A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The next episode for narrative foresight; 
Authors: Heinonen, Sirkka; Virmajoki, Veli; Viitamäki, Riku
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Futures
Article number: 103876
Volume: 182
ISSN: 0016-3287
eISSN: 1873-6378
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2026.103876
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328726001187
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/526589447
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Narratives serve as powerful tools in futures studies, as they enable people to engage with different types of futures through identification, emotional connection, and immersion. To establish this, we contribute to narrative foresight by introducing the narratives-with-branches methodology which is a systematic approach for translating participatory ideas into possible futures. To be more specific, we discuss four narratives concerning futures of hybrid work, each constructed around paradoxes and tipping points that open space for thinking of possible future trajectories. The narratives were developed and refined through a multi-stage process involving expert consultation, stakeholder engagement, and a participatory workshop we mainly focus on. In the narratives-with-branches methodology, workshop-generated ideas are interpreted as inputs, formulated into episodes, and clustered into episode themes. We classify these themes as repeating, ephemeral, or obscure, corresponding to plausible, possible, and radical futures respectively. While we focus on the use of the methodology only in one case, we discuss how the methodology provides a conceptual machinery for branching narratives in structured but flexible ways. We discuss how collective intelligence in the form of a workshop discussion can branch baseline narratives toward preferred futures and how the methodology can be seen which branches are plausible, possible, or radical. The methodology offers futures researchers and practitioners a scalable framework, due to its structured yet flexible nature, to practice participatory foresight to harness collective intelligence. We conclude by reflecting on the distinctive capacity of narratives to bring together often missed individual level psychology with systemic changes.
Keywords:
Futures of work, Futures of work life, futures studies, Methodology, Narratives
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |
Funding information in the publication:
The research project “T‐winning Spaces 2035” was funded by NextGenerationEU and the Research Council of Finland (Grant number 353326).