Harnessing Futures Thinking: Fostering Moral Foresight and Imagination in Higher Education

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are vital in promoting sustainability by embedding sustainable development (SD) into their curricula, equipping future leaders with critical thinking skills to envision and implement positive changes. In alignment with UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), our “Futures Focused Management for Sustainability” module fosters innovative, systems-based, and futures-oriented thinking. It challenges narrow perspectives, encouraging students to embrace ethics, responsibility, and mindset transformation for sustainable practice by understanding long-term impacts. The module integrates ‘futures’ tools within a step-by-step framework, allowing flexibility to incorporate additional methods while addressing complex, real-world challenges. The Moral Mindset Matrix (Triple M) tool supported critical reflection on corporate sustainability and personal values, fostering students’ growth as sustainability-oriented professionals on our undergraduate module. Using an action research approach, and Braun and Clarke’s (2007) reflexive thematic analysis of reflective assignments from 37 participants revealed heightened self-awareness, systems thinking, and anticipatory skills, reinforcing transversal competencies critical for addressing sustainability issues. The approach appeared to deepen students’ understanding of SD principles, the SDGs, and the complexities of sustainable management practices, including power dynamics and stakeholder interests. By fostering a critical, transdisciplinary mindset, the module helps student to make informed, impactful contributions to society, encouraging reflection on their values and responsibility as sustainable citizens strengthening professional development.