Learning Foresight

Below are a small sample of foresight toolkits and primers from Stanford University to the United Nations.

We hope to in the future provide helpful, easy to consume and share information about strategic foresight and plural futures.

Future Plans

Purpose-Specific Toolkits
Webinars
Primers for Decision Makers
Case Studies to Share

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There are a multitude of toolkits, case studies, and learning opportunities for the foresight field. Below is not mean to be an exhaustive list, but to share the recommend

The Futures Toolkit: Tools for Futures Thinking and Foresight Across UK Government

Developed by the UK Government Office for Science.

A set of foresight tools and techniques to help government officials use long-term strategic thinking in policy making.

Webpage | PDF

Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation

Developed by Stanford University, Innovation Leadership Board LLC, and Lappeenranta University of Technology.

The playbook is a guide for innovative and strategic minded managers to help produce radical ideas for products to organizations that can create them.

Webpage | PDF

Other Foresight Toolkits, Guides, Canvases, and Primers

Developing Skills Foresights, Scenarios And Forecasts

This guide is a part of the ETF, ILO and Cedefop series of guides on skills anticipation and matching.

See guide at cedefop.europa.eu

Strategic Foresight Primer

This primer focuses on foresight as a powerful tool to envision different strategic alternatives.

See primer at the European Political Strategy Centre

Foresight Manual: Empowered Futures for the 2030 Agenda

This practical manual introduces strategic foresight as an important practice in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

See manual at the UNDP.

Actionable Futures Toolkit

A series of canvases to quickly brainstorm / workshop for organizations, services, and products using futures thinking.

See canvases at futures.nordkapp.fi

Vision Backcasting

Not a true foresight related, but uses visioning, backcasting and canvases in an innovative way to help educational organizations transform and innovate.

Designed Kaospilot. See canvases PDF Link

A Cookbook for Predicting the Future: Introduction to Foresight Tools

This guide from DIMECC of Finland provide a a quick introduction to various foresight and strategy tools.

See guide at DIMEEC.com

Scenario Planning Guide

A thorough guide on how to use the three popular scenario planning methods: two axes (aka Shell Method), branc analysis, and cone of plausibility.

See at the UK Government of Science

Strategy Development Toolkit

This toolkit was designed to help support NHS providers with developing their strategies. It is an interesting example of how to use strategic foresight as part of strategy and organizational planning.

See toolkit at UK Government Publications

Transforming the Future: Anticipating the 21st Century

This foresight guidebook was led by Riel Miller, head of the Futures Literacy at UNESCO. This book has helped inform UNESCO’s various futures literacy and learning program. It contains various use cases and case studies for policymakers and researchers.

See guidebook at UNESCO

Print-only Guides

4 Steps to the Future: A Quick and Clean Guide to Creating Foresight

In this book Richard Lum creates his own unique approach to using foresight in a practical, straight forward guide. It’s an easy to understand business-focused book that avoids the heavy jargon and concepts of traditional foresight tools.

Buy the book on Amazon

Book of Futures

Book of Futures was written by BespokeCPH as a guide for design futures. It uses canvases to apply various foresight methodologies.

Buy the book at BespokeCPH