The Australian biologist and author Tim Flannery has been awarded Australian of the Year on 26 January 2007 for his contributions to environmental issues and the biosciences. Journalists and policymakers credit Flannery's book The Weather Makers (2005) with reviving the debate on global climate change.
Nassim Kaddim's profile for Melbourne's Age newspaper includes this quote:
"What distinguishes Tim is his ability to see through time," says Peter Cosier, fellow member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. "He is able to see across generations and future generations will be thankful that Tim is on their side."
Swinburne University's Strategic Foresight program also emphasises how the cognitive ability to think through time underpins SF-related work. Rather than act as religious or political prophets, SF practitioners draw on a meta-disciplinary knowledge base, methodologies and contextual awareness to develop a viable "forward view".
Flannery's advocacy role on global climate change illustrates this stance and has parallels with biologist Edward O. Wilson on biodiversity and Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006). All share a "civilisational" perspective that differs from the 3-to-5-year timeframe of most cool-hunters and trend-watchers.
The critical tradition of Futures Studies has also used "futures generations" as a dialogue frame and stakeholder group in exercises and workshops. Exemplars of "futures generations" work include Elise Boulding, Allen Tough, Jim Dator, Jennifer Gidley and Richard Eckersley.