NWU PhilForesight Institute

LOOK: Jezreel Larry R. Caunca, Director of the PhilForesight Institute, was invited to serve as one of the panelists and judges for the Agtutubo Fair of the Provincial Youth Excellence and Service (YES) Awards – Best Youth Organization Project Category, organized by the Provincial Government of La Union through the Provincial Youth Development Office (PYDO) as part of the celebration of Linggo ng Kabataan and International Youth Day 2026.

He joined the panel in evaluating 30 finalist youth organizations, recognizing their innovative projects, leadership, service, and meaningful contributions to their communities.

The engagement provided an opportunity to celebrate youth excellence and witness how young people are creating meaningful solutions and shaping better futures for their communities.

Congratulations to all the finalists and youth organizations! Your initiatives remind us that the future is not something we simply wait for—it is something young people actively shape today. 🌱

Photos by Adrianne Stanley Ancheta, Y-Forest Officer

Shaping Futures with the National Youth Commission

Northwestern University, through the Philippine Center for Foresight Education and Innovation Research (PhilForesight), held a meaningful consultation with Asec. Michael Christophe Agustin, Commissioner for Luzon of the National Youth Commission (NYC), to explore potential collaborations on Futures Thinking and Futures Literacy initiatives for Filipino youth.

The discussion focused on empowering young people, youth leaders, Sangguniang Kabataan officials, and Local Youth Development Councils to anticipate change, imagine alternative futures, and actively shape the futures of their communities.

We are grateful to Asec. Michael Christophe Agustin and the National Youth Commission for the openness to explore meaningful pathways for collaboration. Together, we look forward to bringing futures-oriented education closer to Filipino youth.

From imagining futures to shaping change.

We are thrilled to welcome our amazing partner organizations from Northwestern University to the movement! 🎓✨

Together, we are bringing student voices to global decision-making spaces to shape what comes next in education!

Scan the QR code to join the movement!

We are proud to share that Atty. Ferdinand S. Nicolas, University President of Northwestern University, will join the 12th Asia Pacific Foresight Network (APFN) Conference 2026 as a resource speaker in the panel “Reimagining Learning Through Futures Literacy: Practices and Pathways for Futures-Ready Education.” The panel brings together diverse perspectives on how futures literacy can transform education and prepare learners to navigate uncertainty, imagine alternatives, and shape preferred futures.

Joining him are Carol Lim, Founder & Principal of The Human Futures Practice, and Tamás Gáspár, Associate Professor at Budapest University of Economics and Business. The session will be moderated by Jezreel Larry Caunca of the Northwestern University PhilForesight Institute, bringing together international perspectives on innovative practices, pedagogies, and pathways for cultivating futures-ready learners.

As education continues to face rapid social, technological, and global transformations, this conversation underscores the importance of developing learners who are not only ready to respond to change but are empowered to imagine and shape better futures. Northwestern University continues to advance futures literacy and anticipatory education as pathways toward more adaptive, imaginative, and future-ready learning.

𝗔 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴!

The 𝗨𝗡 𝗦𝗗𝗚 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 continues on August 23, 2026, at 1:00 PM PHT with a special episode, in partnership with the 𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗢 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.

This session will introduce young people to the power of Futures Literacy. The ability to explore multiple possible futures, challenge assumptions, and use the future as a tool for making better choices today. It emphasizes that the future is not fixed, but shaped by the decisions, aspirations, and actions of people now.

Participants will discover how Futures Thinking can help them navigate uncertainty, imagine preferred futures, and move from anticipating change to actively shaping it.

The discussion will connect Futures Literacy with youth participation, sustainable development, and the creation of inclusive, regenerative futures.

Register now:
https://bit.ly/UNSDGYWS_RegistrationForm
https://bit.ly/UNSDGYWS_RegistrationForm
https://bit.ly/UNSDGYWS_RegistrationForm

𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆. 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.

What if the key to navigating the present is how we imagine the future?

Every decision we make—from what we wear to the investments we choose—is guided by imagined futures. But without futures literacy, those visions can sometimes blind us.

In his Foreword for Futures Thinking: A Student Playbook, Dr. Riel Miller highlights how developing this mindset empowers us to improvise, innovate, and embrace an ever-surprising present.

"Every day, every moment, everywhere imagined futures are making a difference in what you are able to see and do. Think about it – if you are crossing the street it is because in the future you want to be on the other side. When you get dressed in the morning you are thinking about what will happen that day – who you will meet, what you will do, is it going to rain or shine? And when you make an investment – in a getting a diploma, applying for a job, buying shoes, a car, a home – all of these choices require a prior step – imagined futures that allow you to sense and make-sense of education, work, daily life. These imagined futures are expression of what you think is most likely to happen, what would be preferable – your fears and hopes. The future is powerful for both how we feel and what we are able to perceive.

But, and this is the crucial value-added of the competency called futures literacy, the future can also blind us – locking us into one way of seeing the world. Like a child who refuses to engage with the world outside of the protected, simple routines of childhood. Futures literacy makes it easier to play with imagined futures, invent new ones, let go of old ones, reconsider what we see in the present because our fears and hopes have changed. So, a wonderful futures thinking playbook like this one, enables, empowers everyone to recognize the power of their own imagination, rooted in their history and context, and at home with being able to constantly invent new futures. And with this comes greater confidence in our ability to improvise the constantly surprising present while embracing a more modest view of the role humans play in the changes and differences that are the omnipresent attributes of this creative universe. "

- Dr. Riel Miller, Former Head of Foresight and Futures Literacy at UNESCO; Senior Fellow, Ecole des Ponts Business School; University of New Brunswick; University of Stavanger

RESEARCH SUCCESSFULLY PRESENTED AT THE 2026 AUN-EEC CONFERENCE

Congratulations to Jezreel Larry R. Caunca, Director of the NWU Philippine Center for Foresight Education and Innovation Research (PhilForesight) and Assistant Head for Social Sciences and Humanities Department, for successfully presenting his research at the 7th AUN-EEC Conference on Ecological Education on August 12, 2026.

His study, “Awareness and Insights of Sangguniang Kabataan Chairpersons in Laoag City: Enhancing Sustainable Agriculture, Ensuring Food Security, and Promoting Climate Action,” was presented under Parallel Session 6: “Youth Empowerment and Climate Action.”

Anchored on Anticipatory Governance and utilizing the Futures Triangle as an analytical framework, the research examined the perspectives of SK Chairpersons on sustainable agriculture, food security, and climate action while highlighting the vital role of youth leadership in building more resilient and future-ready communities.

The conference, themed “Examining the Avenues Forward: Sustainable Futures in the ASEAN Region,” was organized by the ASEAN University Network on Ecological Education and Culture (AUN-EEC), housed at the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability, Ateneo de Manila University, together with the Ateneo Research Institute for the Futures of Education (RIFE).

This achievement reflects Northwestern University’s continuing commitment to advancing futures thinking, anticipatory governance, youth empowerment, and sustainability research from the local community to the wider ASEAN region.

📮🩺 POSTCARDS FROM THE FUTURE | BS Nursing 2-G & 2-J

A message from tomorrow, written by the nurses of the future. ✨

Students from BS Nursing 2-G and BS Nursing 2-J presented their Postcards from the Future, stepping beyond the realities of today to imagine how nursing, healthcare, technology, and human well-being could evolve in the years ahead.

Their postcards captured different possibilities—from smarter and more innovative healthcare systems to new challenges that may redefine how nurses care, communicate, adapt, and lead. 🌏💡

But Futures Thinking is not simply about predicting what comes next. It is about developing the capacity to anticipate change, question assumptions, explore alternatives, and make better decisions in the present.

For these future nurses, imagining tomorrow also means asking what kind of healthcare professionals they want to become—and what kind of healthcare future they want to help build. 🩺💙

The future of nursing begins long before the future arrives. It begins with the choices, values, and imagination we cultivate today.

📮 Written today. Addressed to tomorrow.

📮🩺 POSTCARDS FROM THE FUTURE | BS Nursing 2-H & 2-F

Dear Future, what does nursing look like where you are? ✨

Students from BS Nursing 2-H and BS Nursing 2-F took a journey beyond the present as they presented their Postcards from the Future—creative glimpses into how healthcare, technology, society, and the nursing profession might transform in the years ahead.

From innovations in patient care and emerging technologies to changing health challenges and more compassionate healthcare systems, each postcard carried a story of a future worth thinking about today.

The activity invited our future nurses not only to anticipate change, but also to recognize their own role in shaping it. After all, the nurses who will work in tomorrow’s hospitals, communities, and healthcare systems are already sitting in our classrooms today. 🩺🌏

Through Futures Thinking, we learn that the future is not a destination waiting for us.

It is a space of possibilities—and every decision we make today helps shape what comes next. 🔮

📮 Postmarked from tomorrow. Delivered today.

LOOK: NWU CAS-SSHD and PhilForesight Institute Strengthen Research Capacity through Quantitative Data Analysis Training at UP Baguio

Jezreel Larry R. Caunca, Assistant Department Head for Social Sciences and Humanities and Director of the NWU Philippine Center for Foresight Education and Innovation Research (NWU PhilForesight Institute), successfully completed the training workshop on Quantitative Data Analysis for Social Science Research, held from July 22 to 24, 2026, at the University of the Philippines Baguio.

Organized by the Social Sciences Research and Extension Institute of the UP Baguio College of Social Sciences, the training covered data processing, data visualization, descriptive and inferential statistics, correlational analysis, and regression analysis.

The training strengthens NWU’s continuing commitment to evidence-based research, data-informed decision-making, and the integration of quantitative methods into social science and futures research.