Thank you for your contribution and welcome to the 23rd Futures Conference!
The Futures Conference 2023 will be organised in hybrid mode. Conference days Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 of June 2023 will be held onsite in Turku. All the keynote sessions will be streamed online for the virtual participants. Friday 16 of June will be held exclusively in virtual mode.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and sensitivity in following the instructions provided. If you have any questions, do contact the conference secretariat at futuresconference@utu.fi.
Virtual Conference Platform
In addition to the live events on the conference venue, the Futures Conference 2023 is built on a platform called Howspace. Personal links to the platform will be provided as soon as the platform is activated. You will find the program, live-streamed presentations of the keynote speakers, links to the various virtual sessions and their recordings, poster exhibition, contact information for the other participants, all on the platform.
The platform works on both, desktop and mobile, and it will stay open from 8 June until 30 June. All the programme recordings are available on the platform for the conference participants. Note that the onsite sessions are not recorded. The virtual sessions on the other hand will be recorded. More details about the platform will be available closer to the event.
Guidelines for Speakers and Workshop Facilitators taking part virtually
The sessions are scheduled for Fri 16 June at 09.45–14.45.
All the virtual sessions and workshops will be run using Zoom. Note that all the virtual sessions will be recorded. Recordings will be available after the conference on the conference platform. However, if you do not want your presentation recording to be shared with the conference audience, please notify us about that: futuresconference@utu.fi.
Using the Zoom Software
We recommend that you install the Zoom software on your device before the event. The individually installed Zoom software provides more functionality for managing and using the meeting. Download Zoom software.
If you feel that you need support with the system, please contact the conference organisers in well advance.
Virtual Paper Presentations
There will be a chairperson in each parallel track of sessions. The chair will introduce the speakers and manage the time to ensure that each speaker has equal time.
The chair will also lead the chaired discussion after the presentation. The audience may comment and ask questions by using the chat. There will be a moderator in each session to monitor the chat and assist with technical issues. You can concentrate on your presentation, as the questions will be presented to you after the presentation.
The length of the spoken paper tracks are 75–90 minutes. There will be 3–4 presentations in each track. The time allocated for each presentation is limited to 20 minutes, including a 5-minute chaired discussion.
You may wish to use a visual aid such as PowerPoint or Prezi to reinforce your presentation and engage your audience. We recommend limiting the number of slides to 4–8 to stay on schedule.
Virtual Workshops
The length of workshop sessions is 75–90 minutes. There will be a moderator in each session to assist if any such help is needed. You can concentrate on facilitating your workshop. It may include a spoken presentation, and you may wish to use a visual aid such as PowerPoint or Prezi to reinforce your presentation and engage your audience.
Facilitators or other presenters are sharing their slides to the audience in Zoom themselves. Please, feel free to use any online workshop methods and tools that you find useful in your workshop, and clearly communicate that to participants as well. If there are some tools that needs be downloaded in order to fully participate in the workshop, please inform the conference organisers in well advance.
Virtual Poster Session
The length of the session is 75 minutes. The time allocated for each presentation is limited to 10 minutes, including a 5 minutes chaired discussion.
The poster session will be hosted, and all poster authors are interviewed during the session. The audience may comment and ask questions by using the chat. There will be a moderator in the session to monitor the chat and assist with technical issues.
In addition to the virtual poster session, the posters will be visible on the conference platform throughout the conference. Note that the session will be broadcasted via Zoom. Recording of the session will be available after the conference on the conference platform.
Please send us your poster with (Poster_Firstname_Lastname.pdf) via futuresconference@utu.fi no later than Wed 7 June.
- Poster layout should be landscape (horizontal). The poster should be maximum 1–2 pages long and saved in a .pdf format.
- Remember that your presentation must be readable from a distance. Keep visual materials simple and clear.
- Rely sparingly on graphs, charts, tables, and pictures, to communicate information where possible. Focus selectively on major findings.
- Simple use of colour can add effective emphasis.
EMPOWERING FUTURES – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research 