Qazaq Research Institute for Futures Studies (QRIFS)

“The future cannot be predicted, because “the” future does not exist.” This statement is known as Dator’s first “Law of the Future” and provides a foundation for the academic field of futures studies (hereafter futures) and the practice of strategic foresight (hereafter foresight). Both futures studies and strategic foresight provide tools, methods, and approaches for staging creative and critical dialogue on the issues of tomorrow that shape the actions undertaken today.

The aim of using futures and foresight is not to “predict” what lies ahead but to create learning to make better decisions and, perhaps most importantly, to identify actions aimed at shaping the future. Increasingly, organizations are turning to futures and foresight approaches to navigate an uncertain operational environment; enhance strategy, planning, and policy development processes; and drive innovation and organizational learning. As part of the Kazakhstan 2050 strategy, the government calls for “dialogue between cultures and civilizations” as a national tool “to succeed and gain influence in the future.” The Qazaq Research Institute for Futures Studies (QRIFS) was created to support this aim and provide a platform for exploring local, national, regional, and global challenges and opportunities that will shape the country’s future.

Vision

In lieu of a formal vision statement, we employ three values as a heading to guide our approach to partnerships and projects.

Curiosity. This lies at the heart of futures and foresight, and we seek to embody this defining characteristic in all that we do. By staging provocations that simultaneously instigate and inspire, curiosity is a means to explore not only ideas but also experiments to drive learning. What can and must we learn?

Commensality. This is typically defined as “sharing a table” and focuses on how relationships and partnerships are formed and maintained. We want to build lasting, fruitful, and mutually-beneficial connections with communities, citizens, and colleagues that forge shared learning. In principle as well as practice, QRIFS aims not only to be collaborative but co-creative. How do we “share a table” with others?

Contextuality. This keeps us questioning what we do and how we do it. Ultimately, contextuality challenges us to operate ethically with an attentiveness toward the places and peoples around us. How can we be continuously attentive to context?

Since language situates context, QRIFS will focus on working, creating, and teaching in three languages: Qazaq, Russian, and English.

Aims & Objectives

Spread futures and foresight across Qazaqstan, Central Asia, and beyond
Build mutually-beneficial partnerships and collaborations that benefit the university, local community, and Qazaqstan
Deliver futures and foresight courses for students and trainings for the university and local community
Produce innovative and impactful research within the futures and foresight field
Contribute toward the university’s goal of becoming a premier institution of higher education in Central Asia

Team

Dr. John A. Sweeney

Director

Dr. John A. Sweeney is an award-winning author, designer, and futurist. As a practitioner, consultant, and educator, John has organized, managed, and facilitated workshops and seminars, multi-stakeholder projects, and foresight gaming systems in over 40 countries on six continents. At present, John is an Assistant Professor of Futures and Foresight at Narxoz University in Almaty, Kazakhstan where he serves as Director of the Qazaq Research Institute for Futures Studies.

John has worked with numerous universities, international development and humanitarian aid agencies, nonprofit foundations, Fortune 500 companies, and educational and cultural organizations, such as Duke Corporate Education, The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNESCO, and UNDP. Additionally, he has experience working with public sector and civil service foresight and innovation units, such as Singapore’s Centre for Strategic Futures, Georgia’s Public Service Development Agency, and Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation.

At the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, where he instructed undergraduate courses in Futures Studies, Political Science, and World Religions, John also served as a Researcher at the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies. From 2014 to 2018, John served as Deputy Director at the Centre for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies. In 2018, John completed his PhD focusing on futures and foresight under the direction of Jim Dator. John is a member of the World Futures Studies Federation and the Association of Professional Futurists. His work has been published in Futures, The Journal of Futures Studies, and other academic and media outlets. He tweets on trends, emerging issues, and things just over the horizon at @aloha_futures.

Associate professors

Dr. Yelena V. Muzykina

Assistant Director

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Dr. Yelena V. Muzykina is a practitioner and educator and has experience in a variety of sectors. She has ample experience in a variety of different fields such as the banking sector (Bank Centercredit), private and international business (LogyCom, Dandy Distribution, Stimorol, Cadbury ApS), trade, and bidding. For the last 15 years, she has specialized in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Yelena holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, a Candidate of Science in Social Philosophy from People’s Friendship University of Russia, a Master’s degree in Cross-Cultural Studies from Andrews University (USA) and additional degrees in History, English, Economy, and Theology. Currently, she is the Assistant Director at the Qazaq Research Institute for Futures Studies (Almaty, Kazakhstan).

Dr. Nurlykhan Aljanova

Research Fellow

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Dr. Nurlykhan Aljanova is a Senior Research Fellow at the Qazaq Research Institute for Future Studies, a Senior Lecturer in Religious and Cultural Studies, Deputy Head of the Department in Science, Innovations and International Cooperation, Head of MA and Ph.D. Programs at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Secretary of the High Qualification Committee of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She is also serving as Editorial Board Member of Eurasian Journal of Religious Studies, invited editor for World Futures Review journal special issue on the future of Central Asia. She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and a Master degree in Religious Studies from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Aigerim R. Sansyzbayeva

Research Fellow

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Aigerim works as a lecturer in General Education at Narxoz University where she teaches courses such as “Man and the world,” “Society and politics,” and “Academic Writing.” She has a Master’s Degree in the Social Sciences and experience in carrying out both qualitative and quantitative research. For her MA, she focused on higher education in Kazakhstan. Working in the field of advanced training in secondary education, she also served as an analyst and researcher. Aigerim studied at a Summer School program on “Globalization and Inequality” led by Professor Karen Shire at the University of Duisburg-Essen. She was awarded the diploma of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Aditee Prabhakar

Visiting Research Fellow

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Aditee is a Ph.D. Scholar in the Department of Architecture, Town and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, India. She is a practicing Architect and Urban Planner. She did her graduation (Thesis Topper) in Architecture from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna – an institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. She did her Masters (Post Graduate) in Planning with specialization in Urban and Regional Planning from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) Shibpur – another institute of National importance under MHRD. She has worked for some of the leading Architecture Firms and has deep experience and expertise in cost effective, vernacular and sustainable architecture and planning. She is pursuing her PhD at IIEST in “Systems Approach for Special Planning of Human Settlements.” She has situated her PhD research in the Post-Soviet Central Asian Contexts – with special focus on modern cities that acted as important hubs on the historical Silk Road. She combines technology research methods (i.e., mathematical modelling) and management research methods (i.e., case study research and strategic planning) to identify and apply social, political, technological, cultural, historical, environmental elements in developing her model.

Dr. José Maria Ramos

Senior International Fellow

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Dr. José Maria Ramos is director of the boutique foresight consultancy Action Foresight, is Senior Consulting Editor for the Journal of Futures Studies, and is Senior Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has taught and lectured on futures studies, public policy and social innovation at the National University of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), Leuphana University (Germany), the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia) and Victoria University (Australia). He has over 50 publications in journals, magazines and books spanning economic, cultural and political change, futures studies, public policy and social innovation. He has also co-founded numerous civil society organizations, a social forum, a maker lab, an advocacy group for commons governance, and a peer to peer leadership development group for mutant futurists. He holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature, a Masters degree in Strategic Foresight, and a Ph.D. in critical globalisation studies. He has a passion for the coupling of foresight and action, which has included both theoretical work through published articles, consulting work for federal, state and municipal governments, as well as citizen experiments in methodological innovation. He is originally from California of Mexican ancestry. Born in Oakland, he grew up in a very multi-cultural suburb of Los Angeles. After living in Japan and Taiwan, where he studied Japanese and Mandarin, he moved to Melbourne Australia to be with his wife, De Chantal. They have two children, son Ethan and daughter Rafaela.

Dr. Amy Fletcher

International Research Fellow

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Dr. Amy Fletcher is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and a professional futurist. Her main area of expertise is science and technology policy, with a focus on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, anticipatory governance, and public understanding of science. Prior to becoming an academic, she worked as a legislative assistant on telecommunications and technology issues in the United States House of Representatives (1995/96). She is the author of De-Extinction and the Genomics Revolution: Life on Demand (2020), as well as articles on science and technology policy. She is a Co-Editor of the Politics and Life Sciences Journal and a Features Editor with Human Futures magazine. She is also a co-investigator on a Marsden-funded (Royal Society of New Zealand) research project (2020 – 2022) that uses innovative text mining approaches to analyze the global debate on the ethics, use, and regulation of lethal autonomous weapons.

Katie Curiel

Senior Fellow

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Katie Curiel works to build the University’s and Kazakhstan’s global capacity in her role as Globalization Advisor. As Senior Lecturer at the Narxoz Business School, her teaching focuses on student global career development, business strategy, futures and strategic foresight. In her work with QRIFS, she co-facilitates courses for undergraduate students, supports the development of curriculum, programming and partnerships, and facilitates strategic foresight training at local and international gatherings such as the 2019 World Cancer Leaders Summit and the 2020 Asian Development Bank – Futures of Agriculture in Kazakhstan summit. She also serves on the Narxoz Sustainable University Initiative committee.

Katie brings nearly two decades of experience with partners and students from over 120 countries and leading institutions in the U.S. such as Arizona State University, the Institute of International Education, and The Fulbright Program, as well as partnerships with embassies, diplomats, and global leaders. Her main areas of expertise lie at the intercepts of global development, international education, and business development with a focus on globalization, environmental sustainability, technological advancement and innovation in society. Katie holds a Master of Science in global technology and development and a Bachelor of Arts in intercultural human communication with minors in business and spanish, from Arizona State University (U.S.). She is the author of Education Abroad as a Catalyst for Impactful Global Development: The Global Impact of the Missing Focus on the Reentry Phase (2016) and is working on several publications related to the future of education in Central Asia and the role of education, industry and organizations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Key Partners 2019-present

Asia Development Bank (completed projects, planning future collaborations)
Academy of Public Administration, Kazakhstan (ongoing research)
Center for Policy, Research, and Outreach; Westminster International University; Tashkent, Uzbekistan (cooperating on project proposals)
INTERPOL (consulting client)
Nur Mubarak University; Almaty, Kazakhstan (MoU signed, planning projects)
QazTech Ventures (completed project work)
Sberbank (completed project work, planning future collaborations)
United Nations (completed project work in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; preparing application for Chair in Futures and Foresight at the request of UNESCO)

Research & Activities

Central Asian Futures – book project featuring public and private sector examples and cases – co-edited by John and Anjan through Routledge – proposal in development
Future of Civil Service – research partnership with the Academy of Public Administration in Kazakhstan
Atlas of Future Professions in Kazakhstan – partnership with BTS and Duma Research
Central Asian Muslim Futures – led by Yelena V. Muzykina
Almaty Futures – collaboration with the QLab, city planning unit – disrupted by the outbreak
Participatory Futures – book project based on research John performed last year funded by NESTA
Wind-tunneling article – John will co-author with a colleague from the National University of Singapore – focus on corporate application