What if…the future looked the way you imagine it?

Associated media

The BBC is launching a series of programmes about what the world might be in future, and holding a global competition inviting audiences to create their own vision of the future.

What If? peers into the future; 10, 20, even 50 years from now, how will we live, how will we look, how will we organize ourselves? What if we stayed young forever? What if everyone had a car? What if women ruled the world? What If? - a brand new, thought-provoking, season of BBC programming in early 2013.

BBC audiences around the world are invited to present their own vision of the future in a competition to coincide with the season of programmes and online content called ‘What If?’ The competition is to produce a visual image of an imagined future: either a still or a moving image, using any visual medium – animation, photography, film, paint. The entries will be judged by leading artists and animators around the world.

Programmes focused on the future are being broadcast from 28 January to 31 March by the BBC’s international news services on BBC World News TV, BBC World Service radio and online. They will cover subjects ranging from how the world might look, to the new technology, innovations in health and science, and the people who will shape our new world.

Competition entrants can interpret ‘What if?’ in any way they choose. They can imagine the future where they live, inside the home, outside, how we’ll look, what we’ll eat, how we’ll relate to each other, how we’ll move around, and what the planet will look like. But most of all the competition needs original creative work that the world should know about. Full competition and What If? season programme details are available  at: bbc.co.uk/whatif

The multimedia and multi-lingual programmes that shape ‘What If?’ pose many intriguing questions about our future.

What if we were all cyborgs?

BBC World Service - Monday 26 February.

What if we stayed young forever?

BBC World Service - Mondays 4, 11, 18 March; and BBC World News - Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 March.

What if we all had a car?

BBC World Service, BBC World News, and BBC Online - Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March.

What if – the new tech billionaires?

BBC World Service - Tuesday 19 March, Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March; and BBC World News - Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March.

What if women ruled the world?

BBC World Service – International Women’s Day Friday 8 March; Short films and web features will be shown from mid-Feb to 9 March; and a BBC World News - Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March.

What if Africa was the new hub of global science?

In March 2013, the BBC World Service will host an international science festival at Makerere University in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The BBC Science Radio team will be at the heart of the festival and broadcast live from the event over five consecutive days.

What if there was a better way of finding love?

What if we all lived in a smart city?

What if soldiers were machines?

The What If? season will also feature special editions of HARDtalk on BBC World News and BBC World Service to be aired in March, including Mark Post, the scientist at the forefront of growing meat in a laboratory with no need for animals.