CI's Bright Future Initiative

Where we've been and where we're going

The Bright Future Initiative is Context Institute's current main focus. It's the central way we're fulfilling our mission to accelerate the transition to a humane and sustainable world. 

The Initiative began in April, 2016, when we launched Bright Future Now (BFNow), our 8-week online, interactive course for cultural co-evolvers. BFNow introduced participants to earlier versions of the frameworks and tools we've now expanded into the Foundational Keys. Through its final cohort in May/June 2024, over 360 people from 34 countries completed the course, with over 25% of them then volunteering in a variety of key program roles. Completing BFNow also gave them access to our Bright Future Network, where we continue to learn together and provide mutual support for the many projects that network members are leading or engaged in.

We’re now entering a new phase with the Initiative, stepping beyond our original 8-week BFNow program so that we can make our offerings much more widely available and easily accessible.

Here’s what we’re doing and planning:

Substack

We'll use this site to give practical depth to the Keys and to foster connections with others who are on the journey of co-evolving a bright future. For an overview of what you'll find here and what you can expect as a subscriber, please look at the About page. For more on our approach, please look at Foundational Keys.

BFNow Self-Study

BFNow continues in a new form! We’re making the BFNow content available on this site as a self-study program, designed for use by both individuals and groups.

"This course is like that map you've been looking for. It touches on so much, so concisely. It's like this simplicity on the other side of the messy complexity."

New Courses

We're currently designing new online courses to provide a deep learning opportunity in a community-of-practice setting. Building on all we've learned offering BFNow for eight years, the content will include comprehensive explorations of the Foundational Literacies and Essential Capabilities, as well specific topics such as Optimal Zone Resilience (for individuals and groups), System Consciousness, Turning Conflicts into Design Opportunities and many others. We expect to start offering these new courses in 2025. 

Bright Future Network

The network will continue to be a community of connection, mutual support and shared learning. In addition, network members will play a major role in developing and running the new courses as we use the network for a living lab, exploring and deepening into the Essential Capacities.

Everyone currently in the network is a graduate of BFNow, providing us with a common ground of concepts and experiences. We want to continue with some meaningful onboarding, so we'll be developing a new pathway into the network once we have the new courses available.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, I hope you’ll join us now to stay connected as this new phase emerges and grows.