Future Impacts | Foresight Consultancy & Research

Jess highlighted two key takeaways:
 
🤝 Engage diverse voices to enrich perspectives and strengthen foresight outcomes.
 
💬 Share insights and interim results to foster transparency and collective learning.
 
#FutureThinking #StrategicForesight #PolicyInnovation #ForesightCommunity

SHAPING FUTURE-ORIENTED POLICYMAKING THROUGH FORESIGHT
 
Jess recently joined the 5th Mutual Learning Event of the Eye of Europe project in Chișinău. The event brought together foresight experts and R&I policymakers to exchange ideas on how foresight can help shape more future-oriented policymaking

Mandel’s version of the future isn’t loud or dystopian—it feels calm, a bit melancholic, and very human. Life on the moon mirrors life on Earth, with the same questions about connection, meaning, and what makes something real.
 
#SpeculativeFiction #TimeTravelBooks #FutureFiction #ReadingInspiration

SEA OF TRANQUILITY BY EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL

‘Sea of Tranquility’ by Emily St. John Mandel spans roughly five centuries. The story begins in 1912 and reaches all the way to the year 2401, moving from early-twentieth-century Canada to future moon colonies and quiet experiments in time travel.

At Future Impacts, he brings his analytical mindset to his roles as a foresight researcher, consultant, and project manager.

Welcome to the team, Moritz!

#foresight #FuturesThinking #StrategicForesight #FutureStudies #ResearchAndConsulting #ChangeMakers

👋 WELCOME TO THE TEAM, MORITZ VON STETTEN!

@moritzvon.bsky.social studied in Heidelberg and Manchester before earning his Ph.D. in Cologne. He has conducted research at international collaborative research centers and taught at several universities.

🌍 Between 15-17 Oct, @internationalidea.bsky.social & BIRN Albania hosted “The Future of Democracy in the Western Balkans” foresight workshop in Albania, marking our renewed focus on the region. We explored possible scenarios for #democracy through 2040 and the key factors that may shape its future.

💡 Why it matters
• Builds resilience in times of uncertainty.
• Encourages long-term thinking.
• Helps decision-makers imagine alternatives and make better choices today.

#foresight #FuturesThinking #FutureStudies #FuturesLiteracy #ShapingTheFuture #FutureReady

🔮 FORESIGHT

👀 Foresight
• A structured way of looking ahead.
• Uses various methods.
• Helps prepare for change.

🚫 Not fortune-telling
• Foresight doesn’t claim to know the future.
• It helps us explore different possible futures.

The guide is part of a project commissioned by EIGE and carried out by us, Future Impacts.
 
#GenderEquality #ForesightToolkit #StrategicForesight #FutureThinking #CriticalFutures #InclusiveFutures #FeministFutures

It was created for researchers, activists, policymakers, and anyone else who wants to incorporate foresight into their work on gender equality.
 
The guide bridges feminist-informed foresight, academic futures studies, and strategic foresight practice—and it’s designed for everyone.

Foresight Guide on Future Issues and Trends in Gender Equality by EIGE
 
The European Institute for Gender Equality recently published a foresight guide on future issues and trends in gender equality.

#DesignMethods #SpeculativeDesign #FutureReady #CreativeFutures #ResilientTogether

Interview > Die eigene Zukunft finden. Mit Cornelia von Future Impacts | Besser mit Design Wie wird Zukunft gemacht? Und wie kann man lernen, sie selbst aktiv zu gestalten?

Together, they reflect on the practice of future-making: how curiosity, structure, and imagination can open up new spaces for action in the present—and why thinking about tomorrow is one of the most powerful ways to change today.

🎧 Listen here: www.bessermit.design/episodes/int...

FUTURES THINKING AND DESIGN: HOW TO CREATE THE FUTURE

Recently, Cornelia from our team joined the German podcast “Besser mit Design” (‘Better with Design’) by wahnsinn design to discuss with Alexander Hachmann about what it means to actively shape the future rather than simply predict it.

The Earthseed series examines how individuals and communities navigate apocalypse through adaptability, imagination, and care.

#ClimateFiction #FeministSciFi #BlackSpeculativeFiction #DystopianFutures

In ‘Parable of the Talents’ (1998), this vision meets violent opposition under a fundamentalist regime whose leader promises to “Make America Great Again” – a line Butler wrote decades ago.

EARTHSEED BY OCTAVIA E. BUTLER
 
‘Parable of the Sower’ (1993) is set in a 2020s America ravaged by climate disaster, economic inequality, and state failure. At its center is Lauren Olamina, who creates a new belief system, Earthseed.

💡 Why it matters
* Future = forecasting, prediction
* Futures = scenario planning & imagining what could or should happen
 
#foresight #FutureVsFutures #ScenarioPlanning #FuturesThinking #StrategicForesight

🔮 FUTURE vs. FUTURES
 
⏳ Future
* Think of it as one path forward.
* Often seen as predictable or inevitable.

🌍 Futures
* There’s not just one future, but many possibilities.
* Emphasizes uncertainty, choice, and human agency.

Wild Dark Shore is a powerful work of climate foresight, grappling with the futures we might still shape, and its themes are forward-looking: the fate of ecosystems, the limits of human adaptation, and the ethical imagination needed to navigate uncertain futures.
 
#ClimateFiction #ClimateCrisis

WILD DARK SHORE BY CHARLOTTE MCCONAGHY
 
This novel imagines the near future of our climate-changed world. Set on the fictional Shearwater Island, the story unfolds in the shadow of environmental collapse, as rising seas threaten to swallow the last refuge of the Salt family.

Exploring the Future of Gender Equality in Europe From clouds to stars, an online foresight workshop mapping feminist hopes, concerns and possibilities for a more just and inclusive tomorrow.

Read the article here: futuresdigest.substack.com/p/exploring-...
 
#FeministFutures #GenderEquality2050 #FeministForesight #FutureOfGender

They have now published an online article with @maradiberardo.bsky.social (Millennium Project), Thays Prado and Lena Tünkers (Foresight Europe Network), and Efrat Tzadik, in which they summarise how workshop participants explored the future of gender equality in Europe.‬

EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF GENDER EQUALITY IN EUROPE
 
A few weeks ago, Clara and Cornelia from our team co-hosted an online workshop representing the German Node of the Millennium Project.

EU Enlargement & Climate Action - European Climate Foundation

This forward-looking conversation was part of our ongoing foresight work with the ECF.

Find more info here: europeanclimate.org/eu-enlargeme...
 
#ClimateFutures #ForesightMatters #foresight #EUEnlargement #ClimateAction

EU Enlargement & Climate Action - European Climate Foundation

CLIMATE FUTURES + EU ENLARGEMENT

We recently hosted a workshop in the Belgian town of La Hulpe at the European Climate Foundation Partners Retreat. There, we discussed how EU enlargement could shape climate action by 2035.

New project: STRATOS - on foresight for civil protection - exploring how foresight can support resilient systems in the face of simultaneous crises.

With @tu-braunschweig.de and funded by the German Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.

#StrategicForesight #CivilProtection

Planning for safer futures: We supported EU-OSHA in running a foresight game on occupational safety and health and the circular economy. Serious play for serious change - designed to help stakeholders think ahead, connect policy dots, and prepare for what's next.

#Foresight #OSH #FutureThinking

EU Enlargement & Climate Action - European Climate Foundation

Find more info here: europeanclimate.org/eu-enlargeme...

#ClimateFutures #ForesightMatters #foresight #EUEnlargement #ClimateAction