The training aimed to cultivate a resilient leadership framework characterized by forward-thinking, values-driven decision-making, and strategic preparedness for future challenges and opportunities. This initiative empowers the university to strategically foresight and prioritize its efforts in education, research, and community outreach, in alignment with sustainable development goals. By doing so, MSU-Maguindanao aspires to solidify its position as a leading center of innovation in the region and ensure its proactive role in shaping a sustainable future.

Mr. Emmanuel de Guia, Director for Strategic Network and Partnership at the Philippine Futures Thinking Society (PhilFutures), emphasized the importance of strategic foresight, stating, “Strategic planning begins with the end in mind but Strategic foresight focuses on what’s coming next, not on what has happened in the past.” Ms. Jalaine Joyce Malabanan, a fellow at PhilFutures and one of the resource speakers, highlighted the ethical dimensions of futures thinking, saying, “We are not just ‘colonizers’ of an empty future ready to be occupied. What is important is how we relate to the future—our unique responsibility to our own futures.”