Visions of better life at the heart of Plastics Future Day
How will we utilise plastics in our daily life in 2050? What can we do today to achieve the future we want? These were some of the questions discussed at the Plastics Future Day, which was held on 8 February. Looking into the future also makes the present appear clearer and provides tools with which to realise your dreams – you can still reap the benefits at a result webinar held on 7.5.!
Understanding the future helps acting in the present
The Plastics 2050 Future Day organised by the project Closed Plastic Circle – from Pilots into Practice and Motiva Services was held on 8 February 2024 in Kupla, Tapiola. The aim of the day was to explore different futures – what would they mean for the use of plastic and plastics’ role in our society?
The day started with some interesting introductory speeches. First, Researcher Ali Harlin from VTT talked about how plastics became part of our lives today. The journey that began with cellophane and bakelite has quickly progressed to the point where plastics can be used to produce a dizzying range of things with incredible precision. The event’s second speaker Minna Koskelo, a futures designer, non-fiction writer and pioneer of service design and foresight, presented the principles of future-oriented thinking: how everything starts from guesswork and imagining the future and how this needs to lead to interpretations and independent action with which the future is made.
Lastly, Netta Korhonen from Motiva Services presented five scenarios compiled for the Future Day which were deepened in the group work part of the day.
50 visionaries believed in the future
The Future Day included a wide range of different opinions from different sectors. City and province representatives, educational and research institutions, plastic product manufacturers, consultants, reuse operators and organisations as well as other third sector parties were all present to share their expertise. In total, there were almost 50 participants. Plastic affects us all, both at work and in our free time.
The workshop groups were ambitious in their approach and created alternative futures on the basis of the five prepared scenarios. The groups discussed things such as increasing reuse in the context of future birthday parties where there is no gift-giving culture and decorations are rented; an economically thriving marketplace where packaging are all similar and all products can be brought back for repairs; and a world in crisis where the hygiene and durability properties of plastic become paramount features. The majority of the participants estimated that the recycling challenges have already been solved in the future and that the production of virgin plastic, at least one made from fossil raw materials, has largely ceased. However, plastic was still seen as an important material that can support solving different kinds of problems. This meant that in the future, only unnecessary consumption has been cut off while the quality of life continues to improve.
Result webinar on 7 May from 9:00 to 10:15
The Future Day held in February was part of wider future work carried out by the project Closed Plastic Circle – from Pilots into Practice and Motiva Services. Based on the scenarios prepared for the Future Day and the reflections of the Future Day, a roadmap for plastics that reaches all the way to 2050 will be prepared. The Plastics Roadmap for Finland is designed to cover things until 2030, and we now wanted to look even further.
On 7 May from 9:00 to 10:15, we will organise a webinar open to all. At the webinar, you can hear again the future-oriented speeches given at the Future Day and the results produced on the basis of the work. See the details and register for the webinar(external link, opens in a new window)! The webinar will be held in Finnish.
“Think about the past and dream about the future, but act now.”
