Institute For The Future

IFTF’s new webinar series, Foresight Talks delivers powerful perspectives from seasoned foresight practitioners
piloting a path towards the future.

Moderated one-hour sessions filled with tips, insights and first-hand experience, IFTF’s Foresight Talks sparks rich dialogue among futures thinkers from leading organizations as they discuss how to navigate today’s global turbulence — and transform its challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.

Foresight Talks are free, open to all, and ideal for graduates of IFTF’s Foresight Training program. Each session includes a period for questions from the audience, and is archived below. Foresight Talks will be offered quarterly.

How the Stanford d.school is Making Design Thinking Future-Ready
July 24th at 9:00am PST
Register here.

How the US Forest Service is Promoting Foresight within Its Institution
Wednesday, December 11th at 9:00am PST
Register here.

How the Stanford d.school is Making Design Thinking Future-Ready

Institute for the Future, together with Stanford University d.school's Designer in Residence Lisa Kay Solomon, will host a free and public-facing webinar about the intersections and applications of design and futures thinking, on Wednesday, July 24th at 9:00am PST.

With over fifteen years of scenario planning and design thinking experience, Lisa Kay Solomon, is passionate about helping all leaders become more creative, flexible, and resilient in the face of constant change. She’s co-authored two books on the topic and writes frequently about futures and design as teachable and learnable practices. Currently, a lecturer and Designer in Residence at the Stanford d.school, Lisa is responsible for experimenting with new programs, classes, and ideas that connect the fields of futures thinking and design. She’s co-taught popular classes such as Inventing the Future, Advance: A Primer on Futures Thinking, and more recently, Designing and Ethical Operating System with the Institute for the Future’s Jane McGonigal.

Photo taken from Stanford d.school's "The Future's Happening" event on March, 13, 2019. 

How the US Forest Service is Promoting Foresight within Its Institution 

On Wednesday, December 11th at 9:00am PST, Institute for the Future, together with the US Forest Service's David Bengston and Jason Crabtree, will host a free and public-facing webinar about how they're developing and applying foresight methods and thinking to help forest planners, managers, and policy makers anticipate and prepare for change.

David N. Bengston is Social Scientist and Environmental Futurist for the Strategic Foresight Group at the US Forest Service, Northern Research Station in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Bengston is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forest Resources and the Conservation Biology Graduate Program at the University of Minnesota. He is currently the Chair of the North American Forest Commission’s Foresight Working Group. Dr. Bengston has an individually designed BS in Futures Studies, and MS and PhD in environmental economics, and is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and the World Futures Studies Federation.

Jason Crabtree is Lead Futurist & Foresight Researcher within the Strategic Foresight Group at the US Forest Service Northern Research Station in partnership with the University of Minnesota - St. Paul. He develops methodology and facilitates work sessions that build skill sets among their team of resource planners, scientists, and researchers. By integrating foresight into the long-term visioning process they are working to create presently-sustainable and future-thrivable operations for the shared resources within the USFS Eastern Region and beyond. He holds a Master of Foresight from the University of Houston and is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists.