Dear Members!
As we step into the second half of 2024, it's thrilling to see how our community continues to grow and thrive together. I'm excited to share that as of July, we have surpassed 600 active members from diverse regions around the globe, marking a significant milestone in our journey.
This remarkable growth not only reflects the increasing interest in foresight and futures studies but also underscores the strength and vibrancy of our global network. Together, we are shaping the future, driven by our shared passion for the future.
In this report, we bring you updates highlighting our collective achievements and the initiatives ahead. You'll find details on our board's participation at the upcoming UN Summit of the Future, updates on regional gatherings and collaborations, and a spotlight on our Emerging Fellows program. We also cover member-driven initiatives, including the progress of our Code of Ethics and the launch of the APF Book Club.
As always, you'll learn about our growing community engagement on platforms like WhatsApp and Discord, and upcoming events that you won’t want to miss. Whether you're looking to connect with peers, contribute to ongoing projects, or simply stay informed, there’s something going on for everyone.
Please feel free to reach out to me or any of the Board members should you have any questions, feedback or suggestions.
Best regards,
Miguel Jiménez
Vice-Chair, APF Board of Directors
Content
REVIEW
REPORT ON OUR INITIATIVES
OUTLOOK
👥Board Updates
The APF has officially been granted attendance to the Summit of the Future being held on September 20 - 23, 2024 at the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The board will use the opportunity to report on the conference to the entire APF community. If you are attending the Summit, join the APF WhatsApp group and easily communicate with other community members participating!
The Futurepedia Committee is comprised of designers, learning and development professionals and technologists. The team has met several times to better understand potential users and their needs, and is building on early thinking by John Smart and Miguel Jimenez on the wiki’s purpose and structure. A soft launch of the Futures Wiki is anticipated in November at the Dubai Future Forum.
The APF is collaborating with OCAD University’s Strategic Foresight & Innovation program in planning the first APF events in Toronto in over a decade. The event will take place February 20-23. The theme of this event is the Futures of Creativity and will bring together the SFI and APF communities. In addition to panel discussions, presentations and networking opportunities, we are organizing site visit to labs on campus and hopefully other creative hubs in the area. Anyone interested in helping to plan this event can reach out to Zan at zan@apf.org.
The World Future Studies Federation informed the APF Board that they are taking over the production of future editions of Richard Slaughter’s Knowledge Base of Future Studies and will graciously be sharing it with APF members. We will announce when the next edition becomes available.
🤝 Our Dynamic Collaborations & Partnerships
The games issue of Economía Creativa which the APF partnered on is now out!
We are excited to share the final result of our collaboration with CENTRO for the latest issue of Economía Creativa, focusing on the intersection of gaming and foresight and our joint efforts to explore how games can democratize future thinking. Through this partnership, we’ve combined our member’s expertise to surface the potential of games as tools for envisioning and shaping future possibilities. You are more than welcome to explore all the insights featured in this issue (in Spanish), reflecting our shared commitment to advancing foresight.
🌐Regional Gatherings
North America: In addition to the Toronto event being planned for February, we are already in the process of planning the first social gathering for the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in late September as part of the new regional hub structure. Also, the first virtual event will likely happen by October. Our Master Event Calendar team is still in the process of collecting information on foresight related events around the globe. Please add any foresight related events happening in your region to our Google form here and we will publish them soon to the entire community!
Seth Harrell
APF Director of North America Affairs
🏆Awards
Emerging Fellows
Applications for the 2025 Emerging Fellows will be opening soon! Join us for a one-hour FAQ session on the Emerging Fellows 2025 Application, this September 6th at 1PM CET. During this session, fellows from the 2022, 2023, and 2024 cohorts will be available to answer your questions and share their insights and experiences from the program.
This event will be recorded, and the recording will be published on the APF website. To be notified when it becomes available, subscribe to our newsletter.
🌟 Member-DRIVEN Initiatives
If you haven’t signed up to participate or lead a member-driven initiative, you can still do so through this form!
These initiatives are:
Code of Ethics led by Terry Grim
The Ethics Team identified a number of individuals who agreed to review the draft Code of Ethics. They have received lots of helpful feedback, which they have started to incorporate. They anticipate an updated draft of the Code of Ethics will be completed in August.
Foresight Evaluation led by Annette Gardner
The 8-member Steering Committee of the APF Foresight Evaluation Initiative is developing a foresight evaluation guide for foresight practitioners with some evaluation expertise. It is also developing an online foresight evaluation toolkit that is a companion to the guide and will be hosted on the BetterEvaluation website. Both resources will be available in September. Also, the Steering Committee is developing an Evaluation Enthusiasts community of practice and will engage the APF membership in September in sharing of resources, networking, cases, and mentoring. For more information, please contact Initiative Chair, Annette Gardner, PHD.
Book Club
Bülent Duagi is leading the APF Book Club, and a kick-off event is scheduled for October. We intend to organize two Book Club editions by the end of the year: one for the APF Members in mid October, and one for the general public in early December. As a preparation, we are creating the organizing team in late August - looking for 2+ volunteers
Volunteers needed:
APF members that are enjoying reading Foresight & Futures books
LinkedIn Communicator role: written communication skills, proficiency with communicating on LinkedIn. (before the session)
Co-host role: facilitation skills and co-hosting skills (during the session)
Blogger role: meeting summary review for each book club session and publish a post-session book review blog.
Contact jocelyn@apf.org if you are interested in volunteering for the roles above.
💬WhatsApp Group and Discord Server
The APF is a community for engaging with other practitioners around the world, explore and learn together about how to better do foresight. You can do many things to become a more active member and share your thoughts:
🔹 Join the Discord community, and explore some of the channels
🔹Start a conversation in the Open Space in Discord, about the last methodology you used
🔹Join the WhatsApp group and introduce yourself, find people around you to meet with
🔹Subscribe to the ListServ, our iconic email discussion list, and read about emerging changes in the world of politics, ethics, and sustainability amongst many others
🧭 Compass: Big Questions Issue Coming Soon!
The Food and Futures issue articles have all been placed as individual stories on the Compass blog. The Big Questions issue is coming this August, and the Compass team is collecting articles for the Future of Work and Workplaces issue.
Please reach out to Editor Stephen Dupont (stephen@apf.org) if you would like to learn more!
🎬 Past APF Events: Access Recordings
🔈In August, Marcus Barber from the APF Oceania Community discussed common challenges and provided tips for success, explored effective framing models, and delved into two quick case studies—one of disaster and one of delight—to provide practical insights and lessons learned.
🎥 The recording of the session will be available for members soon! In the meantime, please check out our past recordings!
🔈APF First Friday for July featured Estefania Simon-Sasyk, where she presented TRANSFORM, an innovative methodology that leverages the power of shared food preparation to facilitate meaningful dialogue and collaboration around shaping collective futures.
🎥 The recording of the session is available for members here.
If there are people you are interested in hearing from, or topics you are interested in hearing about for an APF First Friday please fill out this Suggestion Form! 💭💭💭
If you would like to be featured during a First Friday session to share something you are working on with other members, you can also fill out this interest form and we will get in touch with you! 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Did you miss any other First Friday Recording? Watch them in the Members Area:
Visit the APF YouTube Channel for more Videos
📅 Upcoming APF Events: Mark your Calendar
To keep updated with all the upcoming events, join our Discord channel and subscribe to the Member Calendar.
 | Oceania Fireside Chat: Enhance your horizon scanning practice using tools like Notion and Airtable to integrate scanning into your flow of work. See an example scanning system and explore how digital tools can support the collection, curation and usefulness of horizon scan hits as part of your futures research projects. Register here. |
 | First Friday: In the September session of First Friday, Prateeksha Singh will share more about the Futures Methods from Around the World initiative that Prateeksha has been leading in partnership with four national leads in Aotearoa NZ (Alice Dimond), India (Mansi Parikh), Mexico (Graciela Guadarrama Baena), and USA (Alija Blackwell) since the start of the year. Register here. |
📣 Join the Foresight Revolution
Futures Thinkers Wanted: If you're not yet a member, there's no better time to join our community of visionary change-makers. Join Us
Member's Location, Pin Your Location: Pin your location let other members know where you're making a difference. Member Area
✨ Closing Thoughts
As we look ahead, I encourage each of you to take a more active role in our dynamic community. Whether it's engaging in our open discussions on WhatsApp and Discord, participating in upcoming events, or volunteering for one of our member-driven initiatives, your involvement is key to the continued success of the APF.
Let's leverage the power of our collective network by sharing and discussing ideas with peers, and together, let's drive the foresight practice forward. Your voice and participation make a difference—let's keep the momentum going!
Warm regards,
MIGUEL
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