What We Do
IFTF Events
Institute for the Future brings people together to make the future—today. Whether you’re a strategic leader in a large organization, a practicing foresight professional, a community leader, or simply interested in learning more about futures thinking, IFTF events can help you turn foresight into critical insights that lead to action.
Explore the list of upcoming events below and check back regularly for new additions and other updates!
Webinar
DEMO POWERFUL FUTURES PLATFORMS FROM IFTF VANTAGE
Wed, Mar 10, 2021 • 9:00am PST | 12:00pm EST | 17:00 UTC
30 minutes | Public | Free
Join us for 30 minutes on March 10 at 9:00 am PST / 17:00 UTC and learn how IFTF Vantage helps prepare organizations to navigate the future using powerful tools and expert strategic foresight research. This demo will cover two new online tools exclusive to IFTF Vantage partners: 1) Future Factors collaborative emerging signals platform, and 2) Vantage Point cutting-edge strategic foresight research and networking hub.
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Webinar
IFTF FORESIGHT TALKS: THE CAPACITY TO DECOLONIZE
Tue, Mar 16, 2021 • 9:00am PDT | 12:00pm EDT | 17:00 UTC
60 minutes | Public | Free
Join us when IFTF will host Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina, a founding director of the Southern Africa Node of the Millennium Project, who'll talk about her personal journey in futures thinking, including her current participation in a growing agenda to build futures literacy and decolonize futures, starting in Africa. We will explore with her the critical issues, insights, and experiences that she thinks may be pointing us towards new questions and ideas about foresight practice and capabilities.
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Training
IFTF SCENARIO BUILDING
Mar 18-26, 2021 • 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 16:00 UTC
4 sessions (3 hrs each & 1 hr orientation) | Public | Paid
Learn the art and science of crafting alternative futures scenarios and develop an action plan around them. Join Executive Director Marina Gorbis in this in-depth training on scenario building, where we will introduce the mythic underpinnings of the alternative futures method as practiced at IFTF.
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Meet-up
IFTF VANTAGE PARTNER MEET-UP: Future-Ready Organizations
Tue, Mar 23, 2021 • 9am PST | 12pm EST | 17:00 UTC
60 minutes | IFTF Vantage partners only
These hour-long conversations are exclusively for current IFTF Vantage partners. The goal is to provide an opportunity to discuss foresight learnings and challenges with peers at other organizations, using IFTF Vantage's Future-Readiness Playbook as a jumping off point. Also included are small breakout discussions facilitated by the IFTF Vantage team to help surface strategies and best practices for practicing foresight in an organization.
Webinar
INTRODUCTION TO IFTF ADVISORY SERVICES
Thurs, March 25, 2021 • 10am PDT | 1pm EDT | 17:00 UTC
30 minutes | Public | Free
Join us for a 30-minute introduction on Wednesday, March 25th at 10:00am PDT. IFTF Research Director Brad Kreit will highlight how Institute for the Future works with organizations around the world to provide key strategic foresight and lead teams from foresight to insight to action. Email jclamme@iftf.org for more information.
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Webinar
LEARN FORESIGHT WITH IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS—AN INTRODUCTION
Thurs, April 1, 2021 • 10am PDT | 1pm EDT | 17:00 UTC
60 minutes | Public | Free
Join Institute for the Future’s renowned foresight learning experts Dr. Lyn Jeffery and Dr. Jake Dunagan on Thursday, April 1st at 10am PDT for a live 30-minute introductory webinar to see for yourself how IFTF Foresight Essentials builds world-ready, future-ready skills and mindsets. We can help you build foresight and foresight leadership into your daily work and practices! Please visit www.iftf.org/foresightessentials/ for more information.
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Training
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
Apr 7-May 7, 2021 • 8am PDT | 11am EDT | 15:00 UTC
6 sessions (4 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid (Space is limited; Early registration recommended)
IFTF Foresight Essentials' flagship training is a one-of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. Learn a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks for a complete professional foresight practice.
LEARN MORE »
Webinar
IFTF FORESIGHT TALKS: TRANSITION DESIGN—AN APPROACH TO CO-CREATING
PREFERRED FUTURES PATHWAYS
Thu, Apr 15, 2021 • 8:00am PDT | 11:00am EDT | 16:00 UTC
60 minutes | Public | Free
A new approach is needed to address the complex, wicked problems confronting societies in the 21st century. Social issues form the roots of many wicked problems, yet often go unseen and unaddressed by traditional problem-solving approaches. IFTF will host Terry Irwin and Gideon Kossoff of the Transition Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University to discuss the emerging practice of Transition Design, which draws on approaches from the social sciences to understand the social roots of wicked problems and places stakeholder concerns and co-design/collaboration at the heart of the problem-solving process. Transition design sees the future as both a space in which stakeholders can transcend their differences in the present and enter into a space in which they can create together and build trust as the basis for the more difficult work in the present. The future and the past are both seen as crucial in developing systems interventions that are connected to each other, as well as the long-term vision and the transition pathway milestones. With this Foresight Talk we aim to introduce the IFTF community to this approach, and ideally initiate a deeper conversation and collaboration in designing transition pathways towards preferred futures.
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Training
IFTF DESIGN FUTURES
May 11-25, 2021 • 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 16:00 UTC
3 sessions (6 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid | Space is limited; Early registration recommended
Learn to make the future come alive in the present. Design Futures is a practice that uses design principles, media, and immersive experiences in combination with provocative insights about the future, to help your audiences better understand what the future could be.
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Research Convening
IFTF MAP OF THE DECADE 2021-2031
May 17-18, 2021 • Save the Date
Details forthcoming | IFTF Vantage partners only
Save the date for our two-day event celebrating the release of the new IFTF Map of the Decade 2021-2031, exclusively for IFTF Vantage.
Training
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
May 25-Jun 17, 2021 • 8am PDT | 11am EDT | 15:00 UTC
6 sessions (4 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid (Space is limited; Early registration recommended)
IFTF Foresight Essentials' flagship training is a one-of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. Learn a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks for a complete professional foresight practice.
LEARN MORE »
Training
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
Jul 13-Aug 5, 2021 • 5pm PDT | 10am AEST | 8am CST/HKT/SGT
6 sessions (4 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid (Space is limited; Early registration recommended)
IFTF Foresight Essentials' flagship training is a one-of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. Learn a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks for a complete professional foresight practice.
LEARN MORE »
Training
IFTF SCENARIO BUILDING
Sep 9-17, 2021 • 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 16:00 UTC
4 sessions (3 hrs each & 1 hr orientation) | Public | Paid
Learn the art and science of crafting alternative futures scenarios and develop an action plan around them. Join Executive Director Marina Gorbis in this in-depth training on scenario building, where we will introduce the mythic underpinnings of the alternative futures method as practiced at IFTF.
LEARN MORE »
Summit
IFTF TEN-YEAR FORECAST 2021
Sep 27-Oct 1, 2021 • Save the Date
Details forthcoming | Paid
Save the date for our annual thought-provoking gathering on the future of society, economy, work, organizations, and technology, with exclusive sessions for IFTF Vantage partners. The Ten-Year Forecast Summit provides experiences, tools, and networks to empower attendees to find the signals amongst the noise and build better futures for all.
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Training
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
Oct 6-Nov 10, 2021 • 5am PDT | 8am EDT | 12:00 UTC
6 sessions (4 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid (Space is limited; Early registration recommended)
IFTF Foresight Essentials' flagship training is a one-of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. Learn a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks for a complete professional foresight practice.
LEARN MORE »
Training
IFTF DESIGN FUTURES
Nov 11-12, 2021 • 9am PDT (Palo Alto, California)
2 days | Public | Paid | Space is limited; Early registration recommended
Learn to make the future come alive in the present. Design Futures is a practice that uses design principles, media, and immersive experiences in combination with provocative insights about the future, to help your audience better understand what the future could be.
LEARN MORE »
Training
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
Nov 30-Dec 14, 2021 • 8am PST | 11am EST | 14:00 UTC
6 sessions (4 hrs each & 90 min orientation) | Public | Paid (Space is limited; Early registration recommended)
IFTF Foresight Essentials' flagship training is a one-of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. Learn a comprehensive set of tools and frameworks for a complete professional foresight practice.
LEARN MORE »