What's this? Most futures & foresight folk know how to use methods. But many struggle with the basic business side of things: from messaging and branding and marketing, to pricing and contracts and related challenges. I've created Futures Practitioners Europe to focus specifically on this "gap" - the business of futures & foresight. I've planned 4 trial sessions, and the focus will be on peer learning, exchange, and gap-closing.

Event details: What are the challenges you're actually facing in your practice right now? This opening session of Futures Practitioners Europe is all about starting to map the landscape of being a practitioner in Europe today.

The aim of this session is to kick-start thinking about doing this work in Europe, today and in the coming years. Using a few prompts, time for individual and small group thinking, we'll see what emerges, and use this to plan future sessions.

Grounded in strategic foresight and systems thinking, the course equips participants with future-oriented tools such as:

01 Horizon Scanning
02 Future Wheels
03 Scenario Planning

Starting from a real strategic challenge, participants explore multiple possible futures, uncover emerging trends and systemic shifts, and translate insights into strategic perspectives for decision-making.

Learning objectives

01
Navigate uncertainty using foresight tools
Apply strategic foresight and futures thinking to explore multiple possible futures, move beyond linear forecasting and work confidently with uncertainty in real business and organizational contexts.

02
Anticipate risks and opportunities early
Identify emerging trends, weak signals and key drivers of change through horizon scanning and impact analysis, enabling earlier and better-informed strategic responses.

03
Think systemically about future challenges
Use systems thinking to understand the interconnectedness of global, organizational, and societal systems, and to assess how changes in one area influence others.

04
Make better long-term strategic decisions
Build and use future scenarios to test strategic options, support decision-making, and design resilient, flexible, and sustainable strategies aligned with long-term goals.

Course takeaways
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Develop and implement strategic foresight processes within their organizations.

Apply systems thinking to analyze complex challenges and design sustainable solutions.

Build and use future scenarios to guide informed decision-making.

Foster a culture of innovation and resilience, adaptable to emerging trends and disruptions.

Workshop overview 

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is organizing a one-day Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Strategic Technology Foresight for policy making on 18 June, 2025 in Vienna, Austria.

The EGM will be oriented towards drawing lessons from experience of, and identifying future trends in, the use of technology foresight for strategic decision making. It will focus on sustainable development, and particularly on transitions towards a Circular Economy (which features as an example of the most recent experience).

📣 YouthDecide 2040 is looking for participants to join our regional workshops and co-create the future of European democracy!

Be part of a one-and-a-half-day immersive workshop where diverse voices come together to imagine and shape resilient, thriving European democracies.

🗣️💬 Through creative, participatory foresight activities, we will explore different visions of democracy in 2040—your perspective matters!

🧭 The wider, the better
Are you a European resident over 18? This call is for you!
We're fostering intergenerational discussions on the future of European democracy, centring youth voices (18-34).

🔓 The call for applications will remain open through May 2025.