Following a successful competitive bid, Lancaster University will host the flagship international conference in Futures studies in 2024.

The conference recognises and explores how the arts, humanities, and social sciences can help us understand and respond to the many future challenges that face us.

Launched in 2015, the Anticipation conference gathers a critical mass of Futures scholars and practitioners from government and industry including those involved in a range of UNESCO Chairs on Futures Literacy, Responsible Foresight, Anticipatory Systems, and others.

Previous host cities are Trento, London, Oslo, and more recently, in 2022, Tempe, Arizona, USA, where delegates met at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory of Arizona State University.

Of this unique and exciting opportunity, Dr Carlos López Galviz, from Lancaster University, who led the bid and who will chair the conference, said: “Hosting the Anticipation conference is a great honour and timely challenge, not least because of the international recognition of the work by several Lancaster colleagues in this field, including our work in Social Futures.”

Coinciding, with Lancaster’s own 60^th anniversary, the conference will be an opportunity to showcase research, teaching and engagement on Futures in all areas and engage with an international community of world-renowned experts and colleagues at all stages in their careers.

“The conference,” Dr López Galviz added, “provides an open, supportive, and interdisciplinary environment to test radical ideas and approaches to engage with the future in inspiring new ways.”

It is expected that the conference will take place in late summer, early autumn 2024, with dates soon to be confirmed.

If you would like to know more or join the local organising committee, please get in touch with Dr López Galviz at c.lopez-galviz@lancaster.ac.uk