As a program lead for Future-Oriented Land Use at the Toepfer Foundation, engages with the rural in a variety of ways, from sustainable agriculture, forestry, and nature protection, to fostering democratic de-bates on the necessary transformations in the rural through theater and community projects. is a project manager at the re-search and scholarship department at the ZEIT-Stiftung and wants to challenge the ur-ban mindset in the discourses on rural futures. He is convinced that there are plenty of things cities and rural areas can learn from each ot-her. there. These visions range from a more sustainable and just agricultural system and community owned energy projects to a sufficient infrastructure that serves local needs. Together, we developed a sense of agency – as researchers, practitioners or just as humans living in rural areas.Riel Miller, Head of Futures Literacy (UNESCO), and others argue that we are constantly “using” the future. It is in the present that we make decisions for the future, based on scientific data, narratives, assumptions, ideals, and perceptions. Through anti-cipation and planning, we try to eliminate uncertainty and “optimize” the future, somehow pulling it towards the present. These decisions have implications for the kinds of futures that come into being, as we push the present towards manifesting them. With regard to rural futures, in particular, this would have to take into consideration that narratives of rurality are often rooted in the past, thereby implying a sense of stabili-ty and certainty. Uncertainty, however, is a necessary and, indeed, productive aspect of imagining futures in the plural – and that counts for rural areas, too. In our discussions, we gathered from a broad variety of ex-periences and perspectives, many of which you’ll be inspired by on the following pages. Once again: What do rural futures look like to you? ■06actionURI(https://www.toepfer-stiftung.de/wer-wir-sind/gremien-und-team ): actionURI(https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-r-a39455256/):
< Page 6 | Page 8 >