Masterclass
Work creatively with uncertain futures
Work creatively with uncertain futures
How to strengthen your future agency by interpreting signals of change, and making uncertainty your most inspiring friend.
Copenhagen September 30thAarhus October 1st
A practical masterclass
A practical masterclass on how to signal-spot and shape positive, responsible futures: by blending activities, design theory, strategic theory and psychology with reflection on your own subjective view of the future.
This session is facilitated by Mathias Behn Bjørnhof and Jill Hawkins, two practitioners who work professionally with strategic foresight and futures-driven design. They bring very different backgrounds, but both believe in having a pro-active approach and building future agency through grounded, practical action.
Format: Full-day in-person (with an outdoor “safari” element).
By the end of the masterclass, you will
- Strengthen your ability to read signals without doomscrolling or spiralling, whilst staying honest and constructive about challenges
- Understand how to translate signals and patterns into ethical, positive opportunities for your work and projects
- Move from future anxiety to balanced future agency through mindset tweaks and practical tools
- Learn why uncertainty lands the way it does, how design and culture shape what feels normal and possible, and how to shift those codes by thinking critically.
- Understand what shapes your “default future” perspective (i.e., your cultural stories, personal narratives, professional norms)
- Leave with a lightweight, personal “futures practice” of habits and tools you can embed into your life and work.
Why this masterclass now
Before we can work with trends, foresight, or strategy, we need to understand the subjective lens we look through.
In a world that feels increasingly uncertain, many of us might struggle to meet the future with a balanced perspective, perhaps either sensing that everything is out of our hands (or alternatively, with an overdose of optimism!). However, we can train our relationship with uncertainty and our approach to the futures we design. Through simple shifts in attention, interpretation, language, and practice, the future becomes something we can meet and shape with steadiness, creativity and choice.
Programme
Full-day (in-person) — with IRL “Futures Safari”
A hands-on, interactive day designed for depth, reflection, conversation, growth and creative practice.
1. Your personal view of the future
Where our imagined futures come from, and how they quietly drive decisions and emotions.
2. The psychology of the unknown
A human look at uncertainty: threat, control, avoidance and hope, plus what helps people stay open and constructive.
3. Making futures feel real
How design language and cultural codes shape what we believe is possible and legitimate, and how to observe them with criticality
4. From anxiety to agency
A practical shift: how to relate to the future in ways that use your creativity to build steadiness and choice.
5. IRL Futures Safari (outdoor research)
We go outside to “read the world” together. You’ll train your attention to spot signals, patterns, and shifting norms with openness, without collapsing into cynicism or hype. We’ll return with observations and we will help you translate them into meaning.
6. Translate signals into opportunities
Using our safari findings, we’ll play with tools to stretch imagination and observation, and translate insights into opportunity.
7. Your personal futures practice
A simple set of habits and prompts you can use in daily life to sustain a healthier relationship with what might be next.
Wrap-up
Shared reflections, takeaways, and how to keep the practice alive in everyday work (and life).
Facilitators
Jill HawkinsTrends and human insight researcher
Jill is a trends and human insight researcher and fashion psychologist, exploring how fashion, lifestyle and creativity shape wellbeing and identity. Through her 20 years’ experience and education in fashion, design and psychology, she combines design thinking, trend analysis, foresight, and psychological insight to help teams understand cultural shifts and translate them into more responsible products, services, and narratives. She has worked with organisations including L’Oréal, Arla, Nike and LEGO, and she researches, writes, teaches, and speaks internationally on cultural and design trends, the shifting zeitgeist and the psychology of style, wellbeing and creativity.
Mathias Behn BjørnhofFounder of ANTICIPATE
Mathias Behn Bjørnhof is the founder of ANTICIPATE, a Copenhagen-based strategic foresight consultancy helping organisations become more futures-ready through foresight, innovation, and facilitation. He has led 50+ foresight projects across sectors, working with corporates, public institutions, NGOs, and international bodies. His work focuses on making the future tangible and usable—turning signals, uncertainty, and complexity into shared language, clearer choices, and practical next steps. Mathias is an accredited Professional Futurist and regularly teaches and guest lectures on foresight, sustainability, and futures literacy.
This masterclass is relevant if you:
- Work with strategy, innovation, leadership, design, communication, policy, or transformation
- Want a more constructive (and honest) way to engage with uncertainty and the future, personally and professionally
- No prior futures experience needed, only your openness and a sense of curiosity
Date
Copenhagen September 30th, 2026
Fyrskibet (XI)
Frederiksholms Kanal 25 A
1220 København K
Aarhus October 1st, 2026
Erhvervsakademi Aarhus (Guldbygningen)
Ringvej Syd 104
8260 Viby J
Format
Time:
09.00-15.00 (DK time)
Format:
Full-day in-person
(with an outdoor “safari” element).
The masterclass will be conducted in English
Price
DKK 2.500,- / EUR 335,-
Prices are shown in Danish kroner and exclude VAT.
The price is per participant.
