Futurists have called for bold and sustainable visions to tackle unprecedented challenges on the final day of the Dubai Future Forum 2024, the world’s largest gathering of futurists.

 

“The scale of crises we have created is so vast and extraordinary that the solutions we continue to hold on to—those we envision when we close our eyes and dream of a utopian future—are simply no longer fit for purpose,” said Liam Young, Film Director and Architect, on 

 

Speaking at a panel titled ‘Experiences of the Future: How Can They Inspire Change Today?’, Young emphasised the urgent need for new visions of sustainable futures that are “radical, global, and collective in scale”. He highlighted the power of fiction as a universal language capable of simplifying complex scientific concepts and making them emotionally engaging for a broader audience.

 

Extraordinary power

“I believe there is extraordinary power in taking the ideas that define who we are and who we could become and finding ways to bring them into the world,” he added.

 

Honor Harger, Executive Director of the ArtScience Museum, echoed this sentiment, stressing the importance of collaboration between art and science to address systemic challenges.

 

“The intertwining of art and science is essential—art has immense emotional power to transform hearts and minds, while science and technology drive innovation and speak to us intellectually. Neither alone is sufficient to create systemic change; we need both working together in dialogue,” she said.

 

Harger also underscored the role of museums in “bridging the present and the future, inviting the public to imagine what comes next”. She called for the cultivation of “protopian” visions—alternatives that navigate the middle ground between utopian idealism and dystopian despair—highlighting the Museum of the Future’s mission to provide a meaningful framework for shaping intentional and purposeful futures.

 

Time and space

In a session titled ‘The Future of Humanity in Time and Space: Where Do We Go from Here?’, Omran Sharaf, Assistant Foreign Minister for Advanced Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE, noted that space exploration is fundamentally about safeguarding life on Earth.

 

“When we explore other planets or send missions into outer space, it is about understanding the changes happening here and preserving life on Earth. Everything we have done, are doing, and will do in the future is rooted in sustaining life on this organic world we call home,” Sharaf explained.

 

He elaborated on the essential integration of space-based systems into everyday life, from communication and navigation to disaster management. He stressed the critical role of data from space technologies in informing strategic decisions that enhance sustainability and preparedness.

 

Future preparedness

Expanding on the theme of future preparedness, filmmaker and conceptual artist Michael Madsen reflected on humanity’s need for storytelling to confront existential threats.

 

“The truth was that only by facing what our ancestors feared the most—that their world might become uninhabitable—hope was created. Preparing for such eventualities was their act of political imagination,” he noted.

 

The third edition of the Dubai Future Forum, held from November 19 to 20 at the Museum of the Future, has attracted over 2,500 experts from 100 countries, alongside representatives from 100 global organisations specialising in future design.--TradeArabia News Service