IFTF Foresight Essentials
IFTF Foresight Talks
Moderated one-hour sessions filled with tips, insights, and first-hand experience, IFTF Foresight Talks spark rich dialogue among futures thinkers from leading organizations as they discuss how to navigate today’s global turbulence — and transform challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.
IFTF Foresight Talks are free, open to all, and ideal for graduates of the IFTF Foresight Essentials training. Each session includes a period for questions from the audience, and is archived below one week after its airing. Foresight Talks occur monthly.
Upcoming IFTF Foresight Talks
How to Build Brave New Worlds
Thursday, July 16th
9:00am PT / 12:00 ET
What does it take to design new worlds and tell powerful stories about possible futures? Join us when IFTF's Director of Game Research and Development Jane McGonigal will host a free, public-facing webinar with guest Leah Zaidi, master storyteller and founder of the strategic foresight consultancy Multiverse Design. You'll hear some of Leah Zaidi's most surprising recent forecasts on the future of love technology and the future of work, while she unpacks the process of how she created them. Leah will give an up-to-date look at how the possible long-term consequences of our global COVID-19 response are changing and playing out differently in different parts of the world. Jane and Leah will also explore the connections between game design and the seven foundations of worldbuilding, inspired by how science fiction writers imagine and communicate new possibilities.
From the Archives of Foresight Talks
On June 9, 2020 Institute for the Future's research director Jake Dunagan hosted Cecily Sommers, Business Futurist, in a Foresight Talk. When the ball dropped on the 21st century, it collided with three technological revolutions (AI, synthetic biology, quantum computing) that are redefining humanity, and three existential threats (pandemics, climate change, nuclear war) that could wipe it out. Now, twenty years later, as we transition into a new decade, futurist Cecily Sommers will address how COVID-19 is accelerating the pendular transition into a new era, and the equal and opposite potentials it is energizing for business and society.
May 19, 2020
The new National Social Work Education Health Futures Lab will “create opportunities for social workers to come together and envision a world that they would like to be in, while building the skills to help get there,” says Portland State University’s Professor Dr. Laura Nissen, principal investigator of the new lab. On Tuesday, May 19th, IFTF hosted a free webinar with Dr. Laura Nissen, PSU Presidential Futures Fellow and IFTF Research Fellow, to learn how she's spearheading significant research projects “on issues related to the future such as technology use and impact, climate change, and related topics.”
On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, IFTF hosted Dr. Stuart Candy, Director of Situation Lab, Associate Professor of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, and Fellow of The Long Now Foundation, for a webinar about how designing fragments of possible futures can help create social and organizational change. Professor Candy shared some of the methods that he has devised and employed with communities, learners, and institutions around the world.
On Thursday, March 12th, Institute for the Future, together with EDHEC Business School's Dr. René Rohrbeck, hosted a free and public-facing webinar about how organizations can use foresight tools and methods to drive organizational transformation, strategic innovation, and desirable futures. Dr. Rohrbeck discussed methods that he and his team have developed and their learnings from 15 years of benchmarking firms on corporate foresight.
On Thursday, February 20th, Institute for the Future, together with The World Bank Group's Rachel Alexandra Halsema, hosted a free and public-facing webinar about how she's applying foresight and design thinking in her role at the ITS Technology & Innovation Lab and what impact it has on the organization's global work.
On Thursday, January 16, 2020, Institute for the Future hosted a free and public-facing webinar with award-winning design futurists and the instructors of IFTF's new Design Futures Training, Dr. Jake Dunagan and Jacques Barcia, about why it's important to create full-bodied experiences of the future in order to truly immerse people in your vision.
On Wednesday, December 11th at 9:00am Pacific Time, Institute for the Future, together with the US Forest Service's David Bengston and Jason Crabtree, hosted 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.
On Thursday, November 14, Institute for the Future hosted a free webinar with Director of Games Research & Development, Dr. Jane McGonigal, about how she's pushing the futures thinking field from niche to mainstream by way of her new massively open online courses, which invite the public to game out hard-to-anticipate futures together.
On Thursday, September 19th, Institute for the Future, together with Nestle's Global Consumer Insight and Market Intelligence Manager, Dimitri Gerebtzoff, hosted public-facing webinar about what it's like to sense early trends at one of the world's leading food companies. Join us to talk about how Dimitri manages his global network of trend sensers and how he transforms trends into business opportunities and products.
On July 24, 2019 Institute for the Future, together with Stanford University d.school's Designer in Residence Lisa Kay Solomon, hosted a free and public-facing webinar about the intersections and applications of design and futures thinking.
From March 19, 2019.
Institute for the Future, together with Microsoft Envisioning Team's Ming-Li Chai and Harald Becker, hosted a free webinar for the public about what it's like to make the future in one of the world's leading tech companies
Foresight Essentials
Calendar of Upcoming Trainings
- October 14-November 13, 5 sessions, Live-Online
- December 8-15, 5 sessions, Live-Online
Design Futures Training
- July 7-9, 2020, Live-Online (sold out)
- October 13-15, Live-Online
About IFTF Foresight Essentials
Institute for the Future is the world’s leading futures organization. Its training program, IFTF Foresight Essentials, is a comprehensive portfolio of strategic foresight training tools based upon 50 years of IFTF best practices. IFTF Foresight Essentials cultivates the mindset and skillsets that enable individuals and organizations to foresee future forces, identify emerging imperatives, and develop world-ready strategies. IFTF Foresight Essentials is uniquely customizable for businesses, government agencies, and social impact organizations.
Interested in learning more about our webinars and trainings?
Contact our team here:
Neela Lazkani | nlazkani@iftf.org