From universities and business schools to non-formal adult education and life-long learning, the curricula of the 20th century do not suffice in the 21st century. In organizations, HR departments search for new kinds of education too.
From AI and climate change to migration and geopolitical upheaval, we are facing a polycrisis that few institutions and organiazations know how to address in their programs.
Nordic Bildung has developed a Future Academy; a program that expands the horizon, challenges the thinking of most adults, and introduces the complexity of our time in ways so that people have fun and enjoy it.
Whether you run a formal program at a university, evening classes at a community center, or HR in an organization and are looking for something new and special, we can tailor our Future Academy to your needs.
What?
Nordic Bildung Future Academy takes your students through 10 topics, each of which will give them a new prism through which to see and grasp the world. Their perspectives will change.
How?
Each session is a combination of presentations, discussions, and group exercises. The way we run it ourselves is over 10 sessions, each session 2½ hours, and 30 minutes of preparation before each. This can be changed completely to match your scheduling, of course.
For Whom?
Professionals from such diverse fields as medicine, economy, communication, engineering, IT development, teaching, and plumbing have enjoyed and learned a lot from our Future Academy.
Does it work?
We have run the Future Academy 10 times since 2019, online as well as live, and we just relaunched it as Nordic Secret 3.0; What Should be Next? as part of our own course program.
Feel free to sign up if you want to experience it; then we can easily taylor the Future Academy for your organization afterwards.
What some of our participants say:
I’m falling up. I am bombarded with new thoughts, stories, quite unexpected viewpoints and experiences. This is called Nordic Bildung Future Academy, and I really love the way this unusual program is constructed and run: without fears, with plenty of jokes and good humor, and high-level thinking. This is true learning—making me feel like my mind is actually expanding. It really is: UP!
Mihail Krikunov
Dean, Kyiv School of Economics
Participating in the Nordic Bildung Future Academy has been like opening new windows of possibilities in my mind. Grounded scientific content and disruptive, innovative ideas brougth with wisdom and care by Lene Rachel Andersen in each module enhances the curiosity and willingness to cocreate a more meaninful future for education and society.
Inês Medeiros
Psychologist and founder of Values Move, Brazil
Future Academy / Nordic Secret 3.0; What Should be Next?
Online; all sessions are 19:00-21:30 CET
Spring 2025 price: €399
Host & teacher: Lene Rachel Andersen
- Session 1: February 3
- Session 2: February 10
- Session 3: February 17
- Session 4: February 24
- Session 5: March 3
- Session 6: March 10
- Session 7: March 17
- Session 8: March 24
- Session 9: March 31
- Session 10: April 7
- Bonus module 11: You do a presentation if you want: Date TBA
Module 1: State of the World
We live in troubling times and it can seem overwhelming. Technological development, climate change, and other wicked problems are challenging the foundation of civilization; to deal with it we need to be able to grasp it and communicate it.
This first module includes an overview of the situation for people, planet, politics, profits, and potentials. It also raises crucial questions as: What does it mean to be human in the 21st Century? What are our challenges? What are our possibilities? What kind of future do we want? How do we keep our humanity and unfold as individuals, communities and a species?
What your students will get:
A bigger picture that will allow them to make better long term decisions.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-4 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 2: Bildung and Personal Development
Bildung is two kinds of knowledge: the easily transferable kind of knowledge that schools tend to focus on, and the kind of knowledge that cannot be transferred, which comes from life experience, such as heartbreak, becoming a parent, or losing a spouse etc. The combination of the two and one’s struggles with them are bildung, and bildung is the process as well as the result.
The emotional and moral development that is part of bildung is also described by developmental psychology. This module therefore introduces both bildung and developmental psychology and explores how we handle change.
Depending on the number of lessons for this module, we have different topics and discussions available, and we are aware that discussing personal development with young adults (age 18-25) is very different from discussing it with 40-year-olds or grandparents.
What your students will get:
They will get a better overall understanding of themselves and people around them, why change stresses some and not others, and why some (work) relationships work and others are filled with conflict.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-8 lessons of 45 minutes. For young adults (age 18-25) we recommend at least 4 lesson on this topic; for students with more life experience 2-3 lessons work well as an introduction to the theme.
More on the topic:
Module 3: Cultural Codes
As societies grow in size and complexity, and as communication technology evolves, so do our moral norms and cultural codes. History is by no means linear, but there is development over time, and there are structures in those changes that allow us to understand values systems and cultural clashes in more advanced ways than just “they are different.”
This module also includes an introduction to historical development seen through cultural codes and to hypermodernity, metamodernism 1, metamodernism 2, and polymodernity.
The content of this module is particularly relevant for organizations and communities with many immigrants from different cultures with different cultural codes.
There is also the possibility for a specific focus on the economy, different economic models through history, and the prospects of a polymodern economy: https://lenerachelandersen.medium.com/polymodern-economics-ec4d817b3824
What your students will get
They will be able to meet multicultural challenges and grasp cultural clashes among individuals, and between individuals and organizations.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-10 lessons of 45 minutes.
More on the topic:
The above video and article were created before we renamed metamodernity and called it polymodernity.
Module 4: Circles of Belonging and the Nation State
As the world connects through social media and global markets, where do we belong? Where is Home? Where do we feel a sense of belonging, where do we feel commitment and responsibility, and where do we have it within our means to make a difference?
We will explore this through the Circles of Belonging, and we are going to look at the crucial role that the nation state plays in cultural development and global stability. Nationalism is mostly used as a curse word, but could we have democratic states without it?
This module is highly relevant for policy makers and any organization or institution that wants to address their internal wellbeing as well as their relationship to the outer world.
What your students will get
This module allows your students to see their many social roles in connection and where they can make a difference right away. It provides them with a tool to calibrate their expectation and their relationships so that they match the group size well.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-4 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 5: Technological Development
When Gutenberg invented the printing press, Europe fundamentally changed. We are facing even bigger changes with the current technological development.
Biotechnology, Information technology, Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Cognitive technologies are about to fundamentally change what it means to be human.
This module presents the forefront of technological development and the dilemmas it raises.
What your students will get
A tech map that allows them to navigate the overall development and to consciously position themselves: What kind of life would make sense for them in the 21st century? We can also address the same question regarding your organization.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-6 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 6: Bildung & Pedagogy versus Psychology
Psychology helps us understand people the way the they are, and it is a helpful analytical tool in understanding attitudes towards change.
We will explore the differences between bildung, pedagogy, and psychology, and your students will get an introduction to the works of philosophers of pedagogy such as Comenius, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, John Dewey, N.F.S. Grundtvig, Christen Kold, Ellen Key, Myles Horton, and Paulo Freire.
We will explore the power of pedagogy and andragogy (educating adults) as tools for better meaning-making, leadership, and collaboration, and for change.
This module is equally crucial to business students, students of psychology and pedagogy, anybody who pursues a leadership position, and to people studying to become teachers.
What you’ll get
In times of turbulence we need new education. We need new pedagogy and bildung. An understanding of the interplay between how we think and behave, and how we learn. And an understanding of what a powertool education is.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-6 lessons of 45 minutes.
More on the topic:
Module 7: The Bildung Rose
Are you and/or your organization thriving, and is there a quick way to find your blind angles if you are not? Are you contributing to sustainability and societal thriving, and is there a shortcut you can take if it is not the case?
This module introduces the Bildung Rose model, which describes society through seven domains: production, technology, aesthetics, power, science, narrative, and ethics. All functioning societies have these seven domains, and the more they are in balance, the more resilient and well-functioning the society.
But it is not just society, it is also our own life that is richer and more meaningful if it encompasses all seven domains. Hence the name Bildung Rose.
We will explore the “inner workings” of the model and how your students or your organization can use it.
What you’ll get
This session gives you a tool for more diverse thinking to improve your organization. The Bildung Rose is also a helpful tool for self-discovery and improvement.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-6 lessons of 45 minutes.
More on the topic:
Module 8: Systems Thinking and Complexity — Part I
Though things change rapidly, there are stable patterns in the way the changes unfold. Awareness about these stable patterns can help us grasp the changes and navigate them safely. It is even possible to get a “free ride” on some of the patterns.
The patterns can also be seen as shortcuts for sense-making. Once you understand these patterns, the big picture becomes a lot simpler.
This session introduces scale-free networks and theory of complexity (as defined by Brian Arthur). As abstract as this may sound, we will work with hands-on every-day examples.
What your students will get
You know how learning to drive required you to see the patterns in traffic in a new way? After this session, the overall development in history and in dynamic societies and organizations will be less confusing and overwhelming to your students, and they will be able to grasp their cultural and societal context better and better position themselves. They’ll be much safer drivers.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-6 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 9: Systems Thinking and Complexity — Part II
In this second module about complexity we will look at the process of evolution, in biology as well as in culture and society.
The module also relates systems thinking to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
What your students will get
This session adds to the previous and your students will be able to see how several patterns interact.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-6 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 10: Freedom and Democracy
How do we best protect, develop, and spread the modes of self-organization, responsibility, and governance that allow individuals and communities to thrive and achieve the highest degrees of fulfillment?
What your students will get
Food for thought and deep conversations about how we move on as a civilization and as a species.
Number of sessions
For this this module, we have course content for 2-4 lessons of 45 minutes.
Module 11: Your Stuents Present — if you would like them to
After 10 modules of the Future Academy, participants now get the opportunity to connect their work to the content of the Academy and to share it with the rest of the group.
After time for preparation, each participant will get 10 or 15 minutes for their presentation + 10 or 15 minutes of feedback from the rest of the group. Everybody learns both from preparing their presentation, doing the presentation, and giving feedback.
What you’ll get
This is when you will learn the most…
Number of sessions
The number of lessons required for or this module depends on the number of students who will do a presentation.