Think Forward EP 130: Futures of Democracy with Jake Dunagan

Think Forward: Conversations with Futurists, Innovators and Big Thinkers

Jake Dunegan, a visionary operating at the intersection of futures thinking and political systems, shares how experiential futures can help us reimagine governance for the 21st century challenges we face.

Drawing from his fascinating journey from anthropology to futures studies, Dunegan shares the moment he discovered a manuscript on "Quantum Politics" that proposed revolutionary ideas about constitutional design based on uncertainty rather than mechanistic balance. This epiphany eventually led him to establish the Governance Futures Lab at the Institute for the Future, where he pushes for nothing less than a renaissance in political system design thinking.

• Background in anthropology exploring fundamental questions about why people do what they do
• Discovered futures studies through a manuscript on "Quantum Politics" that proposed redesigning the US Constitution
• Co-created the Reconstitutional Convention in 2013 to bring together diverse thinkers to redesign political systems
• Developed experiential futures approaches to make possible tomorrows tangible today
• Led the Hawaii 2050 project creating immersive experiences of alternative futures
• Created pandemic simulations years before COVID-19 that explored prioritization of vaccines
• Founded the Governance Futures Lab at Institute for the Future to support political system design
• Believes our current governance structures aren't equipped for 21st-century challenge
• Emphasizes the importance of emotional connection to future possibilities, not just intellectual understanding
• Advocates for embedding futures thinking throughout our systems rather than treating it as a specialized activity
• And we find out where the best tacos and food trucks are in Austin, Texas

The conversation explores Dunegan's groundbreaking work in experiential futures—creating immersive, tangible experiences that help people feel possible futures rather than just intellectually understand them. From the Hawaii 2050 project that created four radically different versions of Hawaii's future to pandemic simulations developed years before COVID-19, Dunegan demonstrates how making futures visceral can change decision-making in profound ways.

Find Jake at jakedunegan.com or on BlueSky as dunegan23.

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🎧 Listen Now On:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-forward-conversations-with-futurists-innovators-and-big-thinkers/id1736144515

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IOn8PZCMMC04uixlATqoO

Web: https://thinkforward.buzzsprout.com/

Thank you for joining me on this ongoing journey into the future. Until next time, stay curious, and always think forward.

Chapters

1. Think Forward EP 130: Futures of Democracy with Jake Dunagan (00:00:00)

2. Welcome to Think Forward Show (00:00:16)

3. Jake's Journey: From Anthropology to Futures (00:01:11)

4. Reconstitutional Convention: Reimagining Democracy (00:06:38)

5. Challenges Working with Government Institutions (00:10:17)

6. Hawaii 2050: Making Futures Experiential (00:16:00)

7. Defining Experiential Futures Work (00:21:40)

8. Pandemic Simulations and Real-World Impact (00:30:28)

9. The Governance Futures Lab's Mission (00:38:03)

10. The Future of Experiential Futures (00:43:33)

11. Democratizing Futures Thinking (00:55:09)

12. Finding Jake and Final Thoughts (00:59:43)