---
title: Methods
description: A comprehensive overview of methods, frameworks, and tools in foresight
  and futures studies
doc_version: '1.0'
last_updated: 02-Jan-26
canonical_url: https://garden.johanneskleske.com/methods
---

*A comprehensive overview of methods, frameworks, and tools in foresight and futures studies*

---

This collection represents the methodological toolkit available in the Futures Garden, organized by type and application. Each method serves different purposes in futures work, from initial diagnosis to deep transformation.

## Frameworks & Models

**[[Causal Layered Analysis (CLA)]]**  
*Sohail Inayatullah's transformative methodology analyzing issues across four layers: litany, systems, worldviews, and myths/metaphors*

**[[Futures Triangle]]**  
*Inayatullah's diagnostic tool mapping three competing forces: pull of the future (aspirations), push of the present (trends), and weight of the past (barriers)*

**[[VERGE Framework]]**  
*Human-centered alternative to STEEP, examining change through six domains of human experience: Define, Relate, Connect, Create, Consume, Destroy*

## Games & Exercises

**[[CLA Game]]**  
*Participatory role-playing exercise using the four CLA layers to deconstruct and reconstruct complex issues through collaborative analysis*

**[[Sarkar Game]]**  
*Role-playing exercise based on P.R. Sarkar's theory of social change, exploring power dynamics through four societal classes: Workers, Warriors, Intellectuals, Capitalists*

**[[Polak Game]]**  
*Simple positioning exercise based on Fred Polak's work, revealing participants' future orientation through optimism/pessimism and agency/influence axes*

## Analysis & Assessment Methods

**[[Windtunneling]]**  
*Method for testing strategy robustness by examining how different future scenarios might affect the ability to deliver objectives and strategic goals*

**[[Pattern Recognition]]**  
*William Gibson's approach to identifying weak signals and emerging patterns in the present that indicate future directions*

## Planning & Strategy Tools

**[[Questions for the Start of a Foresight Project]]**  
*Diagnostic framework covering project scope, organizational context, stakeholder dynamics, and futures culture before beginning foresight work*

**[[Worldbuilding]]**  
*Systematic approach to constructing detailed, coherent future scenarios through comprehensive exploration of social, technological, and cultural dimensions*

## Conceptual Tools

**[[Future Scenario]]**  
*Structured approaches to developing and using scenarios for exploring multiple possible futures and their implications*

**[[Trends]]**  
*Methodologies for identifying, analyzing, and working with trends as drivers of change in futures work*

## Research Approaches

**[[Tools for the examination of future imaginaries]]**  
*Research methodologies for studying how futures are imagined, constructed, and circulated in different contexts and communities*

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## Method Integration

Many of these methods work powerfully in combination:

- **Diagnostic Flow**: Start with [[Questions for the Start of a Foresight Project]], use [[Polak Game]] for group orientation, then [[Futures Triangle]] for force mapping
- **Deep Analysis**: Follow [[Futures Triangle]] with [[Causal Layered Analysis (CLA)]] for transformative insights
- **Participatory Approaches**: Combine games ([[CLA Game]], [[Sarkar Game]], [[Polak Game]]) for experiential learning
- **Strategy Development**: Use [[Windtunneling]] to test strategies developed through other methods

## Methodological Principles

The methods in this collection reflect several key principles:

- **Multiple Perspectives**: Recognition that futures are always plural and contested
- **Transformative Intent**: Moving beyond prediction to enable actual change
- **Cultural Sensitivity**: Awareness of how different worldviews shape futures thinking
- **Participatory Orientation**: Engaging stakeholders as co-creators rather than passive recipients
- **Critical Analysis**: Questioning assumptions, power structures, and taken-for-granted futures

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**Related:** [[Futures Studies]] | [[Critical Futures Studies]] | [[Sohail Inayatullah]]

## Sitemap

- [Notes Index](https://garden.johanneskleske.com/notes-index)
- [Futures Terminology](https://garden.johanneskleske.com/futures-terminology.md)
- [Sitemap](https://garden.johanneskleske.com/sitemap.md)