2016
MFT was founded by Monash University students James Wong and Edward Cliff, with a vision of creating opportunities for young people from various disciplines to talk about our world’s long-term future, which often does not get the airtime it deserves in a culture of short-term thinking. As our world changes rapidly, both our capabilities and the complexity of challenges we face are increasing. Young people from all backgrounds are passionate about fruitful discussion and collaboration in the pursuit of creating a better future for themselves and incoming generations.
The fundamental objectives of MFT are to:
Think about the future we want to create
Break down disciplinary boundaries
Ask big questions
The first MFT conference was highly successful, being attended by more than 300 students and hosting notable keynote speakers: Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel AO, Artificial Intelligence expert Professor Marcus Hutter and Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner. Sessions addressed:
Why we need to talk about the long-term future
What our future will look like
How we can deal with Australia’s future developments
The role of universities in driving innovation and forward-thinking mindsets
2018
Following the success of our inaugural event, MFT returned in 2018 with a day-long conference entitled "Towards 2050", attracting over 200 attendees. This event was designed to encourage our participants to embrace 2050 and enter the future as problem-solving leaders. Our featured sessions were:
"Shaping 2050": featured keynote speeches from young entrepreneurs and career experts to inspire our participants for the day and beyond, including Monash University’s Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor Zlatko Skrbiš, CEO of Global Consulting Group Shishir Pandit, and COO of Robogals Global Akansha Kapoor
"Defining Humanity" and "Our Future Cities": participants engaged in interactive, solutions-oriented discussions with experts from different industries
Global Consulting Group workshop: participants worked together in interdisciplinary teams to brainstorm solutions to real life challenges posed by our not-for-profit partners.
2019
The key message of MFT’s 2019 Conference was “Today’s people and tomorrow’s profit makes your power”. At this event, we addressed issues affecting individuals on a large scale such as overpopulation, mental health, culture and religion; how to strike a balance between profits and social good; and the nature of power. Sessions included:
A panel on 4th Industrial Revolution, which examined how technology is changing the way we live, work and communicate
A research exhibition showcasing research projects from members of Monash University’s community including Precious Plastic Monash, Nova Rover team, CURIE and Rowan Page.
An environmental panel “People for the Planet”
GCG Case Competition, which gave an opportunity to create innovative solutions to important societal challenges for a chance to be accelerated to GCG’s Assessment Centre Recruitment.
A Conscious Consumer Expo, which exhibited local, social enterprises such as Spair Pair and Vollie.
2020
2020 was a challenging year to say the least, with COVID-19 restrictions constraining the types of initiatives we could run. However, we did not let this stop us! We pivoted by moving our events into the digital space and even started a podcast. Some of our initiatives included:
“Ethical Enterprises” panels, which addressed combining social impact with business
“Defining Conflict in the 21st Century” and “Pathway to Peace” panels - delved into what the future of conflict would look like and what we can do to achieve a peaceful society
Sustainability Summit - hosted a sustainability expert panel and mini-hackathon to create solutions for sustainability issues in collaboration with Monash Association of Sustainability and Future Minds Network
Sustainability Week - hosted a Q&A with a MFT alum about getting involved in the sustainability space
Podcast - interviewed industry professionals for a diverse range of future-related topics