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How can we develop strategies, policies and choose which innovations to push forward with in an uncertain future?
von AdrianVom Fortschritt im Schneckentempo zum Rückschritt. Welche Zukunft hat Menschenrechtsschutz in Deutschland und der EU?
von MartinaWieviel Zeit kostbarer Regierungsarbeit hat das Bundesjustizministerium jetzt zur Verhinderung der EU Lieferketten Richtlinie (EU LK) eingesetzt? Der Presse nach war die FDP in letzter Zeit hoch aktiv dabei, um andere EU Mitglieder mit ihren Bedenken und Ablehnung mitzureißen. Motto, Bürokratiemonster und womöglich juristische Folgen die man der Wirtschaft ersparen wolle. Bedeutet dies, dass soziale […]
Pessimistic or optimistic?
von AdrianFortschritt eine Schnecke?
von MartinaFor exciting and impactful end of year events
von AdrianPolitics vs the Long Term
von AdrianPolitics should not be different…
von AdrianAs any professional facilitator of events knows, the architecture of a conference/seminar/workshop/meeting space determines how conversations will (or will not) take place. E.g. having participants seated at a distance from each other, with tables in between, gives licence to aggression and heated exchanges – it creates an „us“ and „them“ mindset, and I am separated […]
How to nurture foresight in organisations?
von AdrianWhat future skills now?
von AdrianA couple of personal take aways that I draw from a project run for a human resources department. These are my personal take, and deliberately leave out many (much more specific) client learnings. The need for specific technical expertise is not going away – in some cases it may be vital e.g. to check that […]
New Luxembourg Vision and Strategy
von AdrianVery much enjoyed the Luxembourg Strategy event yesterday. Here is a country leading the way by setting out a vision – which has been wind tunnelled for robustness in different scenarios – for a zero carbon future. Moreover, it not just promotes carbon mitigation, it takes explicit account of inclusivity – the need to keep citizens on-board. […]
Hybrid ist nicht hybrid
von PetraLearnings from role playing through future scenarios
von Adrian5 observations on how AI can help us create images for scenario stories
von PetraNews of the Future: PFAS banned in many countries
von PetraNews of the Future: Dairy products from cellular agriculture
von PetraThe rise of business wargames
von PetraCasablanca
von AdrianDubai Future Forum 2022
von PetraNews of the Future: First transport train line with self-powered electric freight train cars
von PetraA green hydrogen future?
von AdrianNews of the Future: Das Gebot der Stunde: 2027 Preis für die beste Zukunfts-Politikgestaltung vergeben
von MartinaNews of the Future: New training innovation platform encapsulated with exceptional potential
von PetraNews of the Future: Energy
von SebastianFutures thinking in the recent past
von AdrianHow to make the energy transition happen?
von AdrianBack this week from an interesting project to help an company plan the energy transition of one of its (energy-intensive) sites. A couple of observations: The legal certainty created by the Dutch Carbon Tax provides something very tangible to build off. Unlike the Emissions Trading System, it provides a very clear indication of the price […]
An antifragile evening
von AdrianMore direct highspeed train travel in Europe
von Sebastian(About to be) stuck in an airport? We need more highspeed nonstop train connecting major cities now! This is my personal opinion and wish of many of us here at 4Sing. We are committed to lower our CO2 footprint – which is largely caused by travel. Hence, in the last months we all happily shifted […]
Interesting innovations
von AdrianExploring the next generation of meetings
von AdrianIn-Person – Hybrid – Online – Offline? Tale of a conference in 2022
von SebastianWhat about Foresight? The shock of the war left many in unknown territory
von MartinaNews of the Future: AI generated items
von SebastianThird dimension of the medal?
von MartinaZeit für die Zukunft – die Lernkurve steigt
von Martina2021 : The future in advance?
von AdrianA five-day retreat in Turkey
von AdrianNews of the Future: Food Populism and Politics, dead end?
von LindiweIn the last decades a number of political movements have won rural voters with promises to defend local farmers against global capitalism, commonly known as „Food Populism and Politics“. This has been easy enough, as farmers perceive agricultural policy to be an existential issue, whereas the (much more numerous) consumers of food products have, until […]
A way to reach the Paris Agreement targets?
von AdrianIf you are currently despairing, try “The ministry for the future” by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is a work of fiction that does not fall into the trap of being utopian. Each step forward is assorted with caveats, resistance, and steps back. But it suggests how a combination of human action, technology, and new thinking […]
How to be a catalyst?
von AdrianWhen I first (officially) started working on multi-stakeholder foresight work 30 years ago, the community was not so big. Fast forward to today, and the numbers engaged has rocketed – and correspondingly it has become harder to know everybody else. It was therefore a great pleasure to see how the Nomads Foundation and I were […]
Three take-aways for the Mediterranean
von AdrianA great pleasure to have co-moderated the Union for Mediterranean’s trade and investment forum today for the third time. I had the pleasure of two excellent panels – on trade facilitation and sustainable investment – brimming with expertise. Among the many gems, the things that struck me were: 1. Progress on trade facilitation in the region […]
The Future of Mobility
von AdrianMoving forward an unemployment insurance fund in Tunisia with the help of long-standing colleagues.
von AdrianThree insights on foresight
von AdrianI very much enjoyed facilitating an on-line conversation of foresight managers from four companies with global reach earlier this week. It would be impossible to do justice to everything that was said, but three new insights for me were: 1. How we measure success: A. Did we get it right? We will never be able to predict […]
A few lessons from an on-line workshop on migration with simultaneous translation
von AdrianFive lessons from working with a robot
von AdrianShould governments conduct foresight work?
von AdrianShould governments conduct foresight? Or just react faster? Thanks to Alun Rhydderch for talking with me about this theme. An active participant in the Global X-Center Network, Alun has a lot of experience working with and for various governments
5 points for back to office strategies
von AdrianA highly enjoyable workshop with a client on Monday about the challenges of returning to the office after the Summer. We agreed it will not be going „back to usual“ as: A. COVID will still be an issue, even where vaccinations are widespread. B. We have learnt a lot thanks to COVID and want to […]
Building resilience
von LindiweFutureTalk @lunchtime in Clubhouse
von Petra3 Learnings from our first public conference in 3D about the Future of IDC
von PetraA 2D Cocktail!
von AdrianFun with strategy: 4 Lessons from Role-Playing Competitors/ Suppliers/ Customers/ Stakeholders in 3-D
von AdrianThe first 3 things you should know about 2D and 3D meeting tools.
von PetraResilienz – ein neues altes Buzzword –
von MartinaHow do we anticipate eXtreme events?
von AdrianJohn Casti is another co-founder of the Global X-Centers network, and a prolific author on surprises and resilience. Here is his (deliberately very short) take on anticipating eXtreme events:
What is resilience about?
von Adrian4Sing is the local branch of the Global X-Centers Network. For eleven years now, we have been working with researchers and practitioners on five continents to identify a theory of surprise and to work out what resilience means and requires of organizations. Just as a teaser on some of the work done, I have interviewed […]
Supporting clients by joining their team temporarily
von PetraWhat future, and what options, for International Development Cooperation?
von Jonathan5 things you need to know about Black Swans, Resilience and Agility
von AdrianA New Push for Foresight and Resilience – Notes from the ESPAS conference 2020
von MartinaRunning a mini-TV show
von AdrianVers quelque chose de nouveau?
von AdrianJ’ai animé un séminaire avec 50 participants super intéressants ce vendredi et samedi passé pour discuter de l’avenir d’une organisation associative en France. La vision propose de créer de la propriété intellectuelle pour le partager avec d’autres (soit en le donnant gratis, soit en établissant des organisations qui le répandissent) est une bouffée d’air fraîche […]
A growing demand for team building and conflict reduction
von AdrianIt may just be coincidence, but I suspect not. In the last few weeks, we have had three requests for virtual team building exercises, and two projects that (more or less explicitly) are seeking to take the poison out of conflictual situations in a team. My rationalisation is that, after a long time of kicking […]
Inspire to include Foresight in Virtual Meetings with Virtual Backgrounds
von PetraHow can a diaspora be even more of an asset for a country?
von AdrianA very interesting peer-to-peer learning and strategy workshop spread over two days with thirty participants from Asia, Africa and Europe, looking at the question of how to link a diaspora with home countries in a way that brings a win-win for both the individuals concerned and the home country (not to mention the host country […]
Allocating different roles in Virtual Meetings with Virtual Backgrounds
von PetraThree Things to do differently in Digital Events?
von AdrianAfter a systemic shock, the first reaction is to try to carry on as before, with as few adaptations as possible. This is exactly what has happened with events after the emergence of COVID-19, as people have bascially put „on-line“ the same sort of event that we had „off-line“. Only after a while, do we […]
Join our interactive survey on the future of International Development Cooperation in the light of the COVID-19 crisis!
von JonathanReal versus Digital Workshops
von AdrianI am just returning from running three half-day foresight to strategy workshops in North Africa, which followed hard on the heels of five virtual and hybrid (real & digital) workshops/trainings in the last two weeks. Striking is the difference in energy levels. As a moderator you can generate much more energy and excitement in a […]
Running hybrid workshops
von AdrianHybrid workshops – a mixture of people in a room and on-line – are increasingly common as COVID restrictions are lifted but as travel is still not back to usual. Having now moderated a few such events, for instance, last week with eight people phyiscally in a room in Tunis, and a similar number on-line […]
The World After Covid-19
von JonathanOn-line Workshops work suprisingly well!
von JonathanInternational Potato
von JonathanPan-European Co-Creation
von JonathanKnowledge Sharing in a Global Team
von AdrianParticipants from Forteen countries Three continents together during Five days for an intensive knowledge exchange and to build One global team! Thanks to the PEP part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative for the numerous interesting insights into the challenges and rewards of spreading renewable energy in emerging markets, and for being easy on the […]
Georgia knows how to welcome its guests
von JonathanPathways to a Carbon Neutral EU
von AdrianUsing your own organisation as a radar
von AdrianToo many early warning systems depend on a central staff scanning for signals in a mass of noise. The workshop I ran today was interesting, as it deliberately brought in colelagues from very varied functions – and also different continents, with 15 participating on-line – for a half day session to understand what they see […]
On-line Training und Coaching
von PetraEine Notiz zu Szenarien
von JonathanThe difference between a „shout room“ and an „echo chamber“
von JonathanNationale und überregionale Ansätze vereinen
von JonathanZukunftsreporter
von JonathanDie Riffreporter sind ein „Projekt für lebendigen Qualitätsjournalismus“ und wurden bereits mit dem Grimme Online Award und dem #Netzwende-Preis ausgezeichnet. Auf ihren Seiten haben sie jetzt auch einen Fokus auf Zukunftsthemen gelegt und einige lesenswerte und fundierte Analysen und Reportagen zusammengetragen. Auch wenn sich ein Gutteil der Beiträge eher auf Europa und Deutschland konzentriert, was […]
Knowledge Sharing in the Snow
von AdrianJust completed a short workshop that was a mixture of knowledge sharing, project planning and organisational development. In a short day, the dozen participants were able to identify the similarities and differences between what they were doing in four countries, and to agree on the mechanisms for keeping up an exchange of knowledge on contents […]
From the land of fire to the origins of coffee
von JonathanBaku is a place where you see what happens if architects don’t have budget restrictions. The buildings are impressive, yet elegant and not disturbing the historic substance of the city. Still, challenges remain for the country between the Caucasus and Iran to tackle unemployment, economic and financial development and investment climate. Both, the actual and […]
AI writing about the future of cybersecurity
von JonathanA bot read 1000+ cyber security predictions for 2020 and then wrote an article about it itself – after being asked to do so by a human, still.
Investment Climate in Minsk
von JonathanI feared cold when headed to Minsk, Belarus, but it was surprisingly warm for December. The workshop’s participants engaged quickly and were not disturbed by a rather unconventional workshop-concept: Instead of presenting and discussing in plenary all the time, the client opted for an interactive format where we focused the discussions in small diverse groups. […]
Migration Innovation in Uganda
von JonathanTravelling to East/ Central Africa always comes with surprises. As for example that Ruanda’s plastic ban is really enforced. When the plane held in Kigali for a stop-over, the personnel reminded the deboarding passengers that it was strictly illegal to bring any sort of plastic bag into the country. From a European point of view, […]
Knowledge Sharing on Nutrition, Cotonou
von AdrianA week in Cotonou Benin runing a knowledge sharing event in French and English, with 70 participants based in 12 African and Asian countries focused on food and nutritional security. C’était merveilleux de voir comment les participants de différents pays et continents ont réussi – malgré les barrières linguistiques – d’apprendre les uns des autres. […]
Global Delivery Initiative, Tunis
von PetraIn 2014, we facilitated the first Global Delivery Initiative Conference in Berlin. This year, I attended the sixth annual conference, and it is great to see how the initiative has gained traction and to see how it has grown into a partnership of over 50 development organisations. It was really good to discover that the […]
The „Global X-Centers Network“ annual meeting 2019, Vienna
von MartinaThe Global X Network meeting in Vienna on 28 October brought together a group of researchers from the USA, Japan, Brazil, and Europe, all of whom had a great knowledge of Futures and Foresight. The theme this year was Urban Futures. The key messages from ´Mapping the Urban Future´ and on ´Ramification of Green Urban […]
Renewable energy for displaced persons, Kampala
von AdrianJust back from Kampala, where the rain is still falling, even if rainy season is supposedly over. Luckily the stakeholder consultation I was helping to run was about application of renewable energy (for displaced persons), so hopefully it could make a (tiny) contribution to reducing future climate change, whilst giving energy to those who are […]
From Yerevan to Kiev
von AdrianSuper weather in both Yerevan and Kiev: October and sweating after a 20-minute walk from the hotel to the workshop location! And just as the climate is “improving”, so the opportunities for the “investment climate” are also getting better. In both countries, following the changes in government, reform plans that were previously off the agenda, […]
Growing awareness of Foresight, OECD, Paris
von MartinaThe Annual Meeting of the OECD Government Foresight Community (GFC) in Paris, 7-8 October, was again a high point for those following the future of governance and strategic foresight. Thanks to Strategic Foresight Counsellor Duncan Cass-Beggs and his excellent team, the Community is growing, with great presentations by Futurists, governments using foresight, researchers and practitioners […]
Atelier de construction de scénarios prospectifs, Paris
von AdrianDe nouveau à Paris, en l’occurrence afin donner une perspective supplémentaire aux participants (présentiels et virtuels) lors de la formation « Atelier de construction de scénarios prospectifs » de Futuribles. Merci à François de Jouvenel, Cécile Désaunay, et Corinne Roëls pour l’invitation. Comme toujours, beaucoup de personnes à rencontrer (merci à Marie-Hélène Caillol, Joshua Polchar, […]
From one subject to another in the Netherlands and Germany
von AdrianOne of the perks of being a methods-based (rather than content expert) foresight and strategy consultant is the variety of sectors you get to work on. Last week it was detergents and agriculture, this week it has so far been renewable energy and (High-school) education, and tomorrow it is about printing!
Keeping tabs on strategy implementation
von AdrianJust completed a fourth workshop in two years, following up on a strategy decided in 2017. Each workshop has allowed the client to check up on how far the strategy has been implemented, as well as to check what other issues have arisen in the meantime. It is fascinating to see the progress made, and […]
A conference in Kiev
von AdrianThe local lore claims that St Andrew planted a stick in the ground on this hillside and declared that one day a city would grow here. Kiev is the result, and St Andrew’s church is built on the spot. The location of the annual event I just ran was directly across from here, and large […]
8th International Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning Symposium, Singapore
von AdrianThe International Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning Symposium (IRAHSS) in Singapore is always a highpoint in the agenda for those trying to make sense of the future. Once again a super line-up, with some extremely interesting insights, ranging from the impact of technologies that are currently just below the horizon, through the hidden impact of […]