Navigating the Future is an innovative advanced training programme created through the collaboration between University of Florence and the Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati. The initiative is designed as a true “laboratory of imagination”: a space where participants are encouraged to think beyond traditional academic boundaries and develop new ways of understanding and addressing the challenges of contemporary society.
The programme aims to train a new professional figure: the Future Planner. This profile combines critical thinking, creativity, and systemic vision to navigate complexity and uncertainty. Future Planners are trained to challenge conventional mindsets, interpret social and cultural change, and design innovative strategies and solutions across different fields and disciplines.
The course is open to 20 selected participants from universities and higher education institutions across Tuscany, including master’s students, PhD candidates, and recent graduates from any academic background. The programme includes:
- Four free interdisciplinary training weekends
- An immersive residential experience at Fondazione Dynamo Camp
- Activities focused on critical thinking, resilience, creativity, and future-oriented problem solving
- Collaborative workshops, philosophical facilitation practices, and group reflection sessions
- A thematic module dedicated, for the 2026 edition, to the ethics of artificial intelligence from a non-technical and transdisciplinary perspective
Beyond the educational experience, participants work in teams to develop original projects aimed at stimulating new ways of thinking in professional and cultural contexts. At the end of the programme, each group presents a creative output — such as a text, visual project, or audiovisual work — inspired by the learning journey developed during the course.
The most innovative and applicable project is awarded a €50,000 prize funded by the Foundation. The initiative promotes a model of peer learning and continuity: the winning team collaborates in organizing the following edition of the programme, becoming facilitators for future participants in a “virtuous relay” that encourages community building, knowledge sharing, and active student engagement.
Additional information can be found here: Navigare il Futuro