Incompany 'Futuring: ready for the audience of the future'

Does your offering still align with a new generation of visitors? They are growing up in a digitized society and are accustomed to a personal, interactive approach. What will your offering look like in ten years — and what do you need to do today to be prepared?

In this incompany workshop, you will learn 'futuring': a method to systematically look ahead and prepare your organization for what’s to come. Not a crystal ball, but a concrete way of thinking that you can apply immediately.

A DEN incompany is a workshop exclusively for your organization, with the location and date decided together.

After this incompany:

you can explore the future and think in scenarios.
You know the needs of generations.
You are inspired to prepare for the future now.

Request Incompany

DEN Academy

Futuring (also known as future exploration) is a method to translate trends and signals into concrete future scenarios, enabling you to make better strategic choices today. In this four-hour workshop, you will work with four scenarios for the cultural sector in 2036 and translate them into actions for your own organization. You will leave with a methodology you can immediately use and sharper insights into your audience of the future.

What is futuring?

Futuring, in Dutch 'toekomstverkennen,' is the structured exploration of possible futures to prepare your organization now. You don’t predict one future but map out multiple conceivable futures. This way, you make choices that endure, no matter what happens.

Looking ahead is partly looking back and creatively anticipating what’s to come. That’s exactly what you’ll do in this workshop: from scanning signals to turning scenarios into actions for today.

Why is futuring important for the cultural sector now?

A new generation is growing up in a fully digitized world. They expect a personal, interactive experience — even from museums, theaters, archives, and venues. Organizations that are already responding to this will be stronger in the future.

The problem: the future feels uncertain and overwhelming. Futuring makes that uncertainty manageable. You learn to let go of fear of the unknown and see opportunities in it.

"Even in a scenario that initially seemed dystopian to me, we eventually found opportunities and solutions during the conversation. If you let go of the fear of the future, you see a beautiful path."
Marjan Ruiter, director of the Zeeuws Museum - former participant of this workshop

What can you expect?

Looking ahead is looking back and creatively anticipating what’s to come. And that’s exactly what you’ll do in this workshop!

Based on futuring theory and inspiration from pioneers in the sector, you will work with four scenarios (opens in new tab) for cultural organizations in 2036. In groups, you will visualize what each scenario means for your offering, audience, and business model in ten years.

Which future is most desirable? And are you prepared for the other outcomes? More importantly: what do you need to do today to prepare?

What will you learn?

The workshop follows the four steps of future exploration. You will go through them all, from signal to action.

1. Scanning signals and trends

You will discover why signals pointing to change matter and how to systematically map them for your organization.

2. Recognizing patterns and assigning meaning

You will look for patterns behind the signals and determine which major uncertainties will most influence your organization.

3. Creating and exploring future scenarios

Based on these uncertainties, you will formulate scenarios (opens in new tab). DEN has already developed four for this workshop, so you can start working with them right away.

4. Translating scenarios into the present

You will turn insights into experiments and strategic choices for today — so you anticipate the future instead of reacting to it.

What does this workshop bring to your organization?

After the workshop, you will have:

Knowledge of the futuring methodology (future exploration) and an understanding of why it matters.
Insight into how your audience experiences culture — and will experience it — towards 2036.
A view of the opportunities of digital transformation, based on inspiring examples from the sector.
Worked with the DEN future scenarios (opens in new tab) and learned how to apply them to your own organization.

"I want to thank you once again for the valuable session we had with you. It’s been a while, but still. Some documents are pinned to my bulletin board, and we continue to discuss them internally."
Ronald Wintjens, director of Nederlandse Dansdagen - former participant of this workshop

Continue with futuring: choose your next step

Do you want to actively work on futuring for your organization? Follow the learning path below or jump in wherever you like.

Short introduction: free online Lunch & Learn (August 27)
Discover in 45 minutes, during lunch, what futuring is about and why it’s important now. Accessible, with room for questions.
→ Sign up for free (opens in new tab)

In-depth workshop (September 24) or join this incompany workshop
Go through the full methodology yourself in half a day and work with the DEN scenarios from this guide, tailored to your organization.
→ View the workshop (opens in new tab)

Learn from each other: Community meet-up (October 8)
Meet colleagues and hear how other cultural organizations apply futuring in practice. Practical experiences and networking are central.
→ Join the meet-up (opens in new tab)

Curious to see how other cultural organizations successfully attracted young people to culture through youth marketing? Listen to the fifth episode of DEN's podcast Cultuurshift season 3 and discover how cultural institutions can connect with the world of a new generation.