UNESCO: World Futures Day, 2 December 2025
Our Common Agenda, as well as the Pact for the Future, recognizes the importance of making preventive decisions in order to face the future. On 2 December 2025, World Futures Day is celebrated, a day that acknowledges the importance of anticipatory decision-making processes for approaching future challenges.
On this occasion, the conference ‘UNESCO World Futures Day: Anticipation in an Era of Volatility’ will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
The event focuses on how societies and governments can navigate volatility in an era marked by rapid change, from technological disruption and demographic transitions to the climate crisis and growing geopolitical uncertainty. The Conference aims to promote foresight and anticipation in policy making and wants to encourage collective action to build more inclusive and resilient futures. Several experts will speak during the conference, including: Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO; Éric Sadin, specialist in digital technologies and artificial intelligence; Deša Srsen, Member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport; Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education.
The event showcases how future thinking can guide decision-making in turbulent times. It will also launch the Global Anticipatory Policy Coalition, a new platform to advance equity-driven, forward-looking policy solutions. Drawing on the expertise of over 1,100 UNESCO University Chairs, the Conference will connect a global network of experts that aims to shape the future together.
The UNESCO Chair Human Rights Democracy Peace of the University of Padova will participate in the debate and workshop with a Delegation.