How can we prepare for the future? – Podcast interview with researchers Dr. Petra Aczél and Dr. Zoltán Szántó

What kind of relation do we have with the future? How prepared are we for future changes? The Social Futuring Index shows how good life can be interpreted and to which extent peace, security, attachment, care and balance can be expected in the developed countries in the long term.

 
Imagine standing in a dark room. You gaze into a crystal ball and see our future in it with the help of science. You could think that this is what social futuring research means, “Let’s forget about this crystal ball this time” – said Dr. Petra Aczél, who is an institute director professor and senior research fellow at Corvinus. The Social Futuring Centre is not intended for reading the future but tries to find the underlying factors of the good life expected in the long term in particular places.

The Corvinus researchers have been analysing the criteria for good life together with international and Hungarian partners, for example, the BarabásiLab and the Hungarian Central Statistical Office since 2017. “I do not know how many indexes you have created in your lifetime, but I certainly recommend it. It is a very good training for how a thought can be operationalised” – said Dr. Petra Aczél. In course the preparatory works, the researchers sought answer primarily to this question: how should the life that is worth living be construed?

The index finds answers to this question within the dimensions of peace, security, attachment care and balance. “The framework is built on the unique, matrix-like structure of the aspects, in which the concept of social futuring was interpreted and measured” – said Dr. Zoltán Szántó. They searched for indicators for each dimension in expert groups, and they collected data from public databases, related to – for example – water supply, education, environmental protection, the situation of families and the use of addictive substances, since these circumstances all affect the futuring of a country.