Through our pilot we are attempting to create a relational foresight commons that puts decentred, alternative knowledge in conversation with dominant or "official" future narratives. Achieving this, depends on abiding by the following values: 

• Ensuring foresight from all sources has equal status 

• Establishing a pragmatic approach that is an alternative to "official" and "unofficial" foresight practices, one that allows for collective problem making.

• Consistently making visible the gaps, connections and nuance between “official” and “unofficial” futures 

• Being useful and intelligible to both funders and to wider civil society 

And ensuring we enact the following behaviours:

• Not top down, but relational

• Oriented towards justice not just technical possibility 

• Embracing distributed potential rather than focussed certainty 

• Rejecting reductionism, and embracing problem making rather than linear solutions. 

• Respecting lived, learnt and practice experience as well as technocratic expertise

• Aim for transformational change, not just measurable impact

Alongside gathering feedback on this document, our next steps are: 

September: review official futures; recruit Observers; establish Observatory values and behaviours 

October: peer group discussion and review; test plans with funders; develop stimulus for Observer sessions; first round of Observer sessions 

November: mapping, revisit Observers; layer in second round of Observer meetings and workshops; develop additional stimulus; review with funders; test values 

December: mapping, revisit Observers; layer in third round of Observer meetings and workshops; revisit mapping; share progress and recommendations