International Futures Forum
The International Futures Forum is a non-profit organisation based in Scotland that is involved with research and consultancy activities that are funded by business, philanthropy and the public sector. It is a think tank with links to a variety of other groups and organisations, largely through common memberships. It maintains an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers.
History
The IFF was established in 2001, with BP providing some significant financial backing. Initially the IFF had a close association with the Scottish Council Foundation, a think-tank based in Edinburgh which had been formed in 1997 and was led by Graham Leicester. After the initial two years IFF continued developing through its members voluntary work and occasional assignments.The IFF has been registered as a charity in Scotland since 2007 and IFF Praxis Ltd operates as a private commercial company. IFF has a board of trustees which oversee both the activities of IFF and its related Praxis Centres.
Collaborations and output
The IFF has worked with a variety of organisations. Much of the material that is produced by the IFF is made available under a creative commons licence. The work has included areas such as health, learning, enterprise and governance.Refinery downsizing
In 2002, as part of adjusting to global competition, BP had decided to downsize their Grangemouth Refinery and anticipated laying off about 1000 employees. BP realised that this would result in a significant depression on the local economy and asked the IFF how it could demonstrate some form of responsibility towards local stakeholders. The IFF responded by proposing to reframe this as a creative opportunity, portraying the sacking of workers as being the release of high quality resources into the community. BP is no longer owner of the refinery and Falkirk has gone on to attract large scale of inward investments to place its economy on a different path through "My Future's in Falkirk".Fife health
Soon after being formed, the IFF conducted case studies looking at health provision for deprived individuals and communities in Fife.Learning society
As part of the IFF group's early work they also conducted case studies on the learning society in Dundee. This work also been cited in places such as UNESCO's policy around a learning society.Radioactive waste
In 2004, IFF / Praxis was commissioned by Nirex "to provide corporate communications advice in relation to the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely consultation programme". A 16 ft by 5 ft mural was produced as part of this collaboration. IFF is neither pro nor anti-nuclear and its interest was in exploring perspectives on how the transient nature of cultures and civilisations could be recognised with hazards that lasts for tens of thousands of years. The IFF also made a written submission to the UK Parliament Select Committee on Public Administration on policy making in a world we don't understand and can't control.Kitbag
In 2004, The IFF Psychological Capacity project began, intending to look at cost-effective strategies and tools that could enlarge psychological capacity outside of care and welfare systems. In 2007 IFF received a grant from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts to further develop.Community health
In 2005, the IFF were engaged by the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland on a project intended to distil the "essence" of general practice. In 2014, the IFF were commissioned by the RCGP to help with work on community engagement.Glasgow life and health
The Glasgow Centre for Population Health formed in 2004 and the IFF have been involved in several of their projects. The IFF were one of several organisations to provide support for the "Glasgow Indicators" project. The GCPH also developed the "Glasgow Game" which was based upon the IFF’s "World Game" that had been created by Tony Hodgson. "Miniature Glasgow" is a short film that GCPH made in collaboration with IFF to discuss life and health in Glasgow.Curriculum for Excellence
The IFF did some work with Education Scotland to help schools reflect and consider what is possible under the permissive framework of Curriculum for Excellence. The IFF had first published a workbook in the Spring of 2009. Education Scotland later produced a kit for transformational change that was influenced by the IFF material.Healthcare education
In 2011, the IFF facilitated a workshop for NHS Education for Scotland in Edinburgh attended by a mixture of participants responsible for service and education aspects of the health service.Prison policy
In June 2014, Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, delivered a speech at an event organised by the IFF. McConnell laid out a compelling case “for the public acceptance of the need for forgiveness and redemption as the future cornerstone for reducing reoffending”.Funding
According to the IFF it enjoys "a variety of productive and mutually beneficial relationships with sponsors, clients, subscribers, like-minded groups, research funders and others". What they label "core support" comes from BP and BT. Other organisations the IFF has worked with include- Diageo
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Scottish Parliament
- Scottish Executive
- UK Nirex Ltd
- Scottish Enterprise
- World Economic Forum
- Tayside Health Board
- Glasgow Centre for Population Health
- World Economic Forum
- Henley Centre
- Diageo
- Falkirk Council
- Audit Scotland
- AOL Ltd
- Cultureshift Co-operative, Australia
- Scottish Enterprise Glasgow
- Society for Organizational Learning '
Associated people
The following people have also had some involvement:
- Martin Albrow − Formerly Professor of Sociology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, author
- Ruth Anderson − Chief Executive, Barataria Foundation, Scotland
- Tony Beesley − Conceptual artist and cartoonist
- Max Boisot − Adjunct professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, author
- Roberto Carneiro − Former Education Minister, President of Grupo Forum, Portugal, UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century
- Napier Collyns − Co-founder, Global Business Network, Emeryville, California
- Brian Goodwin − Schumacher College, Devon and Santa Fe Institute, author
- Mike Hambly − Business consultant, formerly Chief Executive, Digital Animations Group, Glasgow
- Margaret Hannah − Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Deputy Director of Public Health in NHS Fife.
- Pat Heneghan − Director, ForthRoad Limited, Scotland
- Rebecca Hodgson − Researcher, International Futures Forum
- Tony Hodgson − Director, Decision Integrity Limited, founder Metabridge AB, collaborator with the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems, Senior adviser to Global Leaders Group
- Robert E. Horn − Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, author
- Kees van der Heijden − Professor at Templeton College, Oxford, author
- Pat Kane − Writer, theorist and musician, Glasgow, author
- Eamonn Kelly −President, Global Business Network, Emeryville, California, author
- David Lorimer − Scientific and Medical Network, Scotland, editor
- Charles Lowe −Consultant, Former head of e-government BT
- Wendy Luhabe − Bridging the Gap, South Africa, author
- Arun Maira − Boston Consulting Group, Delhi, India, author
- Wolfgang Michalski − WM International, formerly Director, OECD International Futures Programme
- Maureen O'Hara − President Emerita, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco and IFF
- Ian Page − Former Research Manager / Futurist, HP Research Labs.
- Nick Rengger − Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, University of St Andrews, author
- Jennifer Williams − Director, Centre for Creative Communities, UK
- Mark Woodhouse − Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Georgia State University, USA, author