Decolonizing the Future: An Inclusive Approach to Futures
PAS QuickNotes 110
By Petra Hurtado, PhD, Destiny Brown
This edition of PAS QuickNotes is available free to all.
Planners shape the future of communities. In this work, different power dynamics can influence who has a say in that future and what the envisioned future might look like. Futures literacy and foresight methods can help to create more resilient and equitable plans. However, if the plausible futures we imagine aren't developed through an inclusive approach, they won't lead to a truly equitable future. To achieve equitable outcomes, we must rethink how we approach, imagine, and discuss futures.
One approach to inclusive futures increasingly discussed in futures work is decolonizing the future. This approach is not about revisiting the colonial period. Instead, it is about questioning the continuation of past and present systems, envisioning multiple futures by integrating diverse perspectives, and ensuring the resulting outcomes are translated into actions. Decolonizing the future is about creating safe spaces for historically marginalized worldviews and cultural identities, moving away from one dominant perspective, and encouraging the imagination and co-creation of many possible futures that encompass all identities, values, experiences, and perspectives.
This edition of PAS QuickNotes explains the concept of decolonizing the future and offers three questions planners can apply in their practice to transcend colonial legacies and co-create inclusive futures where all people are acknowledged, respected, and protected.
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About the Authors
Petra Hurtado, PhD
Petra (Stieninger) Hurtado, Ph.D. is the Chief Foresight & Knowledge Officer at the American Planning Association, leading APA’s foresight practice to leverage knowledge as a catalyst for innovation and resilience in the planning profession and the organization.
She has a Ph.D. in urban planning from the Vienna University of Technology. Her areas of expertise and research include strategic foresight, futures literacy, urban futures and emerging technologies, urban sustainability, and environmental psychology.
Before joining APA, Petra worked as an advisor, planner, and educator in the global sustainability arena. As an adjunct professor, Petra has taught courses on planning with foresight at the University of Maryland and on urban sustainability and environmental psychology at the Vienna University of Technology. She has presented as a keynote speaker and subject matter expert at numerous conferences across the globe and guest lectured at Harvard GSD, Virginia Tech, among other universities.
Passionate about empowering people to thrive in dynamic environments, Petra combines academic rigor with practical wisdom to inspire action and drive positive change.
Destiny Brown
Destiny Brown is a Ph.D. student in Urban Planning and Development at USC. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans. Her professional experience spans education, nonprofits, advocacy, and youth engagement, inspiring research on youth participatory action and environmental vulnerabilities in communities, especially during disasters. As a member of APA’s Trend Scout Community, she advocates for increased youth engagement in planning to build sustainable, decolonial futures. Guided by a vision of collective imagination and liberation, she works to transform policy and planning to ensure every child can flourish today and in the future.