Help shape the Human Futures Lab.
One Planet, Many Contexts: what could happen if learners around the world explored local sustainability challenges, used AI without surrendering human judgement, and learned across different realities?
This is a promising direction, not a finished programme. We are inviting students, educators, researchers, organisations and communities to question it, enrich it and help turn it into something meaningful and possible.
From conversation to a project the world can help shape
An international group explored the human capacities education should develop, the evolving role of educators and the possibilities and tensions created by AI. Their discussion, project preferences and contextual research became an initial direction: a globally connected lab grounded in real local challenges.
Conversation
Different experiences and perspectives surfaced shared concerns and possibilities.
First direction
The group’s insights became a working idea, supported by contextual research.
Open collaboration
The public can now challenge, expand, adapt, test and help implement it.
Built through international dialogue
These educators contributed perspectives, questions and ideas that helped the project reach its current starting point. The next stage is an invitation for many more voices to join them.
Monique Muller
Canada
Durham District School Board →J. Christopher Bezsylko
Founding Head · Consultant
Ainsley Rose
Canada
Thistle Educational Development →Derek Wenmoth
Aotearoa New Zealand
FutureMakers →Connie Kamm
United States
Kamm Solutions →JuanCarlos Arauz
United States
E3: Education, Excellence & Equity →Susannah Johnson
United States
Individualized Realized →George Singfield & Neil Fleming
Québec, Canada
Western Quebec School Board →One planet. Many contexts. A shared inquiry into human futures.
The Human Futures Lab begins with a possibility: learners and educators in different places might investigate a sustainability challenge that matters locally, use AI critically and transparently, take a realistic form of action, and let dialogue with other contexts change their thinking.
Begin with local reality
Teams might observe, listen, measure and identify a challenge connected with water, food, energy, transport, biodiversity, waste, climate resilience or another local priority.
Interrogate the technology
AI might become one source among several—something learners question, verify and compare with evidence, expertise and community knowledge.
Act, reflect and connect
Teams might test a modest response, study what happens and exchange learning with partners whose realities reveal different assumptions.
Human capacities
Judgement, empathy, creativity, systems thinking, adaptability, purpose and ethical responsibility become visible through authentic work.
Educators as evolutionary agents
Educators design, adapt, experiment, safeguard participation and contribute professional knowledge from real contexts.
Real-world AI pathways
Learners encounter AI through real evidence, ethical questions and decisions whose consequences extend beyond an assignment.
Questions we hope collaborators will help answer
The project needs a diversity of voices before its inquiry process, participation model, shared outputs or possible pilot can be defined.
There are many ways to move the idea forward
You do not need to join a formal team. A thoughtful question, a relevant URL, a local story or an introduction to a possible partner can all strengthen the project.
Resources and projects that can inspire what comes next
These links informed the early thinking, but none defines the project. Browse what is useful, challenge what does not fit and suggest perspectives or examples that are missing.
Browse 9 foundational resources Human capacities, sustainability, AI literacy, rights, environmental impact, thinking and implementation
OECD Learning Compass 2030
Agency, wellbeing, knowledge, skills, attitudes and values—with attention to local contextualisation.
UNESCO Greening Curriculum Guidance
Age-responsive, action-oriented guidance for climate and sustainability learning.
UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students
A human-centred progression through AI understanding, ethics, applications and creation.
UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Teachers
Competencies for human-centred thinking, ethics, AI foundations, pedagogy and professional learning.
UNICEF Guidance on AI and Children
Principles for safety, privacy, fairness, transparency, inclusion, wellbeing and accountability.
UNESCO Guidance for Generative AI
Human-centred guidance for age appropriateness, privacy and meaningful educational use.
UNEP · AI Lifecycle and the Environment
Infrastructure, energy, water, materials, waste and the wider environmental effects of AI.
Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routines
Simple structures for observation, evidence, perspective-taking, interpretation and reflection.
EEF School’s Guide to Implementation
A practical approach to contextual adaptation, implementation behaviours and iterative improvement.
Explore 5 evidence and data pathways Possible starting points for local investigations—not substitutes for local knowledge
Climate and environmental change
NASA, NOAA and the World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal.
Sustainable Development Goals
The UN SDG Global Database provides indicators, definitions and country-level trends.
Water, food and agriculture
UN-Water and FAOSTAT can support inquiries into water, land, food systems and production.
Biodiversity and air quality
GBIF offers open biodiversity records; WHO provides air-pollution resources.
Introductory machine learning
Google Teachable Machine can help students examine training examples, classification errors and bias.
Consider 8 tools the Lab might develop Possible shared resources for access, inquiry, action, reflection and responsible participation
1. Sustainability Challenge Selector
A matrix for local importance, safety, feasibility, evidence, community relevance and possible action.
2. Human Capacities Framework
Observable examples of judgement, empathy, creativity, collaboration, adaptability, purpose and agency.
3. AI and Evidence Log
A record of prompts, claims, verification, errors, omissions, revisions and final human decisions.
4. Community Interview and Consent Guide
Age-appropriate support for respectful listening, consent, privacy, attribution and reciprocity.
5. Action or Prototype Canvas
A planning tool for the challenge, stakeholders, assumptions, response, risks and evidence.
6. Educator Action-Research Note
A concise way to document pedagogical change, implementation, context, evidence and adaptation.
7. Human Futures Atlas Template
A possible common structure for context, evidence, AI use, judgement, action, outcomes and advice.
8. Low-Connectivity Participation Guide
Printable, shared-device, teacher-mediated and offline approaches that widen access.
Explore 10 project inspirations Examples of global coordination, student action, evidence, educator leadership, mentoring and responsible AI
Climate Action Project
Global classroom coordination, common timing, local investigation and international exchange.
Visit project →Design for Change
A memorable Feel → Imagine → Do → Share process moving students from empathy to action.
Visit project →The GLOBE Program
Scientific protocols, student-generated observations and internationally comparable environmental data.
Visit project →Eco-Schools
Student leadership, sustainability audits, action planning, measurement and community involvement.
Visit project →Global Schools Program
Educator formation, curriculum integration and teachers positioned as sustainability leaders.
Visit project →AI for Social Impact Challenge
AI literacy, ethics, the SDGs, low-connectivity approaches and project design.
Visit project →Technovation Girls
Mentorship, community problem-solving, technological prototyping and facilitator support.
Visit project →The Earth Prize
Expert mentoring, project canvases, international visibility and a catalogue of student ideas.
Visit project →Roots & Shoots
Compassionate local action connecting people, animals, communities and ecosystems.
Visit project →The World’s Largest Lesson
Accessible, multilingual and age-banded resources connecting learning with the SDGs.
Visit project →See the thinking that came before the project page
The Group 2 insights capture the original themes, questions and possibilities contributed by participants.
Help shape what the Human Futures Lab could become
Use the form to contribute an idea, URL, resource, local context, question, partnership possibility or expression of interest. You can make a small contribution or tell us that you would like to become more deeply involved.
Every submission will help the ChangeEd team understand what the project needs and where future collaboration may be possible.