Leading thinking
Futures thinking with a social purpose
SOIF seeks to use foresight to help build a better, fairer world for future generations. We partner with like-minded organisations to build new big picture thinking about public and policy issues that makes a difference to communities in the future and in the present.
This thinking typically addresses complex issues where the current systems are breaking down, producing poor outcomes for societies and users. Foresight builds vision, guides action, and tackles complex, systemic barriers to change. We look for solutions that have sustainable operating models and institutional support to enable enduring change.
We have worked with global foundations, governments and NGOs around the world – from Malaysia to Mozambique, Abuja to Oman, Peru to Tonga and in London – to help develop new thinking about systems and networks.
We do not need magic to change the world: we have the power to imagine better
J.K. Rowling
Programmes
We organise our thought leadership in the following four programmes of work.
Fairness for future Generations
Cutting across all our work is our aspiration to use foresight to help build a better, fairer world for future generations – and to involve future generations worldwide in both exploring and building those futures. We are proud to be working with the Gulbenkian Foundation on a new global methodology to assess whether proposed government policies meet the test of intergenerational fairness.
Read about our work with Gulbenkian ⟶
Futures for better governance
We work to make leaders in government more future-minded, improve strategic planning, and build up capabilities in foresight as a core competence for better, more future-proofed public policy that always bears future generations in mind.
Read our chapter in the OECD Development Co-operation report 2019 ⟶
Futures for philanthropy
We see work with philanthropists as natural partners to use foresight to tackle complex, challenging and systemic issues. Philanthropists and foundations rightly focus on fixing the problems they see today. But truly transformative interventions need to be targeted at the problems that may emerge tomorrow.
Read our article on future-fit philantropy ⟶
Helping you get future-fit
In all our work we aim to create sustained change and build capability. We look at systems, behaviours and culture to identify emerging issues, and to develop new practice and new initatives. Our NGFP Programme is weaving a self-supporting global network of young futures thinkers. Our “lean and agile” and “foresight and prevention” initatives are driving change.
Find our more about the NGFP ⟶