Institute For The Future

Dipping into Science Fiction to Create More Nuanced Forecasts

In the realm of food futures, we often joke that if you follow any foresight process far enough, you inevitably end up predicting the same tired...

News from the Future #65

Re-evaluation & Reinvention: Keys to Success in the Coming Decade

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter #2

Solidarity & Cooperative Economics and African American Co-ops in History

Meet Director of Philanthropy and Foresight Charles Tsai!

Charles Tsai lives in Vancouver, and brings his deep experience in philanthropy to IFTF—a field that he believes is due for some big, structural...

News from the Future #64

IFTF announces our newest research directors!

2021 Ten-Year Forecast Summit Highlights

What does K-pop fandom tell us about the future of belonging, the shifting of competitive dynamics in business, and the long-term prospects for...

Meet Research Director Rebecca Shamash!

She brings to IFTF her expertise in critical analysis and social impact, particularly around mitigating economic, gender, and racial...

Meet Research Director Leah Zaidi!

Leah Zaidi has lived in Canada since the age of six, and brings to IFTF her extensive expertise in marketing, foresight...

Building Forecasts on the Future of Architecture and Design

*The following is a guest post by Mark Bryan, an alumnus of IFTF Foresight Essentials....

Revisiting Dune: Insights for Foresight Practitioners

*Spoiler alert: The following contains spoilers regarding the book Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)....

IFTF Equitable Enterprise Initiative Newsletter #1

Read about the initiative. Meet the advisors. Scan the signals.

Freedom Dreaming: Calvin Williams Answers Your Questions on Afrofuturism

How can we think about the future outside the social construct of time? How can we create narratives that imagine new possible realities rather than...

News from the Future #63

Announcing IFTF's Equitable Enterprise Initiative, plus the rest of the newsletter you love.

Foresight Forensics: Breaking the Rules

The process of creating forecasts, especially scenario-based forecasts, is simultaneously creative and structured. On the one hand, you want the...

Foresight Forensics: Using Scenarios to Demonstrate Unintended Consequences

Foresight professionals typically don’t use scenarios as stand-alone forecasts. In most cases, we use scenarios as a way to give some emotional or...

Video Storytelling Brings the Future to Life: A Conversation with Filmmaker Demetrius Wren

Demetrius Wren is a filmmaker, musician, and storyteller based in Los Angeles. He has told stories in the form of award winning documentaries, feature...

Future Factors: Flex Your Foresight Muscles with IFTF's Signals Database

Signals gathering lies at the heart of every good futures practice.And the more diverse the community, the better the signals. ...

News from the Future #60

The Games are full of surprises.

Foresight Forensics: How to Learn From Your Previous Scenarios

I wrote my first scenario about 30 years ago. I was in graduate school at the time, studying International Politics at UC Berkeley. As part of a...

Creating Better Futures through Collective Intelligence

In my years as a community engagement practitioner and participatory designer, I learned that the process of participating in the design of something...

California 100: Vision and Strategy for the Next Century

IFTF Partners with California 100 & Research Centers Across the State to Examine the Future of...

News from the Future #59

IFTF Foresight Essentials mid-year update

Drivers and Signals: How Are They Different?

Signals and drivers are two pillars of foresight practice at IFTF, yet many workshop attendees struggle to fully understand the two concepts and how...