Rethinking Science, Policy
Gaming the Future
Re-activating creativity and play in professional spaces
About the Seminar
April 26, 2019 8:30am—10:30am
Remarkable failures of foresight make headlines all the time. The now-bankrupt Blockbuster could have purchased Netflix in 2000; policymakers missed signals of an impending downturn before the 2008 subprime market collapse; and Uber failed to anticipate the public outcry after a fatal accident in Arizona involving one of its autonomous vehicles. Despite access to powerful foresight tools, governments, companies, and individuals lack the capacity or the will to put insights about the future into practice.
In this New Tools breakfast seminar, Lauren Keeler argues that traditional foresight tools often do not effectively empower people to take action and they ask too little of people’s enormous capacity for creativity. Play, on the other hand, can motivate action, build connections, and spark innovation. But, play is often viewed as separate from professional activities and decision making.
Keeler introduces several games she has designed that guide individuals and organizations to envision new futures, reckon with potential shocks on the horizon, and engage in civil dialogue about important issues. Join us on April 26th to learn about these games and play them yourself!
Location Information
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20036
Choate Room (A/B)
Links
Seminar Video
Past Series
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November 18, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking Measuring and Communicating Societal Impacts
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October 08, 2025 9:00am
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September 24, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking the Outcomes of Biomedical Research
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May 20, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking the NIH: Indirect Cost Recovery Policy
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March 31, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking Taste and Odor in Drinking Water: From Obstacle to Opportunity
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March 20, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking Technology Assessment: Policy Signal vs. Noise
John Alic
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April 24, 2025 9:00am
Rethinking Containment: Deliberately Released Genetically Engineered Organisms
Emma Frow, Dalton George
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October 03, 2024 3:30pm
Carbon Removal Social [Science]
Holly Buck, Sara Nawaz, Rory Jacobson, Marcela Mulholland, Amanda Borth
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June 04, 2024 12:00pm
Hopeful Climate Futures through Speculative Storytelling: Decolonizing Global Climate Action
Chinelo Onwualu, Joey Eschrich
