Welcome to Communities of the Future

Local Leaders Preparing for a World that Doesn't Yet Exist!

Who We Are

Business peopleCommunities of the Future is an international network of colleagues from all walks of life who have collaborated for twenty five years to create new principles, ideas, concepts and methods that will help local communities prepare for a different kind of future that will be constantly changing and increasing interconnected, interdependent and complex... Read More

What We Do

Black binocularsThe focus of the work of Communities of the Future is research and development at the local level to learn how to develop “capacities for community transformation” as our society transitions from an Industrial Age to a Connected, Organic Age.... Read More

How We Do It

Silhouette of hiking man jumping over the mountainsCommunities of the Future focuses on six principles to seed and grow “capacities for community transformation.” Each of these principles are a part of a system of community transformation that creates a framework of thinking and doing within what we call a “futures context.” COTF does not try to make more efficient traditional ideas and methods that are increasingly obsolete....Read More

Transformational Thinking Is More Than, Not Less Than:

"I found the concept of Weak Signals to be amazing. The internet started as a weak signal in 1969. The Web was built into it in 1989 making it a complex adaptive system with multiple access points and organic growth into a disruptive innovation we all rely on today. How would you have planned for the impact of the web in 1988 before you knew it was coming?

"We have to get better at identifying which weak signals determine our success or failure and which determine our survival."
Mack Arrington, PCC,
Executive and Life Coach

What Can You Do Now for Then?

It can be overwhelming when you look at the challenges we face for the future, and feel the frustration like we're not getting there.

First, opt in for our email list, use the box just to the left of here. We do not share your info with anyone else.

Second, browse this web site and take note of some areas of interest that resonate with you. Then go to >About COTF > Contact Us and let us know you want to be part of changing the future for the better. We'll see how best to connect you with our global network of people with similar concerns and interests. That's it.

"I had been a strategist and futurist for some time when I first met and started learning from Rick Smyre. Through my role as the first Chairman of the Foresight Network Board, I have had the distinct pleasure of interacting with some of the greatest minds in strategy and futurology. The Communities of the Future (COTF) philosophy in general, and Rick Smyre in particular, stand out as real thought leaders in this field. COTF drives the creation of integrated and self-sustaining but inter-connected and mutually beneficial communities and through their Master Capacity Builder program they aim to create champions for this throughout the globe. Rick has personally mentored and coached me and I can strongly urge any communities or change champions to join this positive revolution."

Myles Hopkins - 20:20 Vision Creators, Johannesburg, South Africa

"The work of Rick Smyre and the Communities of the Future network has made a significant impact on how a core group of leaders in our Fayette County community approach our future. Concepts like the Creative Molecular Economy, and/both thinking, interlocking networks, and how to apply the concept of complex adaptive systems to community development have been eye opening and have changed how we approach our work as community leaders. Looking at issues through a future focused lens has given us tools to address the difficult community conversations which every community who wishes to thrive in the future must have."
Virginia Gibbs - Retired President & CEO, Fayette Chamber of Commerce, Fayette County, GA
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