The Newspaper of Tomorrow
Qué es
A short, creative foresight exercise. A team imagines their university a couple of years from now — as they would like it to be for equality, diversity and inclusion — and writes it up as the front page of a future newspaper, complete with headlines.
Picturing the win first makes priorities concrete and gives everyone a shared direction to plan towards. It is quick, inclusive, and gets every voice contributing.
Cuándo usarla
- You want a shared, motivating vision before you start planning.
- A group is stuck on problems and needs to picture what "better" actually looks like.
- You want an inclusive warm-up that gets everyone contributing quickly.
Cómo implementarla
A simple three-step imagination exercise that ends with your top priorities.
- Picture it
Imagine
Picture your university in two years as you would like it to be for equality, diversity and non-discrimination.
Qué produces- A shared picture of the future you want
- Make it
Write the front page
Capture it as tomorrow’s newspaper — headlines, a lead story, small news items — on paper, slides or a shared board.
Qué produces- A "newspaper of tomorrow" with headlines
- Decide
Name your priorities
From the headlines, write down the three most important things you want to achieve — and why.
Qué produces- Three clear priorities, with reasons
A great way to open a Living Lab. The priorities it produces feed straight into your planning and dialogue methods.
- Living Labs Guidelines — to set up the lab this vision guides
- Action & Sustainability Plans — to turn the three priorities into action
- World Café — to explore the priorities with a wider group
Newspaper of Tomorrow Canvas
Fill this in as the front page of a future newspaper — the university you want to see. Print it at A3, or build it on a shared board.
Masthead & date
Your newspaper’s name and the future date (for example, two years from now).
Headline story
The biggest change you want to see — a bold headline and a short lead paragraph.
News: spaces & culture
A change in spaces, culture or everyday campus life.
News: teaching & voice
A change in teaching, participation or representation.
News: safety & belonging
A change in support, safety or a sense of belonging.
Quote of the day
A quote from a student or staff member living in this future.
Front-page photo
Describe (or sketch) the picture on the front page.
Priority 1
The first thing you want to achieve — and why.
Priority 2
The second — and why.
Priority 3
The third — and why.
Cómo facilitar una sesión
A guide to running a 60–90 minute Newspaper of Tomorrow session that ends with your team’s top three priorities.
1 Prepara
- Invite a mixed group of students and staff — about 5–15 people.
- Allow 60–90 minutes. Bring large paper, markers and sticky notes, or open a shared board.
- Optionally, read the one-page tool beforehand (see the resources on this page).
- Choose a facilitator and someone to capture the headlines.
2 Dirige la sesión
- 10 minSet the scene — the date is two years from now; imagine the university you want to see.
- 20 minBrainstorm headlines — first alone, then shared: what has changed for equality and inclusion?
- 25 minBuild the front page — arrange the headlines, add a lead story, a quote and a photo caption.
- 20 minChoose priorities — agree the three most important changes, and why each one matters.
- 10 minClose — read the newspaper aloud and photograph it.
3 Después
- Share the newspaper and the three priorities with everyone who took part.
- Carry the priorities into your Action Plan or your next session.
- Keep the newspaper visible — it is a reminder of the direction you chose.
4 En formato virtual
- Use a shared whiteboard with a newspaper template; each person adds headlines on sticky notes.
- Work in breakout rooms for small groups, then bring the headlines onto one shared page.
- Live polling helps the group pick the top three priorities quickly.
- Prefer privacy-respecting tools, and keep the board open for later additions.
Ejemplo de implementación del proyecto Labs4Change
In the context of TUDO, the methodology was applied through a creative foresight exercise called "The Newspaper of Tomorrow", in which participants imagined the university as they would like to see it in the future. This exercise generated a series of concrete visions and priorities that shaped the direction of the Living Lab. Participants envisioned TUDO as a university that implements more integrative measures of gender equality and non-discriminatory practices, where students are placed at the centre of transformative education. The exercise also surfaced a shared concern for better understanding student vulnerabilities and a commitment to creating solidarity structures between students and staff. These outcomes informed the subsequent Action Plan and Sustainability Plan, grounding the planning process in a collectively built vision of what a more equitable and student-centred university could look like.
This is a general exercise to help teams think strategically about their universities: what do we have and what do we need?
¿Exploraste los recursos de Labs4Change? Comparte tu feedback
Tus primeras impresiones nos ayudarán a mejorar la plataforma, el Toolkit y otros resultados del proyecto, y a hacerlos más útiles y accesibles para futuras personas usuarias.
Recursos y referencias
- Reference CHESS Action Manual — Change Hubs for Ecosystemic Social Solutions (2025) The manual the Newspaper of Tomorrow tool comes from (p.30).