The futures of futures studies
Pushing the boundaries of futures thinking

Imagerying: Beyond Possible Worlds

In futures studies, although there is no consensus in terms of scenario typologies, scenarios as largely utilised as a strategy of speculation about possible futures. However, what could be advantage of exploring scenarios for impossible worlds? While fictional worlds are intrinsically incomplete and inconsistent, using fiction as a strategy for the creation of scenarios can stimulate high doses of creativity and imagination as it momentarily gets us away from linear, rational, and trends-oriented approaches. Therefore, in carrying indeterminacy and incompleteness as intrinsic qualities of imagination towards futures, fictional worlds have the power of detaching us from the need to pursue a complete picture of something to dive into uncertainty as fuel for imagination of cultural values. This paper proposes ‘Imagerying’ as an imagery-driven visioning process that situate images, both given or created, as prompts or supportive language for exchanging ideas and imagining fictional futures to unfold values for futures rather than final solutions.