While forecasting – i.e., attempts to predict future states from current trends – is a common methodology,
professional scenarios often rely on "backcasting": asking what changes in the present would be required to arrive at
envisioned alternative future states. For example, the Policy Reform and Eco-Communalism scenarios developed by
the Global Scenario Group rely on the backcasting method. Practitioners of futures studies classify themselves as
futurists (or foresight practitioners).
Futurists use a diverse range of forecasting methods including: