My Career Path in Futures Scenarios
A foresight-based innovation for professional development in the culture and creative sector
Bartosz Frąckowiak, in partnership with Paulina Rutkowska, has been awarded a grant by TransferHUB – a social innovation accelerator co-funded by the European Union – to design, test, and publish an open-source toolkit that brings futures thinking into individual career development.
The project, My Career Path in Futures Scenarios (Moja ścieżka rozwoju w scenariuszach przyszłości), responds to a structural gap: while foresight methods are routinely applied to organisational strategy, they are almost never used to support individuals in navigating their own professional futures. This is especially acute in the culture and creative sector, where mission-driven work coexists with precarious conditions, hierarchies, limited advancement paths, and a chronic absence of structured career conversations.
What we found
A survey of over 140 professionals working in cultural institutions across Poland – conducted by the research team of Borys Martela and Ksawery Plater-Zyberk (FISE) – revealed that most respondents had consciously chosen the sector, yet many struggled to see themselves in it a decade from now. Career planning horizons varied dramatically, splitting almost evenly between those who plan day-to-day and those who think five years ahead.
The most striking finding was what the researchers called the Career Autonomy Index a a composite measure of agency, planning orientation, and perceived permanence in the sector. It identified three distinct profiles among respondents, each with fundamentally different needs: from people seeking clearer institutional rules and management culture, through experienced practitioners navigating uncertainty with measured caution, to self-directed professionals looking for networks and advanced development opportunities.
When asked about megatrends that could shape their professional futures, respondents demonstrated sophisticated systems thinking – identifying AI, geopolitical instability, demographic shifts, and sector funding dynamics – yet lacked institutional frameworks to translate these insights into personal decisions.
What we are building
The innovation is a process and a set of four interconnected tools:
Three workshop scenarios – structured sessions in which participants work with their values, competencies, and aspirations in the context of multiple possible futures. Rather than asking “where do you want to be in five years?”, the process asks “who do you want to be in a world that could look like this – or entirely different?”
A personal workbook – supporting reflection between sessions and guiding each participant toward an individual development plan grounded in their own resources and imaginaries.
A facilitator’s manual – designed so that a team leader, educator, or HR professional within any institution can run the full process independently, without external experts.
“What if…” reflection cards – a deck of prompts and situations that open up conversations about possible professional futures, choices, and trade-offs that are rarely spoken about at work.
How we are testing it
The toolkit is being tested in two rounds. The first involves a diverse group of professionals from different cultural institutions, recruited through an open call. The second takes place within a single institution, facilitated by a member of its own team – to verify whether the process works without the authors’ involvement. Both rounds include observation, participant feedback, and a follow-up facilitated session to capture deeper reflections.
Open and transferable
All materials will be published under a Creative Commons BY-SA licence, in accessible formats, written in plain and inclusive language, and compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. They will be available through the TransferHUB repository and sector networks.
The innovation was designed for the culture and creative sector, but its logic is transferable. Any organisation operating under conditions of uncertainty – where people need structured space to think about their professional futures in the context of broader change – can adapt and use these tools.
Project details
Innovation: My Career Path in Futures Scenarios (Moja ścieżka rozwoju w scenariuszach przyszłości) Innovators: Paulina Rutkowska & Bartosz Frąckowiak Research: Borys Martela & Ksawery Plater-Zyberk (FISE) Programme: TransferHUB — social innovation incubator, co-funded by the European Social Fund Duration: 12 months (2025–2026) Licence: Creative Commons BY-SA
This project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund, within the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development.