A planet under pressure needs leaders who can read signals early, make grounded choices, and act with a level of maturity that lines up with long-term survival. Education shapes that capacity. Not through lofty theory, but through steady exposure to real data, hands-on experimentation, and a mindset that treats sustainability as a daily practice rather than a slogan.
Across many parts of the world, younger professionals are stepping straight into environments shaped by climate tension, resource limits, digital influence, and shifting public expectations. They are meeting challenges that require skills their predecessors often developed late in their careers. A strong learning base changes that timeline. It places sharper thinking at the very start.
A Foundation That Sets the Tone for Future Leadership
When programs focus on real-world sustainability priorities, students stop treating global issues as distant puzzles. They begin working with them in practical ways. Several recent initiatives illustrate how that shift is forming.
In 2025, the Designing Futures competition by BE OPEN sent a clear signal. It was built to translate urgent action into something younger creatives could actually influence. The competition encouraged students and recent graduates to adjust and update the SDG agenda in line with current realities.
The objective was simple. Bring more young people into the actual implementation of sustainable action plans. Not as observers. As contributors.
The award was presented on October 29 at the World Futures Studies Federation World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. That setting matters. A global stage. A global audience. A global responsibility.
Dr. Erik F. Øverland, President and Chairman of the WFSF, spoke at the opening plenary session. He announced that the recognition was given to Elena Baturina, Founder of the BE OPEN think-tank, for supporting young people’s creativity and initiatives connected to a sustainable future.
He pointed out that her think-tank aims to accelerate the shift toward sustainable practices and that she remains a consistent supporter of creative education, innovations and sustainability efforts.
Competitions like Designing Futures give students more than a trophy. They offer early feedback loops, pressure, attention, and a supportive network. All of that forms a habit of thinking that lasts well beyond graduation.
Why Education Shapes the Next Generation of Problem Solvers
Future leaders stand on a different stage. They need to move through environments shaped by climate patterns, rapid technological progress, and new geopolitical variables. Training that prepares them for those moments must hit several marks.
Exposure to Interdisciplinary Thinking
Climate impact is not only a science problem. Urban planning is not only an engineering problem. Public health is not only a medical or policy problem.
Education that pulls disciplines together produces leaders who can see broader chains of cause and effect.
Regular Practice With Long-Term Thinking
Many programs now include scenario building, policy simulation, and systems thinking labs. Students learn how a single choice plays out over years, not days. The WFSF has supported this mindset for decades.
Founded in Paris in 1973, with members in over sixty countries, the organization encourages a long-view approach to global challenges.
It provides a forum where academics, researchers, practitioners and students explore ideas that shape alternative futures. Students exposed to that kind of structure gain patience and strategic rhythm.
Early Engagement With Practical Constraints
A student who works on a sustainable architecture prototype learns rapidly that small design flaws scale into large environmental costs.
An engineering student who experiments with materials for low-impact manufacturing learns how supply chains, energy use, and waste patterns shape outcomes.
A media student participating in a sustainability competition learns how messaging shapes public behavior.
Future leaders grow faster when their academic environments reflect that reality.
The Impact of Creative Education on Sustainable Progress
BE OPEN has built an ecosystem dedicated to creative development. It operates through conferences, exhibitions, competitions, and art events for students around the world.
The goal is to encourage younger generations to approach sustainability with a mindset that blends creativity with discipline. When that combination forms early, it reshapes the way a leader acts later.
One of the most valuable parts of BE OPEN initiatives comes from the public platform they provide. Students receive visibility.
Their projects gain structure. That exposure builds confidence and lets them test ideas outside of classroom walls.
How Creative Education Strengthens Leadership Capacity
A few patterns appear again and again:
- Students become more experimental with materials, formats and technologies.
- Feedback loops push them to refine concepts quickly.
- Public recognition motivates deeper research.
- Competition environments reduce hesitation, which is crucial for future decision makers.
Creative training sharpens communication skills. Leaders who can explain sustainability with clarity gain more support from teams, partners, and communities.
Real Skills That Future Leaders Need for a Safer Planet
Education programs that aim to prepare future leaders should center on actionable skills. Not vague ambition. Not overly idealistic visions. Leaders need frameworks that transfer directly into daily practice.
Below is a simple table that outlines key skill groups and their practical use:
| Skill Area | Practical Use | Example in Training |
| Systems Awareness | Helps leaders trace long chains of impact | Simulating water scarcity across multiple regions |
| Risk Evaluation | Helps anticipate problems early | Stress testing local energy grids in a workshop setting |
| Creative Ideation | Helps generate flexible solutions | Prototyping new circular-economy product designs |
| Adaptive Leadership | Helps maintain momentum during uncertain periods | Running role-play sessions on crisis response |
| Ethical Decision Making | Builds trust and long-term stability | Debating resource allocation in sustainability labs |
Programs that teach those skills equip future leaders with tools that hold value across many sectors. Policy. Infrastructure. Design. Business. Public institutions.
How Long-Term Thinking Forms Safer Environments
Safety in a global context depends on choices made far in advance. Leaders who take a long view see safety not as an isolated issue but as a living network of influences.
A designer working on climate-resilient housing has to look at flood patterns, temperature projections, material durability, and community migration trends. An engineer improving renewable energy systems must consider grid compatibility and long-term maintenance demands.
Education that builds long-range thinking forms a mindset that treats safety as a continuous practice. Not a reaction.
Scenario-Building as Routine Training
Scenario labs train students to think in layers. They explore how weather patterns might strain a city’s infrastructure. They map how shortages in critical materials might slow production. They examine how rapid urban population growth affects energy demand.
Students who practice those exercises early develop leadership habits that align with sustainability goals.
Exposure to Ethical Standards
Sustainability brings ethical weight. Decisions affect communities, ecosystems, and long-term resource access. Educational programs that integrate ethical analysis into everyday coursework shape leaders who factor fairness into each recommendation.
Why Young Leaders Need Early Global Connection
WFSF offers a model for global engagement. It brings people together from more than sixty countries. Academics. Students. Practitioners. Institutions. That mix exposes younger leaders to experiences beyond their own region.
Early global connection builds:
- Awareness of how local decisions influence other regions.
- Better cultural sensitivity.
- Faster learning from international innovation.
- Stronger collaboration habits.
Future leaders who gain exposure at an early stage step into their careers with more flexibility and fewer blind spots.
The Role of Competitions in Sustainable Skill Building
Competitions sharpen instincts. They accelerate learning. They add pressure that mirrors real leadership environments.
The Designing Futures competition became the sixth in a series of sustainability-focused global challenges created by BE OPEN.
It aimed to raise awareness of the SDGs and contribute to them by recognizing and promoting innovative ideas by young people. Students were encouraged to create projects with real potential to advance sustainable principles.
Programs like that matter because they:
- Force students to justify their choices.
- Inspire collaboration across departments.
- Highlight gaps that need further research.
- Show students how audiences respond to their work.
By the time graduates enter the workforce, they carry experience that often takes years to build in traditional settings.
Practical Steps Educators Can Use to Shape Future Leaders
Educators can anchor sustainability in a more concrete way with targeted practices.
1. Integrate Field Projects Early
Students learn faster when they can see the impact of their decisions. Field projects tied to water quality, renewable energy prototypes, or local conservation efforts push learning into a tangible space.
2. Provide Mentors Across Specialties
Pairing students with mentors from climate science, urban planning, business strategy, or environmental law creates an open learning path. It exposes students to many ways of thinking.
3. Encourage Public Display of Work
Presentations, exhibitions, and open critiques build confidence and clarity. Leaders who learn to communicate early make better choices later.
4. Build More Long-Duration Assignments
Projects that unfold over months mirror the slow pace of large-scale sustainability work. Students get used to steady progress, periodic setbacks, and long review cycles.
Bringing Everything Together
Education creates the ground on which future leaders stand. Strong programs shape how they think, how they act, and how they influence others. Initiatives like BE OPEN and organizations like WFSF show how powerful creative learning can be when tied to global responsibility.
Competitions like Designing Futures show what happens when young people are invited to contribute ideas that matter.
A safer and more sustainable planet does not appear automatically. It forms through the choices of leaders who learned early how to look far ahead, how to evaluate risk and how to shape ideas that benefit more than their own careers.
That learning starts now.
