Deze informatie is alleen in het Engels beschikbaar.
Disciplines: The tools and ways of work that are being taught can be applied on all disciplines. Several of the disciplines we will use as cases are derived from the fields of: Education, Digital media, International Relations and Public Administration, Public Health Management and many more!
Themes: Futures Thinking, Resilience, Skills Development, Design Thinking
Admission requirements
This course is an (extracurricular) Master Honours Class aimed at talented Master’s students. Admission will be based on academic background, GPA and motivation.
This course will also be offered to professionals, as a mixed classroom approach in which the
students and professionals will follow part of the course together.
Description
The world is changing at an incredible pace. Much of the knowledge and many of the skills you’ve developed over recent years may no longer be relevant in the decade to come. So how can you be better prepared for what lies ahead?
In this course you will learn and practice Futures Thinking, a powerful set of tools and techniques designed to help you anticipate change, think creatively about the long term, and approach uncertainty with confidence. These methods can be applied across any field or issue, from technological disruption to global inequality.
Could tools like Futures Thinking have helped us anticipate a global crisis like Covid-19, or understand shifting geopolitical landscapes before they unfold? Imagine a world where generative AI is as commonplace as a spell checker. What role might inequality still play and how could it evolve?
As you develop a Futures Thinking mindset you will engage in creative analysis, explore alternative futures, and learn how to design responses that are adaptive, resilient, and informed. You’ll also work closely with stakeholders, co-creating scenarios that reflect the future challenges and opportunities that matter most to them.
By the end of the course, as a group, you will design and host a Futures Thinking training as well as writing a white paper on the topic, bringing together everything you’ve learned to support others in preparing for the future with insight, imagination, and purpose.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have:
developed a Futures Thinking mindset;
used creative skills to contribute to a solid analysis of future issues;
learned how to apply design thinking principles to problem solving;
learned how to adapt to changing circumstances, by internalising ways to respond
flexibly to changes;improved on how to deal with uncertainties;
built resilience when faced with future changes;
Facilitated (part of) a Futures Thinking workshop
Programme and Timetable
The sessions of the course will take place on Tuesdays from 17.15 - 19.00:
Dates TBA
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Session 4:
Session 5:
Session 6:
Session 7:
Session 8:
Session 9:
Session 10:
Location
TBA
Course load
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
9 Seminars of 1.75 hours (participation is mandatory) (15.75 hours)
Literature reading: 60 hours
Practical work: 16 hours
Futures Thinking game design: 50 hours
Assessment
The assessment methods will look as follows:
The participants will design a Futures Thinking workshop around one of the topics that have been discussed during the meetings. They will turn in an outline of the workshop, present part of their workshop as a dry run in class and, if possible, will facilitate the workshop with their stakeholders.
The participants will write a Reflection Paper
The students will do their homework assignments, including writing a white paper based on the case of their choice.
Students can only pass this course after successful completion of all partial exams.
The assessment methods will be further explained in the first session of the class.
Reading list
Book: Imaginable – Jane McGonigal
Futures Thinking Specialization on Coursera.
Other possible literature will be announced in class or via Brightspace.
Brightspace and uSis
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Master Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Registration
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 2 February until and including Sunday, 22 February 2026 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Master Honours Challenges in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact
Yentl Croese: y.croese@llinc.leidenuniv.nl Learning and Innovation Consultant, Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre, Leiden University.
Melissa Amoros Lark: m.y.amoros.lark@llinc.leidenuniv.nl
Project Manager, Leiden Learning and Innovation Centre, Leiden University.