Preparing for a World that Doesn't Exist – Yet

This US-centric book is about framing a Second Enlightenment to create communities of the future and is based on the experience of Communities of the Future (COTF) since 1989. The term Second Enlightenment was also used back in 2001 by the International Futures Forum with which I have been involved. In our case, this related specifically to the Scottish Enlightenment context and how a new enlightenment could emerge to balance the strengths of the original impulse. Having said this, there is much in common in terms of the diagnosis and approaches to the future both in terms of background ideas and praxis, although a useful addition would have been the IFF Three Horizons model as a way of framing conversations. Both organisations use the phrase transformational learning, but readers will find many other new concepts in this book such as Master Capacity Builder, Creative Molecular Economy, Polycentric Democracy, Weak Signals and Mobile Collaborative Governance - there is a glossary at the end.

The book is invaluable as an agile toolkit that includes a number of strategy proposal worksheets identifying the emerging idea, potential impact, strategies for building capacities and expected outcomes. It is clearly structured, for instance in explaining the living system concepts for a Second Enlightenment (p. 20) where the analysis identifies a pattern from the First Enlightenment, a second for the Second Enlightenment, and an integral pattern for what they are calling Ecological Civilisation, which has to be our ultimate direction of travel, although the key question is how we are going to integrate technology in this scheme, control with participation. The book covers education, economy, politics and healthcare, drawing on wide and deep experience while proposing practical processes and ways forward, finishing with a summary of seven principles of transformational change. It is essential reading for changemakers at every level – see www.communitiesofthefuture.org and www.internationalfuturesforum.com