scientists began to question positivism as a plausible theory of knowledge and instead turned to pluralism. At the 1967 First international Future Research Conference" in Oslo research on urban sprawl, hunger, and education was presented. In 1968 Olaf Helmer of the RAND Corporation conceded "One begins to realize that there is a wealth of possible futures and that these possibilities can be shaped in different ways". Future studies worked on the basis that a multitude of possible futures could be estimated, forecast, and manipulated. Futures studies was developed as empirical research field. Inspired by Herman Kahn's publications, future studies employed techniques such as scenario planning, game theory, and computer simulations. Historians, political scientists and sociologists who engaged in critical futures studies, such as Ossip K. Flechtheim, and Johan Galtung, laid the foundations of peace and conflict studies as an academic discipline. The international academic dialogue on futures studies became institutionalized in the form of the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF), founded in 1967. The first doctoral program on the Study of the Future, was founded in 1969 at the University of Massachusetts by Christopher Dede and Billy Rojas. Dede also founded a master's degree program in 1975 at the University of Houston–Clear Lake. In 1976, the M.A. Program in Public Policy in Alternative Futures at the University of Hawaii at Manoa was established. Forecasting further development Alvin & Heidi Toffler's bestseller Future Shock in 1970 generated mainstream attention for futures studies on the post-industrial economy. It popularized the metaphor of waves to describe the economic and social changes the United States was experiencing. The authors identified the first wave as agricultural society, the second wave as industrial society and the nascent third wave as information society. In the 1970s, future studies focused less on Cold War scenarios and instead grappled on the impact of accelerated globalization. Pioneers of global future studies include Pierre Wack of Royal Dutch Shell, the Interfuture group at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Club of Rome. The Club of Rome challenged the political status quo in 1972 with the report The Limits to Growth by putting computer simulations of economic growth alongside projections of population growth. The 1972 report The Limits to Growth established climate change firmly on the political agenda. The environmental movement demanded of industry and policymakers to consider long-term implications when planning and investing in power plants and