Looking ahead: what can development studies learn from futures studies?

How do development studies and futures studies overlap? Should they and could they learn more from each other? This paper focuses primarily on scope for development studies to learn from futures studies, while also offering something in return. It starts with insights relevant to development studies gleaned from my own reading into futures studies, focusing particularly on the three horizons model but also encompassing scenario planning, backcasting, and second curve thinking. It then sets out a framework for identifying and assessing anticipatory mental models of development, a framework that can itself be described as a futures tool. Third, it uses the framework to reflect critically on proposals for a more imaginative approach to development studies drawing on the creative arts, and possible responses to climate change. The paper concludes that ideas from futures studies can sharpen the analytical tools used in development studies for thinking about the future. Development studies may also be able to offer future studies routes to deeper engagement with the global south.