In the wake of the pandemic, this year’s Global Foresight Summit assessed the importance of futures and strategic foresight in current decision making. With an international team of high profile speakers, the summit addressed the challenge of global uncertainty.
Global foresight in action
The main focus of the summit was to develop new perspectives on futures thinking. Ruth Marshall from the Government Office for Science and SOIF’s Peter Glenday discussed how different governments use foresight in policymaking.
The need to involve young voices in decision making was addressed by Passy Amayo Ogolla from SOIF. Passy chaired a roundtable with Next Generation of Futures Practitioners (NGFP) Fellows who shared their visions to build an inclusive and equitable future using foresight as a tool.
“The conversation is about the importance, power and impact of recognizing, supporting, mentoring the next generation of foresight practitioners.” Passy Amayo Ogolla
Foresight thought leaders
Hope for the future exists as leaders, and policymakers, recognise the importance of developing fair policies for present and future generations.
Julie Jenson Bennett emphasised that we need to make better decisions today to change our future. To do so successfully, we need to reflect on:
- What “better” decisions mean?
- Who is actually making decisions?
- How to hold each other accountable for decisions with short and long term impacts?
To explore these questions, Julie presented the Framework for Intergenerational Fairness, a policy assessment tool that SOIF and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation are developing and piloting.
Looking ahead
The summit recognised that the pandemic has completely changed the way that we look at the world. Therefore, “it’s important to explore new ideas, and different approaches emerging in the field.”
Younger generations are becoming more vocal on the impact of the decisions made in the past. These affect their present opportunities and futures. Consequently, with this shift in the political landscape, how can policymakers ensure that the decisions they make now are fair to future generations?
If you’re interested in trialling the Framework or learning more about our intergenerational fairness work, please email us or contact Julie Jenson Bennett. For more about the summit, take a look