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RUBEN NELSON
Ruben Nelson is one of Canada's pioneers of serious futures
research. Since 1960, he has had an active interest in our future.
Today, he is one of Canada's few professional futurists.
Ruben has spent his life exploring the many ways we and our world are
changing. He now believes deeply that if we are to sustain success
in
the unique conditions of the 21st Century, we must develop new mental
maps of where we are in history; that the tacit understandings of our
world and our culture can no longer lead us to the future we
desire.
- In 1960, as an undergraduate at Queen's, he organized and
chaired
the first formal futures conference in Canada.
- In 1970, he was part of a small team asked by the Prime Minister
to re-conceive Canadian social policy.
- In 1972, he designed and implemented the new federal program for
retired people — New Horizons.
- In 1975, as director of the Cultural Paradigms Project, he was
the
first to apply the concept of paradigm change to the evolution of whole
cultures.
- In 1976, he was one of the founders of the Canadian Association
for Futures Studies and was subsequently CAFS' third president.
- In 1980, he was one of the organizers of the largest futures
conference ever held — the joint World Futures Society / CAFS event
in
Toronto.
- From 1986-89 he directed the most thorough Canadian study into
the
transformation of Industrial societies into post-Industrial societies
and economies.
- Today, he is the founding President of
The Alliance for Capitalizing on Change — a Canadian body explicitly designed to
make it
easier for us to explore and understand change in order to influence the
shape of our future.
- He is also a member of the
World Futures Studies Federation
—
the
global professional association for futurists.
He helps people see the big picture and ask the big questions:
- Why is the Industrial Age ending, and why now?
- What forces are driving this transformation?
- What new way of living is struggling to be born within us and
among us?
- What we can do now to become agents of change?
- What it will cost us if we do... and if we don't?
Over the years he has written on changing paradigms, the cognitive work
of leadership, societal change, the future of work, 21st century social
policy, the emerging information society, and the societal implications
of micro-electronic technologies.
Ruben is much sought after as a speaker and consultant. He also has a
strong background in public policy and as an advisor to both elected
officials and bureaucrats. He works in every region and sector of
Canada. He is at home in corporate board rooms and church basements.
He studied at Queen's University (Philosophy, Politics & Theology),
lived in India, and worked in Ottawa.
Ruben is active in the community. In 1989, he conceived of Calgary as an
Information Port and chaired the first phase of the Calgary InfoPort
initiative. For eight years, he facilitated the Prosperity South
process. He has also served as a Governor of the Calgary Economic
Development Authority. He was honored by Rotary International in
1997, when he was named a Paul Harris Fellow. Today, he is a board
member of The Enviros Wilderness School Association.
He is the only Canadian who is a fellow of the World Business
Academy, the World Academy of Art and Science, and the Meridian
International Institute for Leadership, Governance, Change, and the
Future.
He is also President of
Square One Management Ltd. and
The Alliance for
Capitalizing on Change.
Ruben now lives in the Alberta Rockies with Heather, his wife of almost
40
years, and their three cats.
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