International Futures Forum
Encyclopedia
The International Futures Forum is research institute and associated consultancy funded by business, philanthropy and the public sector. It has links to a variety of other forward thinking groups and organizations largely through common memberships.
It was established in 2001 to explore alternatives to the defensive approaches that leaders in any sector tend to hold to in the face of what IFF calls "powerful times". Its first two years of start up were funded by a generous grant from a BP foundation with an open brief essential to attract the range of international thinkers that became its initial membership. After the initial two years IFF continued developing through its members voluntary work and occasional assignments.
Today, the IFF is an independent registered charity with independent trustees and with a portfolio of support from foundations, research bodies, local authorities, commercial organisations and individuals.
Its current description and brochure can be found at www.internationalfuturesforum.com
IFF has over the last few years gained experience exploring transformative action not only with its original sponsor, BP with other organisations including BT, Diageo, Shell, Carnegie Uk Trust, Jerwood Charitable Foundation, the Esme Fairbairn Foundation and with communities ranging from Falkirkin Scotland to Varanasi in India.
This world is seen as a challenge for business, government and society and confronts them with the task of 'restor[ing] the capacity to act effectively and responsibly and thereby revive and foster a culture of human aspiration'. Based on this view of today's world, the IFF seeks to create a new 'paradigm' by going beyond'traditional' ways of making sense of the world.
How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a "dialogue" between a variety of actors:
Individual members are drawn from a broad variety of organisations, business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified 'social entrepreneurs', policy makers and researchers.
IFF sees itself not as an expert think tank but a network of learners who acknowledge that, whatever expertise they may have achieved professionally, the challenges we face, locally and globally, require a learning and discovery rather than the application of known solutions. The emphasis is on joint exploration in an interdisciplinary way with those who invite them to explore alternate views to intractable problems. IFF does not function as a consultancy.
This small group convening for the IFF's first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and 'futurist' Wolfgang Michalski; Kees van der Heijden (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy Global Business Network
, Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde University, former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell
, London), Arun Maira
from Boston Consulting Group
India, Biologist Brian Goodwin
, Pat Kane
from the Sunday Herald
, and Mark Woodhouse
, a philosopher interested in 'scientific, spiritual, and healing communities'http://www.markwoodhouse.com/01_index.html.
Responding to the Conceptual Emergency
Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. During a case study trip to BP's Grangemouth refinery - the IFF group also conducted case studies on the 'learning society in Dundee' ('IFF Learning in Dundee. A Second Enlightenment View' and on health provision for 'deprived individuals and communities in Fife' (IFF Entreprise in Falkirk - the IFF helped stimulate a "vision" for the future of Falkirk/Grangemouth.
When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders The IFF responded by proposing to reframe the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees, as a creative opportunity. As BP is a 'different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds - intellectual, physical, creative - into the community', the sacking of workers equals 'releasing high quality resources into the community' BP is no longer owner of the refineryand Falkirk has gone on to attract large scale of inward investments to place its economy on a different path through "My Future's in Falkirk"
In 2004/05, IFF / Praxis was commissioned by Nirex "to provide corporate communications advice in relation to the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) consultation programme". IFF is neither pro nor anti-nuclear and its interest was in exploring perspectives on how the transient nature of cultures and civilisations could be recognised with hazards that lasts for tens of thousands of years.
Health
NHS: Learning in Times of Change and Uncertainty project details
Public documents shown below
Fourth Forum Report 27 May 2008
A report of the 4th forum discussion in which members used the IFF three horizons approach to explore existing challenges in teaching Community Health Partnerships and specialist/generalist learning and teaching
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 478 kB
Report of First Education Forum, 30 March 2006
Record of the first SE NHS Education Forum held in Edinburgh in March 2006. Conclusion: the NHS needs to learn how to operate in conditions of complexity and uncertainty. Our tried and tested methods are unlikely to fulfil this need.'
Date: 06 Jun 2007 Size: 87 kB
Report of Second Education Forum 21 September 2006
Record of the second SE NHS Education Forum in September 2006: identifies major strategic development issues and first thoughts about action.
Date: 24 Feb 2008 Size: 334 kB
Report of Third Education Forum, 21 March 2007
Record of the third SE NHS Education Forum in March 2007. Title - NHS learning, training and education in circumstances of complexity and uncertainty.
Date: 06 Jun 2007 Size: 1.5 MB
Culture and Health project details
Public documents shown below
Discussion Paper 1 Organisation of literature scan
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 151 kB
Discussion Paper 2 Consumer Society and The Good Life
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 134 kB
Discussion Paper 3 Thinking about culture as an influence on wellbeing
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 410 kB
Discussion Paper 4 The role of emotions in wellbeing : bridging biology and culture
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 219 kB
Discussion Paper 5 Spirituality and wellbeing: Salvation in the Therapy Culture?
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 218 kB
Discussion paper 6 Modernism and its consequences for wellbeing
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 312 kB
Discussion paper 7 The links between sustainability and well-being:
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 349 kB
Learning Journey Report October 2006
A report on the first of two learning journeys undertaken in 2006/07 to take soundings from different perspectives on culture and health
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 280 kB
Learning journey report February 2007
The second of two learning journeys designed to take soundings from different Scottish perspectives on culture and health. A further six learning journeys are in planning for the first half of 2009
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 327kB
Wellbeing and 'modern culture' - soundings from Scotland
A first analysis of the key issues which arose from the learning journeys taken in October 06 and February 07
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 309kB
Psychological Capacity in a Global Age project details
Public documents shown below
Kitbag - vital resources in powerful times
Short introductory brochure describing Kitbag and IFF's experience to date in using this transformational tool in a variety of settings including a women's prison, community groups, children.
Date: 23 Oct 2008 Size: 410kB
Psychological Literacy and the Future of HR
Sets out the learning from the project relevant to corporate health, performance and human resources. What constitutes the psychologically healthy corporation, and what competitive advantage might it enjoy?
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 321kB
Psychological Literacy Project
A short paper describing the IFF's psychological literacy project and the development of our 'Human Resource Kit'.
Date: 27 Feb 2006 Size: 1.2MB
Rising to the Occasion: cultural leadership in powerful times
A report for MMM on the nature of the leadership challenge in powerful times and the role that the arts and cultural sector might play as a setting for developing 21st century competencies.
Date: 29 Jun 2007 Size: 721kB
Glasgow Centre for Population Health project details
Public documents shown below
Civic Conversation Briefing Note
A short description of the process and progress to date
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 41kB
Equal Exposure: A Civic Conversation
In addition to a written report and other outputs, the civic converstaion artist in residence, Jennifer Williams produced this viual representation
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 5.0MB
Fifth Wave Learning Journeys
Report of a series of learning journeys exploring innovation in public health. Background research for the fifth wave report.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 140kB
Miniature Glasgow
A short film to download in which Glasgow is imagined as a village of 100 people.
Date: 07 Jan 2009 Size: 24kB
The Fifth Wave
A report compiled by IFF converger Andrew Lyon outlining the possibility of a new wave of transformation in public health, drawing on hidden resources within the health and caring professions.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 326kB
What Then Shall We Do? project details
Public documents shown below
Event summary and sound file link
This summary of the event also provides a link to the sound file so that you can listen to the whole event yourself.
Date: 02 Dec 2008 Size: 40kB
Mental Health and Climate Change project details
Public documents shown below
Climate Change and Mental Health
A brief discussion paper prepared as an introduction and stimulation for an online conference on climate change and mental health hosted by the Mental Health Foundation in January 2005.
Date: 04 Apr 2007 Size: 112kB
Learning
Policy Learning project details
Public documents shown below
Policy Learning
This pamphlet advances a simple thesis. In order to flourish in today’s complex and fast-changing world we need to become a learning intensive society. Government cannot support that move unless the policy process itself reflects the theory and practice of lifelong learning it seeks to encourage in others. This is the case for ‘policy learning’.
Date: 02 Mar 2006 Size: 779kB
Policy Learning - European Journal article
An article on policy learning by Graham Leicester published in the European Journal of Education special edition on futures of learning in June 2007.
Date: 24 Jun 2007 Size: 107kB
Three Horizons project details
Public documents shown below
Journal of Futures Studies article on three horizons method
An article by IFF member Tony Hodgson and friend and colleague Andrew Curry of Henley Centre Headlight Vision on the theory and practice of the three horizons method, published in autumn 2008 in the Journal of Futures Studies.
Date: 12 Dec 2008 Size: 234kB
Three horizons of education policy in Scotland
The record of a workshop in March 2007 in Scotland using the three horizons framework to structure a conversation about the failings of today's system, a vision of a more desirable future, and the innovations - existing and potential - that might ease the passage from one to the other.
Date: 15 Aug 2008 Size: 586kB
Three horizons of financial services
An alternative three horizons template suitable for shorter discussions, formatted around four boxes. This one records discussion about the future of financial services in an increasingly digital age.
Date: 15 Aug 2008 Size: 289kB
Enterprise
Social Innovation project details
Public documents shown below
Alison Elliot's Presentation
Presentation on faith-based social innovation given by Alison Elliot in the Scottish Parliament on 26 June 2006.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 1.1 MB
Report of Alison Elliot seminar 27 June 2006
Report of the seminar held to discuss Alison Elliot's presentation on 'the spirit of social innovation' in the Scottish Parliament on 26 June.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 370 kB
Report of Geoff Mulgan seminar 3 March 2006
Report of the seminar held on 3 March to discuss Geoff Mulgan's lecture the previous evening in the Scottish Parliament.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 47 kB
Report of Irene McAra-McWilliam Seminar 8 December 2006
A record of the seminar with Prof Irene McAra-McWilliam, head of design at Glasgow School of Art, following her lecture in Edinburgh on 7 December.
Date: 20 Dec 2006 Size: 151 kB
The Spirit of Social Innovation
Alison Elliot's lecture in the Scottish Parliament, 26 June 2006. Sets out the faith-based approach to social innovation.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 359 kB
My Future’s in Falkirk project details
Public documents shown below
Falkirk's Future case encounter
Report from the IFF's initial visit to Falkirk in April 2002 and subsequent analysis of how to ensure that BP's decision to downsize its workforce acted as a spur for economic transformation.
Date: 30 Nov 2005 Size: 1.3 MB
The Extended Economy: Flexible Working, Growth and the Edinburgh City Region project details
Public documents shown below
Background and Evidence
A companion volume to The Extended Economy detailing evidence, research, analysis and the results of interviews with key players in the City region. Also contains a useful bibliography on flexible working.
Date: 24 Jan 2006 Size: 656 kB
The Extended Economy
The final report from the project suggesting that flexible working needs to take its place as part of a broader view of the economy in the Edinburgh City Region, one that will ease the strains of economic growth on the area. Note that there is a separate volume with background, evidence and analysis.
Date: 24 Jan 2006 Size: 655 kB
Governance
Supporting a Healthy Ecology of the Arts project details
Public documents shown below
Homo Poeticus and the Art of Culture
Working paper prepared for a workshop in May 2007 exploring some of the core ideas and foundational concepts that might underpin the notion of an 'ecology of the arts'.
Date: 06 Nov 2007 Size: 203 kB
The Economy of Art
A companion piece to 'Homo Poeticus and the Art of Culture' unpicking notions of 'value', 'property' and 'economy' in a wider, systemic context.
Date: 11 Sep 2008 Size: 92 kB
Governance of the Long Term: Radioactive Waste Management project details
Public documents shown below
Nirex strategy mural
Nirex past, near present and future strategy mural, one of the products of the programme of support for Nirex thinking through the intractable issues of waste management over long timescales
Date: 19 Nov 2007 Size: 3.9 MB
The Art of Better Giving: social entrepreneuring and the future of philanthropy project details
Public documents shown below
The Art of Better Giving
A discussion paper on the challenges to effective philanthropy in a complex world, and some ideas about new models and modes for spending money to greater effect.
Date: 10 Jan 2006 Size: 68 kB
Scottish Parliament: Scotland’s Futures Forum project details
Public documents shown below
Commissariat General du Plan note on the Scottish initiative
One of a series of notes on futures initiatives in governments prepared by the French government following participation in the IFF event on 6 December 2004.
Date: 24 Nov 2005 Size: 342 kB
Five Centuries of the Future: Eamonn Kelly, GBN
Eamonn Kelly's address to the 6 December event in the Parliament outlining five challenges for the future and Scotland's possible contribution.
Date: 13 Sep 2005 Size: 153 kB
Seven Prompts: a report for the Scottish Parliament
Document prepared for the Parliament recording lessons from other futures initiatives and giving seven prompts to guide their own. Discussed at 6 December 2004 all day event.
Date: 13 Sep 2005 Size: 114 kB
IFF Meetings
IFF1: April 2001, St Andrews, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF1 Meeting Report
Full record of this first meeting of the International Futures Forum.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 1.1 MB
Points of Departure
A summary note on the reasons for hope and the causes for concern about the state of the world from participants in advance of the first IFF meeting. A fascinating snapshot.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 128 kB
IFF2: November 2001, St Andrews and Dundee, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
The Enlightened Corporation? - the evolving role of business
Report of a workshop held at IFF2 on the evolving role of business over the next ten years and the increasing expectations on business to behave in an enlightened manner.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 294 kB
IFF3: April 2002, St Andrews, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF3 Dundee Learning case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter to explore the challenges involved in encouraging people to take up the learning opportunities available in a city apparently turned off from learning.
Date: 23 Aug 2007 Size: 708 kB
IFF3 Falkirk/Grangemouth Economy case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter to explore the challenges of transforming the local Falkirk/Grangemouth economy in the face of BP's necessary restructuring at Grangemouth refinery.
Date: 26 May 2006 Size: 1.3 MB
IFF3 Fife Health case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter in Fife exploring the challenges of tackling health inequalities in a region where the majority of poor people do not live in poor communities.
Date: 23 Aug 2007 Size: 757 kB
Journal of Futures Studies article on Falkirk case encounter
A short essay about IFF's Falkirk case encounter in a special issue of the Journal of Futures Studies dedicated to action research.
Date: 26 May 2006 Size: 1.8 MB
IFF7: February 2006, India meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF7 India Report
Governance, leadership and social change in India: a full report of the IFF's seventh plenary session in India (Delhi and V)
and BT
. Other organisations the IFF has worked with include
The IFF has a number of subscribers to their research output, among which are
Research funding has come from
editorial@internationalfuturesforum.com
History
In 2001, the Scottish Council Foundation (SCF), a think-tank based in Edinburgh, undertook an interesting move by founding a new organisation called the International Futures Forum (IFF).It was established in 2001 to explore alternatives to the defensive approaches that leaders in any sector tend to hold to in the face of what IFF calls "powerful times". Its first two years of start up were funded by a generous grant from a BP foundation with an open brief essential to attract the range of international thinkers that became its initial membership. After the initial two years IFF continued developing through its members voluntary work and occasional assignments.
Today, the IFF is an independent registered charity with independent trustees and with a portfolio of support from foundations, research bodies, local authorities, commercial organisations and individuals.
Its current description and brochure can be found at www.internationalfuturesforum.com
IFF has over the last few years gained experience exploring transformative action not only with its original sponsor, BP with other organisations including BT, Diageo, Shell, Carnegie Uk Trust, Jerwood Charitable Foundation, the Esme Fairbairn Foundation and with communities ranging from Falkirkin Scotland to Varanasi in India.
This world is seen as a challenge for business, government and society and confronts them with the task of 'restor[ing] the capacity to act effectively and responsibly and thereby revive and foster a culture of human aspiration'. Based on this view of today's world, the IFF seeks to create a new 'paradigm' by going beyond'traditional' ways of making sense of the world.
How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a "dialogue" between a variety of actors:
- 'Core dialogue thinkers' disseminate knowledge, specialist information and support to a 'one member has a role designated converter', who 'convert the insights from the dialogue into practical form and who disseminate it to a wider audience'.
Individual members are drawn from a broad variety of organisations, business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified 'social entrepreneurs', policy makers and researchers.
IFF sees itself not as an expert think tank but a network of learners who acknowledge that, whatever expertise they may have achieved professionally, the challenges we face, locally and globally, require a learning and discovery rather than the application of known solutions. The emphasis is on joint exploration in an interdisciplinary way with those who invite them to explore alternate views to intractable problems. IFF does not function as a consultancy.
This small group convening for the IFF's first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and 'futurist' Wolfgang Michalski; Kees van der Heijden (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy Global Business Network
Global Business Network
Global Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
, Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde University, former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, London), Arun Maira
Arun Maira
Arun Maira is a former management consultant and present member of Plannning Commission of India. He is also Former India Chairman of Boston Consulting Group.-Early life:Arun Maira was born in Lahore. He received his M.Sc. and B.Sc...
from Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
India, Biologist Brian Goodwin
Brian Goodwin
Brian Carey Goodwin was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a key founder of the field of theoretical biology.He made key contributions to the foundations of biomathematics, complex systems and generative models in developmental biology...
, Pat Kane
Pat Kane
Pat Kane is a Scottish musician, and half of the pop duo Hue and Cry with his younger brother Greg.Independently of Hue & Cry, lead singer Kane writes on politics and culture...
from the Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
, and Mark Woodhouse
Mark Woodhouse
Mark Woodhouse nicknamed Woody is a British professional basketball player, and currently plays for Derby Trailblazers in the English Basketball League....
, a philosopher interested in 'scientific, spiritual, and healing communities'http://www.markwoodhouse.com/01_index.html.
Responding to the Conceptual Emergency
Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. During a case study trip to BP's Grangemouth refinery - the IFF group also conducted case studies on the 'learning society in Dundee' ('IFF Learning in Dundee. A Second Enlightenment View' and on health provision for 'deprived individuals and communities in Fife' (IFF Entreprise in Falkirk - the IFF helped stimulate a "vision" for the future of Falkirk/Grangemouth.
When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders The IFF responded by proposing to reframe the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees, as a creative opportunity. As BP is a 'different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds - intellectual, physical, creative - into the community', the sacking of workers equals 'releasing high quality resources into the community' BP is no longer owner of the refineryand Falkirk has gone on to attract large scale of inward investments to place its economy on a different path through "My Future's in Falkirk"
In 2004/05, IFF / Praxis was commissioned by Nirex "to provide corporate communications advice in relation to the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) consultation programme". IFF is neither pro nor anti-nuclear and its interest was in exploring perspectives on how the transient nature of cultures and civilisations could be recognised with hazards that lasts for tens of thousands of years.
Publications
IFF encourages as wide a circulation of their work as possible, and most IFF material is available on its site free to download under a creative commons licence. This can be found in context at various parts of the website. Below is a full list of available publications (as at Jan 2009)under the four broad headings of health, learning, enterprise and governance as well as those associated with IFF meetings. Where these reports are related to wider IFF processes you will find links to the relevant part of the site.Health
NHS: Learning in Times of Change and Uncertainty project details
Public documents shown below
Fourth Forum Report 27 May 2008
A report of the 4th forum discussion in which members used the IFF three horizons approach to explore existing challenges in teaching Community Health Partnerships and specialist/generalist learning and teaching
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 478 kB
Report of First Education Forum, 30 March 2006
Record of the first SE NHS Education Forum held in Edinburgh in March 2006. Conclusion: the NHS needs to learn how to operate in conditions of complexity and uncertainty. Our tried and tested methods are unlikely to fulfil this need.'
Date: 06 Jun 2007 Size: 87 kB
Report of Second Education Forum 21 September 2006
Record of the second SE NHS Education Forum in September 2006: identifies major strategic development issues and first thoughts about action.
Date: 24 Feb 2008 Size: 334 kB
Report of Third Education Forum, 21 March 2007
Record of the third SE NHS Education Forum in March 2007. Title - NHS learning, training and education in circumstances of complexity and uncertainty.
Date: 06 Jun 2007 Size: 1.5 MB
Culture and Health project details
Public documents shown below
Discussion Paper 1 Organisation of literature scan
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 151 kB
Discussion Paper 2 Consumer Society and The Good Life
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 134 kB
Discussion Paper 3 Thinking about culture as an influence on wellbeing
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 410 kB
Discussion Paper 4 The role of emotions in wellbeing : bridging biology and culture
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 219 kB
Discussion Paper 5 Spirituality and wellbeing: Salvation in the Therapy Culture?
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 218 kB
Discussion paper 6 Modernism and its consequences for wellbeing
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 312 kB
Discussion paper 7 The links between sustainability and well-being:
Date: 18 Dec 2008 Size: 349 kB
Learning Journey Report October 2006
A report on the first of two learning journeys undertaken in 2006/07 to take soundings from different perspectives on culture and health
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 280 kB
Learning journey report February 2007
The second of two learning journeys designed to take soundings from different Scottish perspectives on culture and health. A further six learning journeys are in planning for the first half of 2009
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 327kB
Wellbeing and 'modern culture' - soundings from Scotland
A first analysis of the key issues which arose from the learning journeys taken in October 06 and February 07
Date: 22 Dec 2008 Size: 309kB
Psychological Capacity in a Global Age project details
Public documents shown below
Kitbag - vital resources in powerful times
Short introductory brochure describing Kitbag and IFF's experience to date in using this transformational tool in a variety of settings including a women's prison, community groups, children.
Date: 23 Oct 2008 Size: 410kB
Psychological Literacy and the Future of HR
Sets out the learning from the project relevant to corporate health, performance and human resources. What constitutes the psychologically healthy corporation, and what competitive advantage might it enjoy?
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 321kB
Psychological Literacy Project
A short paper describing the IFF's psychological literacy project and the development of our 'Human Resource Kit'.
Date: 27 Feb 2006 Size: 1.2MB
Rising to the Occasion: cultural leadership in powerful times
A report for MMM on the nature of the leadership challenge in powerful times and the role that the arts and cultural sector might play as a setting for developing 21st century competencies.
Date: 29 Jun 2007 Size: 721kB
Glasgow Centre for Population Health project details
Public documents shown below
Civic Conversation Briefing Note
A short description of the process and progress to date
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 41kB
Equal Exposure: A Civic Conversation
In addition to a written report and other outputs, the civic converstaion artist in residence, Jennifer Williams produced this viual representation
Date: 28 Nov 2008 Size: 5.0MB
Fifth Wave Learning Journeys
Report of a series of learning journeys exploring innovation in public health. Background research for the fifth wave report.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 140kB
Miniature Glasgow
A short film to download in which Glasgow is imagined as a village of 100 people.
Date: 07 Jan 2009 Size: 24kB
The Fifth Wave
A report compiled by IFF converger Andrew Lyon outlining the possibility of a new wave of transformation in public health, drawing on hidden resources within the health and caring professions.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 326kB
What Then Shall We Do? project details
Public documents shown below
Event summary and sound file link
This summary of the event also provides a link to the sound file so that you can listen to the whole event yourself.
Date: 02 Dec 2008 Size: 40kB
Mental Health and Climate Change project details
Public documents shown below
Climate Change and Mental Health
A brief discussion paper prepared as an introduction and stimulation for an online conference on climate change and mental health hosted by the Mental Health Foundation in January 2005.
Date: 04 Apr 2007 Size: 112kB
Learning
Policy Learning project details
Public documents shown below
Policy Learning
This pamphlet advances a simple thesis. In order to flourish in today’s complex and fast-changing world we need to become a learning intensive society. Government cannot support that move unless the policy process itself reflects the theory and practice of lifelong learning it seeks to encourage in others. This is the case for ‘policy learning’.
Date: 02 Mar 2006 Size: 779kB
Policy Learning - European Journal article
An article on policy learning by Graham Leicester published in the European Journal of Education special edition on futures of learning in June 2007.
Date: 24 Jun 2007 Size: 107kB
Three Horizons project details
Public documents shown below
Journal of Futures Studies article on three horizons method
An article by IFF member Tony Hodgson and friend and colleague Andrew Curry of Henley Centre Headlight Vision on the theory and practice of the three horizons method, published in autumn 2008 in the Journal of Futures Studies.
Date: 12 Dec 2008 Size: 234kB
Three horizons of education policy in Scotland
The record of a workshop in March 2007 in Scotland using the three horizons framework to structure a conversation about the failings of today's system, a vision of a more desirable future, and the innovations - existing and potential - that might ease the passage from one to the other.
Date: 15 Aug 2008 Size: 586kB
Three horizons of financial services
An alternative three horizons template suitable for shorter discussions, formatted around four boxes. This one records discussion about the future of financial services in an increasingly digital age.
Date: 15 Aug 2008 Size: 289kB
Enterprise
Social Innovation project details
Public documents shown below
Alison Elliot's Presentation
Presentation on faith-based social innovation given by Alison Elliot in the Scottish Parliament on 26 June 2006.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 1.1 MB
Report of Alison Elliot seminar 27 June 2006
Report of the seminar held to discuss Alison Elliot's presentation on 'the spirit of social innovation' in the Scottish Parliament on 26 June.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 370 kB
Report of Geoff Mulgan seminar 3 March 2006
Report of the seminar held on 3 March to discuss Geoff Mulgan's lecture the previous evening in the Scottish Parliament.
Date: 14 Aug 2006 Size: 47 kB
Report of Irene McAra-McWilliam Seminar 8 December 2006
A record of the seminar with Prof Irene McAra-McWilliam, head of design at Glasgow School of Art, following her lecture in Edinburgh on 7 December.
Date: 20 Dec 2006 Size: 151 kB
The Spirit of Social Innovation
Alison Elliot's lecture in the Scottish Parliament, 26 June 2006. Sets out the faith-based approach to social innovation.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 359 kB
My Future’s in Falkirk project details
Public documents shown below
Falkirk's Future case encounter
Report from the IFF's initial visit to Falkirk in April 2002 and subsequent analysis of how to ensure that BP's decision to downsize its workforce acted as a spur for economic transformation.
Date: 30 Nov 2005 Size: 1.3 MB
The Extended Economy: Flexible Working, Growth and the Edinburgh City Region project details
Public documents shown below
Background and Evidence
A companion volume to The Extended Economy detailing evidence, research, analysis and the results of interviews with key players in the City region. Also contains a useful bibliography on flexible working.
Date: 24 Jan 2006 Size: 656 kB
The Extended Economy
The final report from the project suggesting that flexible working needs to take its place as part of a broader view of the economy in the Edinburgh City Region, one that will ease the strains of economic growth on the area. Note that there is a separate volume with background, evidence and analysis.
Date: 24 Jan 2006 Size: 655 kB
Governance
Supporting a Healthy Ecology of the Arts project details
Public documents shown below
Homo Poeticus and the Art of Culture
Working paper prepared for a workshop in May 2007 exploring some of the core ideas and foundational concepts that might underpin the notion of an 'ecology of the arts'.
Date: 06 Nov 2007 Size: 203 kB
The Economy of Art
A companion piece to 'Homo Poeticus and the Art of Culture' unpicking notions of 'value', 'property' and 'economy' in a wider, systemic context.
Date: 11 Sep 2008 Size: 92 kB
Governance of the Long Term: Radioactive Waste Management project details
Public documents shown below
Nirex strategy mural
Nirex past, near present and future strategy mural, one of the products of the programme of support for Nirex thinking through the intractable issues of waste management over long timescales
Date: 19 Nov 2007 Size: 3.9 MB
The Art of Better Giving: social entrepreneuring and the future of philanthropy project details
Public documents shown below
The Art of Better Giving
A discussion paper on the challenges to effective philanthropy in a complex world, and some ideas about new models and modes for spending money to greater effect.
Date: 10 Jan 2006 Size: 68 kB
Scottish Parliament: Scotland’s Futures Forum project details
Public documents shown below
Commissariat General du Plan note on the Scottish initiative
One of a series of notes on futures initiatives in governments prepared by the French government following participation in the IFF event on 6 December 2004.
Date: 24 Nov 2005 Size: 342 kB
Five Centuries of the Future: Eamonn Kelly, GBN
Eamonn Kelly's address to the 6 December event in the Parliament outlining five challenges for the future and Scotland's possible contribution.
Date: 13 Sep 2005 Size: 153 kB
Seven Prompts: a report for the Scottish Parliament
Document prepared for the Parliament recording lessons from other futures initiatives and giving seven prompts to guide their own. Discussed at 6 December 2004 all day event.
Date: 13 Sep 2005 Size: 114 kB
IFF Meetings
IFF1: April 2001, St Andrews, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF1 Meeting Report
Full record of this first meeting of the International Futures Forum.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 1.1 MB
Points of Departure
A summary note on the reasons for hope and the causes for concern about the state of the world from participants in advance of the first IFF meeting. A fascinating snapshot.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 128 kB
IFF2: November 2001, St Andrews and Dundee, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
The Enlightened Corporation? - the evolving role of business
Report of a workshop held at IFF2 on the evolving role of business over the next ten years and the increasing expectations on business to behave in an enlightened manner.
Date: 28 Aug 2006 Size: 294 kB
IFF3: April 2002, St Andrews, Scotland meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF3 Dundee Learning case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter to explore the challenges involved in encouraging people to take up the learning opportunities available in a city apparently turned off from learning.
Date: 23 Aug 2007 Size: 708 kB
IFF3 Falkirk/Grangemouth Economy case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter to explore the challenges of transforming the local Falkirk/Grangemouth economy in the face of BP's necessary restructuring at Grangemouth refinery.
Date: 26 May 2006 Size: 1.3 MB
IFF3 Fife Health case encounter
Report of IFF's case encounter in Fife exploring the challenges of tackling health inequalities in a region where the majority of poor people do not live in poor communities.
Date: 23 Aug 2007 Size: 757 kB
Journal of Futures Studies article on Falkirk case encounter
A short essay about IFF's Falkirk case encounter in a special issue of the Journal of Futures Studies dedicated to action research.
Date: 26 May 2006 Size: 1.8 MB
IFF7: February 2006, India meeting details
Public documents shown below
IFF7 India Report
Governance, leadership and social change in India: a full report of the IFF's seventh plenary session in India (Delhi and V)
Funding
According to the IFF website it enjoys "a variety of productive and mutually beneficial relationships with sponsors, clients, subscribers, research funders and others". What they label "core support" comes from BPBP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
and BT
BT Global Services
BT Global Services is a division of United Kingdom Telecommunications operator BT Group. It delivers a combination of communications and IT services to over 10,000 organisations and governments worldwide. Its customers include over 25% of the global Fortune 500 and it is the largest supplier of...
. Other organisations the IFF has worked with include
- DiageoDiageoDiageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
- Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeForeign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
- Scottish ParliamentScottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
- Scottish ExecutiveScottish ExecutiveThe Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
- UK NirexNIREXNirex was a United Kingdom body set up in 1982 by the UK nuclear industry to examine safe, environmental and economic aspects of deep geological disposal of intermediate-level and low-level radioactive waste....
Ltd - Scottish EnterpriseScottish EnterpriseScottish Enterprise is a sponsored non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business...
- World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
- Tayside Health Board
- Glasgow Centre for Population Health
The IFF has a number of subscribers to their research output, among which are
- World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
- Henley Centre
- DiageoDiageoDiageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
- Falkirk Council
- Audit ScotlandAudit ScotlandAudit Scotland is an independent public body in Scotland which was established in 2000 and is responsible for auditing most of Scotland's public organisations. These include the Scottish Government, local councils and NHS Scotland....
- AOLAOLAOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
(Europe) Ltd - Cultureshift Co-operative, Australia
Research funding has come from
- Scottish EnterpriseScottish EnterpriseScottish Enterprise is a sponsored non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business...
Glasgow - Society for Organizational LearningSociety for Organizational LearningThe Society for Organizational Learning is an organization founded in 1997 by Peter Senge. David Peter Stroh was also a charter member of this organization. It replaced the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT. Since 1999, SoL publishes its own journal, Reflections...
(Scotland)'
Members
Source: http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/members.php- Martin Albrow Formerly Professor of Sociology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, author 'The Global Age: state and society beyond modernity'
- Ruth Anderson Chief Executive, Barataria Foundation, Scotland
- Tony Beesley Conceptual artist and cartoonist
- Max BoisotMax BoisotMax Henri Boisot was Professor of Strategic Management at the ESADE business school in Barcelona, Associate Fellow at Templeton College, University of Oxford, and Senior Associate at the Judge Institute of Management Studies at the University of Cambridge.He was also a research fellow at the Sol...
Adjunct professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, author 'Knowledge Assets: securing competitive advantage in the information economy' - Roberto Carneiro Former Education Minister, President of Grupo Forum, Portugal, UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century
- Napier CollynsNapier CollynsNapier Collyns is a co-founder and member of the Global Business Network. He is a former senior associate of Cambridge Energy Research Associates and the New York Mercantile Exchange....
Co-founder, Global Business NetworkGlobal Business NetworkGlobal Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
(GBN), Emeryville, California - Brian GoodwinBrian GoodwinBrian Carey Goodwin was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a key founder of the field of theoretical biology.He made key contributions to the foundations of biomathematics, complex systems and generative models in developmental biology...
Schumacher CollegeSchumacher CollegeSchumacher College was founded in 1991 in Dartington, Totnes, Devon, UK by Satish Kumar, John Lane and others. It was named after E.F. Schumacher. It is an international centre offering transformative learning for sustainable living, and runs holistic education courses...
, Devon and Santa Fe InstituteSanta Fe InstituteThe Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
, author 'How the Leopard Changed its Spots: the evolution of complexity' - Mike Hambly Business consultant, formerly Chief Executive, Digital Animations Group, Glasgow
- Pat Heneghan Director, ForthRoad Limited, Scotland
- Rebecca Hodgson Researcher, International Futures Forum
- Tony Hodgson Director, Decision Integrity Limited, founder Metabridge AB, collaborator with the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems, Senior adviser to Global Leaders Group and Fellow of the Royal Society of ArtsRoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
- Robert HornRobert HornRobert "Bob" Martin Horn is an American water polo player who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and in the 1960 Summer Olympics.He was born in Minneapolis....
Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, author Visual Language: global communication in the 21 st century - Kees van der Heijden Professor at Templeton College, OxfordTempleton College, OxfordTempleton College was one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, England. It was an all-graduate college, concentrating on the recruitment of students in business and management studies....
, author 'Scenarios: the art of strategic conversation' - Pat KanePat KanePat Kane is a Scottish musician, and half of the pop duo Hue and Cry with his younger brother Greg.Independently of Hue & Cry, lead singer Kane writes on politics and culture...
Writer, theorist and musician, Glasgow, author The Play Ethic - Eamonn KellyEamonn KellyEamonn Kelly is an Irish born disc jockey based in the UK, who can currently be heard on 106.6 Smooth Radio in the East Midlands.His broadcasting career started while he was still at school in Dublin on Kiss FM and Q102...
President, Global Business NetworkGlobal Business NetworkGlobal Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
, Emeryville, California, author 'What's Next? exploring the new terrain for business' - Graham Leicester Director, International Futures Forum
- David Lorimer Scientific and Medical Network, Scotland, editor 'Thinking Beyond the Brain: a wider science of consciousness'
- Charles LoweCharles LoweCharles Lowe was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1909 to 1912.Lowe was born in Whitwell, Derbyshire. He made his cricket debut for Derbyshire in 1909 against a team of touring Australians. In 1910 he made his first County Championship appearance against Leicestershire...
Consultant, Former head of e-government BT - Wendy LuhabeWendy LuhabeWendy Luhabe is a South African entrepreneur. After working for 10 years for corporations internationally she decided to dedicate her life to empower African women in business.- Life and Business :...
Bridging the GapBridging the GapBridging the Gap is the second album by Black Eyed Peas, released in 2000. It contained the single "Request + Line", featuring Macy Gray. "Weekends" was remixed & renamed as "Another Weekend" for the Deluxe Edition of their fifth studio album The E.N.D....
, South Africa, author 'Defining Moments: experiences of black executives in South Africa's workplace' - Andrew LyonAndrew LyonAndrew Walker Lyon is a former English cricketer. Lyon was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break. He was born in Poole, Dorset....
Converger, International Futures Forum - Arun MairaArun MairaArun Maira is a former management consultant and present member of Plannning Commission of India. He is also Former India Chairman of Boston Consulting Group.-Early life:Arun Maira was born in Lahore. He received his M.Sc. and B.Sc...
Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting GroupThe Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
, Delhi, India, author 'Shaping the Future: aspirational leadership in India and beyond' - Wolfgang Michalski WM International, formerly Director, OECD International Futures Programme
- Maureen O'Hara President Emerita, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco and IFF
- Ian PageIan PageIan Page is a British singer and author, achieving notoriety as singer in the band Secret Affair in the late 1970s.Teaming up with guitarist Dave Cairns while at school, Ian Page formed power pop/punk band New Hearts and signed to CBS Records in 1977, releasing two singles and touring with The Jam...
Former Research Manager / Futurist, HP Research Labs. - Nick Rengger Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, University of St Andrews, author 'International Relations, Political Theory and the Problem of Order'
- Jennifer Williams Director, Centre for Creative Communities, UK
- Mark WoodhouseMark WoodhouseMark Woodhouse nicknamed Woody is a British professional basketball player, and currently plays for Derby Trailblazers in the English Basketball League....
Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Georgia State University, USA, author 'Paradigm Wars: worldviews for a new age'
Contact
International Futures Forum The Boathouse, Silversands, Hawkcraig Road, Aberdour, Fife KY3 0TZeditorial@internationalfuturesforum.com