Thoring | Tues 22 September 4pm-5pm (online only)

Professor Katja Thoring holds the Chair of Integrated Product Design at the TUM School of Engineering and Design in Germany. Her research sits at the intersection of design, architecture and engineering, with a particular interest in how physical environments shape creativity, productivity and wellbeing. She investigates “creative space” not only as a setting for current practice but as a foundation for imagining and prototyping futures that matter - futures where work, learning and innovation are supported by thoughtfully designed environments. Her work draws on design science, user‑centred methods and emerging technologies, exploring themes such as design innovation, creative processes and speculative design for future scenarios. Through this lens, she examines how spaces and systems can be re‑designed to support new ways of thinking, collaborating and creating.

Futures Unlocked - Past speakers

Dayle Stanley | Tues 25 August

Dayle Stanley is the Chief Futures Officer, leading the National Security College (NSC) Futures Hub. She joined the NSC on secondment from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Trade & International Division in March 2021. She is a 2024 Fulbright Scholar - awarded the Australian-United States Alliance Studies scholarship (sponsored by DFAT) where she will explore the long-term trends shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC.

Dayle has 20 years of experience in government including law enforcement and defence strategic intelligence and in environment and energy international policy, including representing Australia in a range of multilateral fora.

Dr. Matt Finch | Tues 28 July

Dr. Matt Finch is a practitioner and researcher in the fields of foresight, strategy, and negotiation. He is an adviser to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Future Generations, in which capacity he contributed to the Ukraine 2040 scenarios developed with the Ukrainian Parliament. Additionally, he holds roles as a member of the Futures Council at Australia's National Security College, an Associate Fellow of Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and a Research Associate of Oxford's Emerging Threats Group. During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt was Programme Director for Oxford's work with the World Health Organization-affiliated Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.

Matt's foresight practice centres on supporting the development of plausible, challenging, and relevant scenarios to help users expand their sense of what is going on around them and what might transpire, informing wise judgment and effective strategy. Recent projects include scenarios for the future of Internet governance with Australia's domain name body auDA, and an extended term as an adviser to the European cybersecurity agency ENISA. A qualified civil and commercial mediator who consults across a wide range of sectors and domains, at Oxford Matt currently leads the research project "Death, dying, and afterlife in the age of AI".

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Dr. Mahdi Abolghasemi | Tues 23 June

Dr. Mahdi Abolghasemi is a Senior Lecturer in Statistical Data Science, specialising in time series forecasting, decision optimisation and machine learning for applications in retail and energy. Before joining the Queensland University of Technology, he held academic positions at Monash University and The University of Queensland. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Forecasting and reviews for several international journals, including Scientific Reports, International Journal of Production Research, Applied Energy, and Computers & Industrial Engineering. His research integrates advanced statistical methods with machine learning to address complex forecasting and optimisation challenges. He develops novel algorithms capable of handling hierarchical structures, systematic events and volatility in time series data. His primary research areas include demand forecasting in supply chains, renewable energy forecasting and decision‑focused predictive analytics.

Prof Jennifer Whyte | Tues 19 May

Professor Jennifer Whyte is a leading expert in project leadership at the University of Sydney’s School of Project Management. Her work examines how major projects are organised and how digitalisation and offsite construction can transform the sector. A core focus of her research is “making futures that matter” - understanding how organisations imagine and build desirable futures through their project practices.

Her work spans field studies on innovation in Sydney’s infrastructure megaprojects, conceptual research on future‑making, and lab‑based development of tools to support systems integration and change management. Professor Whyte is a Fellow and Policy Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has held senior academic roles in Australia, the UK and the US, including at Imperial College London and Stanford University. She has contributed to major industry and policy bodies, such as the UK Construction Leadership Council and the Building Safely Committee, and currently serves on the Global Infrastructure Hub Academic Advisory Committee.

Shermon Cruz | Tues 28 April

Shermon Cruz is an award-winning futurist, educator, and adviser recognized globally for advancing futures literacy, anticipatory governance, regenerative cities, and engaged foresight. He serves as Chair of The Millennium Project Philippines Node, UNESCO Chair on Anticipatory Governance and Regenerative Cities in the Philippines at Northwestern University, and Director and Chief Futurist of the Center for Engaged Foresight. He has trained thousands of professionals, consulted in more than 30 countries, and advised governments, multilateral organizations, corporations, and universities in futures and foresight worldwide. A prolific author, editor, and peer reviewer, he also created the award-winning Dreams and Disruptions foresight game. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Futures Studies at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia as a Higher Degree by Research Scholar with support from the Australian Government.

A recording for this session is not available

Dr Colin Russo | Tues 24 March

Dr Colin Russo is an Australian futurist, strategist, and CEO of Engaging Futures, based in Brisbane. He is the developer of the Inclusive Futures Method (IFM), a five-phase foresight framework for creating inclusive, intergenerational futures. Colin has held senior roles in the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Mines and Energy, and later served in the CEO’s Office at the City of Gold Coast. He led the community consultation for the award-winning Our Bold Future initiative, coordinating 20 public workshops to shape the city’s long-term vision. He has presented futures work for the Australian War College, Victoria Police Legacy, the AIS 2032 Futures Outlook, and major Queensland water strategy projects. His expertise spans the futures of cities, health, environment, and public policy.

A recording for this session is not available

Will Hartigan | Tues 24 February

Will is the Director of Strategy and Practice at the NSC Futures Hub, on secondment from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Will is a leading Australian expert in Futures and strategic foresight, with extensive experience leading Futures teams and initiatives across multiple government departments. He most recently led the landmark Policy Fit for the Future project at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. This initiative delivered a range of strategic Futures projects across the Australian Government to build capability and support long term, cross government policy analysis on emerging issues. The project culminated in the release of the Australian Government Futures Primer – a practical guide co-developed with the Futures Hub for applying futures thinking to policy development and advice.

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Dr Peter Scoblic- | -25 Nov

In this session Dr Peter Scoblic examined how leaders and organisations could better anticipate the future by combining the imaginative breadth of scenario planning with the rigor of probabilistic forecasting. Drawing on his work with Philip Tetlock, he showed why traditional expert judgment often fails and how structured forecasting methods improve decision-making under uncertainty. Dr Scoblic is the Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and co-founder of Event Horizon Strategies and holds senior roles at New America, CSIS, and Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. He has published widely on strategic foresight in leading outlets and is the author of the forthcoming American Psychohistory (Simon & Schuster), exploring the quest to quantify decision-making while preserving human judgment.

A recording for this session is not available

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Dr Stefan Hajkowicz- | - 21 Oct

In this engaging fireside chat, Dr Stefan Hajkowicz – chief research consultant at CSIRO working at the interface between science and technology and policy and strategy – joined CFE Director Professor Michael Rosemann to explore the megatrends that have been reshaping our world and the strategies organisations have used to respond. Drawing on over 15 years of strategic foresight experience at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, Stefan shared real-world examples and decision-making frameworks that helped organisations anticipate change and uncover hidden opportunities. The session offered practical insights into how leading organisations built resilience and adapted in an era of uncertainty, and how these approaches could be applied in your own context.

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Mariagrazia Berardi- | 30 Sept

For over 20 years, Mariagrazia Berardi has supported the internationalization and innovation of SMEs, with a strong focus on sustainability in the textile and fashion sectors. She has lived and worked across Europe and the Far East, gaining deep experience in global production, particularly in China, Mauritius, and Madagascar. Since 2016, she has been the project manager for the Enterprise Europe Network at CNA Lombardia, helping SMEs grow internationally. She also teaches sustainability in fashion through the Connecting Cultures Foundation’s Out of Fashion course and has collaborated with SDA Bocconi on EU projects like Small But Perfect. Since 2021, she has incorporated Futures Thinking and Foresight into her work with businesses and organizations.

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Prof Dirk Hovorka | -26 Aug

In this thought-provoking session, Prof Dirk Hovorka explored how Information Systems (IS) research engages with the concept of The Future - not as a distant, digital extension of the present, but as a richly inhabited and contested space. He challenged the dominant narratives that treat the future with instrumental optimism, often overlooking its complexity and potential for critique. Prof Hovorka argued for positioning futures as a site of inquiry—one that enables the creation of novel concepts, tests boundaries, and reflects on evolving values and morals. By working with imaginaries of technological, social, and cultural possibilities, participants were invited to consider how both the world and our science could be reimagined beyond mere projections of the present.

A recording for this session is not available

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Dr Elissa Farrow- | -29 July

In this session, Dr Elissa Farrow explores how participatory foresight can empower change leaders to navigate uncertainty and shape preferred futures. Drawing from her academic research and real-world experience, Dr Farrow introduces practical tools like scenario co-creation, futures wheels, and speculative artefact design to foster inclusive and adaptive transformation. A key highlight of the session is the introduction of the Six Pillars Foresight Framework, developed by Prof Sohail Inayatullah. Dr Farrow walks participants through how to apply this powerful framework to any futures thinking process, helping individuals and organisations map, anticipate, and transform their futures with confidence. Whether you're a change leader, strategist, or simply curious about the future, this session offers valuable insights and tools to begin your own foresight-inspired journey. Watch now to learn how to shape change through futures thinking.

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Dr Joseph Voros- | -24 June

Renowned futurist and foresight expert Dr Joseph Voros delivered a one-hour presentation in June. Drawing on decades of experience in strategic foresight, Dr Voros introduced key foundational concepts and explored what it truly means to study the future in a structured, actionable way. In this recording, Dr Voros emphasises that engaging with the future requires cultivating a mindset attuned to change. To support this, he presents a suite of powerful foresight tools and frameworks - including the Future Cone, which distinguishes between different types of futures, the Futures Triangle, and the Three Horizons Framework, which link past, present, and future dynamics. These tools, Dr Voros explains, not only help us anticipate and respond to change but also empower us to shape preferred futures. Through real-world examples, he demonstrates the practical application of foresight while also addressing the challenges organisations face in embedding future-oriented thinking and communicating compelling visions of what lies ahead.

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Contact the host of Futures Unlocked | CFE Event Series