Our Challenge

We're facing some big 21C challenges. Uncritically doing the same thing we've done before won't  help us. We need new approaches, new methods, new strategies.

What we do

  • We explore multiple selves, learn to grow our voice and power, and come from deep inner alignment with our purpose...

  • We explore the social changes and challenges that matter to us, what the future is asking of us, and how we want to mutate the future...

  • We experiment with and develop creative approaches and methods that will help create these futures...

About the course

The mutant futures program is a course developed to support change makers, professionals and innovators in stepping up their creative impact in the world, their communities, organizations and in their lives. 

We live in Epic Times, with great challenges and transitions. Our capacity to align our sense of purpose to these societal changes is critical. We can find meaningful roles to play in these times, and  from this foundation we can forge new methods that can address our challenges and create change in new, more powerful ways. Find out about:  

Self Discovery and Alignment

Methodological Hybridity and Creativity

What selves is the future asking us to grow?

Answering the Call of Epic Times

Let a million ideas bloom

Each of us holds a gift for the world, even if we don't know what that is. Each of us is important, holding the potential to address our social challenges, run experiments and find solutions. There are myriad challenges, but as well millions upon millions of people who are and can find creative solutions to these challenges. What challenge is the future asking you to participate in?

The Journey

This is a journey of self discovery and creation, where you explore what the futures is asking you to become, and develop the methods needed to create the changes our world is asking for.

We are the seeds of change. Each of our stories forms part of an emerging shared story and our world and futures. Each or our experiments for change form a tapestry of interconnected systems. This movement moves, indeed transgresses, personal, professional and political boundaries, opening spaces for meaningful change.

Course elements

  • Five live (2.5 hour) sessions (on zoom) spaced across 7 weeks of learning provides in-person processes and support as well as cohort learning

  • In-depth course content, including videos, presentations and exercises, provide clarity and fluency in the ideas and methods

  • A learning community supports each learners ability to share insights, get questions answered and connect meaningfully

  • Cohort is limited to 20 people for maximum instructor-participant interaction

Content of sessions

  • Session 1

    This two and a half hour session (150 min) provides an introduction to the key concepts and processes, provides a space for introduction and sharing with peer learning. Participants are eased into the course and given the overall journey map.

  • Session 2

    This two and a half hour session (150 min) takes participants through the Re-imaging Self process, where they renew and develop a deep sense of purpose and meaning, and where they discover "mutant" selves that can become a new part of who they are and support new "powers".

  • Session 3

    This two and a half hour session (150 min) is a guided exploration of the societal transitions and 21st century challenges that can form a fundamental part of the participants purpose, meaning and direction. This session orients the participant toward participating in, supporting and mutating new societal futures.

  • Session 4

    This two and a half hour session (150 min) is a capstone session which provides a process for participants to ideate and design experiments for developing mutant methods that both align deeply with personal purpose and which will address the societal transitions and 21st century challenges. Participants get guidance on piloting and prototyping this new method or strategy

  • Session 5

    This two and a half hour session (150 min) completes the course, as participants report on the experiments they ran. It is also an opportunity look back and reflect, celebrate the moment and look forward with anticipation.

Testimonials

Kieran Murrihy, Professional Futurist

“The MFP is a gem of a program. It’s wonderful to go on a journey of discovery with a group of people that are aware, intelligent and capable of encouraging each others fuller selves into the space. The frameworks and activities have enabled me to sharpen my understanding of where I can best add value in the world. They have also challenged me to consider how I show up more fully for my family and friends.”

Stephen Reimann, Senior Policy Maker

“The Mutants program gave me an opportunity to develop the skills, theories and understandings I acquired during my time completing the Swinburne Masters in Strategic Foresight. Expertly and gently guided by Jose, we worked coherently, challenging my biases and exploring my own personal narrative, within a safe and supportive environment, to develop my pitch to more clearly communicate my unique proposition and focus my own mutant foresight practice.”

Liz Landray, Municipal Community Development Officer

“The MFP provided me with a community of practice to continue and develop my futures knowledge base, practitioner skills and importantly to develop ongoing deep insight and self awareness of my practice.”

Heather Laurence, Futurist

“The MFP was both experimental and rooted in sound Foresight intention. It helped me to gain a deeper understanding into my Self and my Work and brought some clear insights that have catalysed ideas for future work and my journey in these times of great transistion and crisis.”

Mahesh Kandasamy

“The Mutants Futures Program has been a “game changer” for me. It has been a unique, deep and powerful learning experience that has enabled greater clarity of purpose and internal alignment. Unearthing certain personal narratives and metaphors embedded deeply in the unconscious was incredibly challenging and confrontational at times. However, the genuinely safe, inclusive and collaborative learning space created by fellow participants encouraged me to embark on a deeply reflective journey that has led to me identifying and securing work that is meaningful to me.”

Charmaine Sevil, Designer and Futurist

“I was deeply grateful to be part of this program. The mutant futures program itself is an emergent journey enacted through our own personal reflective rediscovery of the ‘authentic self’. Harnessed through enriching source material and practices, by focussing the lens to understand the interior of ones self. The discovery is the catalyst that drives our craft and professional pathways into our own ambitions of the future. The journey allows us to understand the weight of the past by looking back at our experiences travelled, the push of the future in having the encouragement to acknowledge our own true potential and the pull of the future is explored through personal metaphors and narratives that guide us into the future that we want to create and participate. This developmental program assists us to unearth our true value of contribution, enabling professional emergence and development within a supportive collaborative environment.”

Reanna Browne, Workforce Futures

“I have always held a deep belief in the adage that a learning journey can be best judged by how much it challenges and shifts how we see the world. With this as my yardstick, the Mutant Futures program has been one of the most powerful learning journey’s I have experienced to date. Among the plethora of practical insights around building my foresight craft, was the surfacing of the often unconscious dimensions of self. This program is an intimate voyage of self discovery and deep reflection and is delivered in poetic and reflective grace that asks you to challenge your conventional framing of self to better understand how this this framing underpins (consciously or otherwise) what we do, and do not do (and why) in the context of better understanding and developing our foresight/futures ‘craft’.”

Tara Nadun

“Thanks to the MFP, I found validation for the path that I had taken. It created the space for me to slow down, and to meet others who were on a similar journey. I am truly grateful for the people I met through the programme, for Jose’s gentle leadership, and the opportunity to play with combining emotional growth with entrepreneurial growth.”

Course curriculum

  • 1

    1 - Getting Started

  • 2

    2 - Re-imagining Self

    • Video Intro to Re-imaging Self

    • Video Presentation on Re-imagining Self

    • Re-imaging Self Visualization Process

    • Re-imaging with Oliver Markley

    • Reminder: Using the New Image

    • Are you ready to write a pitch?

    • Extra: Creating an Open Ended Narrative

    • Open Q&A for Re-Imagining Self

    • Advanced Text Version of Re-imagining Self Process
  • 3

    3 - Re-imagining World

    • Video Intro to Re-Imagining World

    • Video Presentation on Re-Imagining World

    • Journal questions for Re-Imagining World

    • Old Video Presentation on Re-Imagining World
  • 4

    4 - Re-imagining Method

    • Video Intro to Re-Imagining Method

    • Video Presentation on Methodological Hybridity and Mutant Methods

    • Nesta "Our Futures" resources and game info

    • Journal questions for Re-imagining Method

    • Open Q&A for Re-imagining Method

    • Complementary access to the Anticipatory Experimentation Method - Short Course

    • Older Video on Mutant Methods and Methodological Hybridity

  • 5

    5 - Where to from here?

    • Video on Next Steps

    • Other offers

Instructor(s)

Dr.

Jose Ramos

José Maria Ramos is director of the boutique foresight consultancy Action Foresight, is Senior Consulting Editor for the Journal of Futures Studies, and is Senior Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has taught and lectured on futures studies, public policy and social innovation at the National University of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), Leuphana University (Germany), the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia) and Victoria University (Australia). He has over 50 publications in journals, magazines and books spanning economic, cultural and political change, futures studies, public policy and social innovation. He has also co-founded numerous civil society organizations, a social forum, a maker lab, an advocacy group for commons governance, and a peer to peer leadership development group for mutant futurists. He holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature, a Masters degree in Strategic Foresight, and a Ph.D. in critical globalisation studies. He has a passion for the coupling of foresight and action, which has included both theoretical work through published articles, consulting work for federal, state and municipal governments, as well as citizen experiments in methodological innovation. He is originally from California of Mexican ancestry. Born in Oakland, he grew up in a very multi-cultural suburb of Los Angeles. After living in Japan and Taiwan, where he studied Japanese and Mandarin, he moved to Melbourne Australia to be with his wife, De Chantal. They have two children, son Ethan and daughter Rafaela. His other great passion is in considering who we are as planetary beings, which includes his ethnographic study of alternative globalizations, writings on planetary stigmergy, and research on cosmo-localization. This line of work connects him to the truth that we are all brothers and sisters inter-dependent with our planet and each other for our survival and wellbeing - our shared commons.

Course starts in

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Live Session Times

* There are sessions in two time zones, please have a look at both for the session time that is best for you.  


Australasia / Americas

Session 1 

São Paulo, Brazil          Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 8:30 pm BRT

New York, USA              Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 7:30 pm EDT

Mexico City, Mexico        Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 5:30 pm CST

San Francisco, USA         Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 4:30 pm PDT

Wellington, New Zealand    Wed, 13 Sep 2023 at 11:30 am NZST

Sydney, Australia          Wed, 13 Sep 2023 at 9:30 am AEST

global times

Session 2 

São Paulo, Brazil          Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 8:30 pm BRT

New York, USA              Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 7:30 pm EDT

Mexico City, Mexico        Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 5:30 pm CST

San Francisco, USA         Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 4:30 pm PDT

Wellington, New Zealand    Wed, 20 Sep 2023 at 11:30 am NZST

Sydney, Australia          Wed, 20 Sep 2023 at 9:30 am AEST

global times

Session 3 

São Paulo, Brazil          Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 8:30 pm BRT

New York, USA              Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 7:30 pm EDT

Mexico City, Mexico        Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 5:30 pm CST

San Francisco, USA         Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 4:30 pm PDT

Wellington, New Zealand    Wed, 27 Sep 2023 at 12:30 pm NZDT

Sydney, Australia          Wed, 27 Sep 2023 at 9:30 am AEST

global times

Session 4 

São Paulo, Brazil          Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 7:30 pm BRT

New York, USA              Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 6:30 pm EDT

Mexico City, Mexico        Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 4:30 pm CST

San Francisco, USA         Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 3:30 pm PDT

Wellington, New Zealand    Wed, 4 Oct 2023 at 11:30 am NZDT

Sydney, Australia          Wed, 4 Oct 2023 at 9:30 am AEDT

global times

Session 5 

São Paulo, Brazil          Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 7:30 pm BRT

New York, USA              Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 6:30 pm EDT

Mexico City, Mexico        Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 4:30 pm CST

San Francisco, USA         Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 3:30 pm PDT

Wellington, New Zealand    Wed, 1 Nov 2023 at 11:30 am NZDT

Sydney, Australia          Wed, 1 Nov 2023 at 9:30 am AEDT

global times


East Asia / Asia / Africa / EU

Session  1

Melbourne, Australia           Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 7:00 pm AEST

Seoul, South Korea             Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 6:00 pm KST

Mumbai, India                  Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 2:30 pm IST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates    Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 1:00 pm GST

Berlin, Germany                Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 11:00 am CEST

Lagos, Nigeria                 Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 10:00 am WAT

global times

Session 2 

Melbourne, Australia           Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 7:00 pm AEST

Seoul, South Korea             Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 6:00 pm KST

Mumbai, India                  Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 2:30 pm IST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates    Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 1:00 pm GST

Berlin, Germany                Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 11:00 am CEST

Lagos, Nigeria                 Tue, 19 Sep 2023 at 10:00 am WAT

global times

Session 3 

Melbourne, Australia           Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 7:00 pm AEST

Seoul, South Korea             Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 6:00 pm KST

Mumbai, India                  Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 2:30 pm IST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates    Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 1:00 pm GST

Berlin, Germany                Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 11:00 am CEST

Lagos, Nigeria                 Tue, 26 Sep 2023 at 10:00 am WAT

global eyes

Session 4 

Melbourne, Australia           Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 8:00 pm AEDT

Seoul, South Korea             Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 6:00 pm KST

Mumbai, India                  Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 2:30 pm IST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates    Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 1:00 pm GST

Berlin, Germany                Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 11:00 am CEST

Lagos, Nigeria                 Tue, 3 Oct 2023 at 10:00 am WAT

global times

Session 5 

Melbourne, Australia           Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 8:00 pm AEDT

Seoul, South Korea             Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 6:00 pm KST

Mumbai, India                  Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 2:30 pm IST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates    Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 1:00 pm GST

Berlin, Germany                Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 10:00 am CET

Lagos, Nigeria                 Tue, 31 Oct 2023 at 10:00 am WAT

global eyes