SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Futures shaping art /
Art shaping futures (2022)
Art is a lens through which we can explore uncertainty and examine both the need for and limitations of human agency in an increasingly complex future. This publication explores the role of art as a unique and invaluable form of futures inquiry and showcases how art and futures studies interrelate and shape each other in various ways, drawing on examples and cases from international contemporary art, curators, art institutions, and futurists.
Collaboration: I want to extend a big thank you to Majken Overgaard, Program Manager at CATCH – Center for Art, Design and Technology and Katrine Pedersen, Head of Education & ARKEN art+ techLab, who have contributed to the research and investigations into the future potential of the arts for this report.
ORGANIZATIONAL FUTURE-PREPAREDNESS AFTER COVID-19: A Clearer Role for the Board? (2021)
This report analyzes the role of board directors in achieving and maintaining organizational future-preparedness. It uncovers current practices, investigates the extent to which board
members think these are adequate, or what else may be done, and where the balance lies between directors and management executives in this matter.
Collaboration: This study is conducted in together with Dr. Adam Gordon, Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark.
SCENARIO Magazine: Issue 68 (2021)
In this issue's main article: Time has not always existed, it is not eternal, and like all other dimensions in this world, it is not static, nor fixed, nor controllable. As humans, we divide it into past, present, and future, but none of those parts really exist for us, when you think about it: The past is gone, the present is like a bar of soap slipping away between our fingers, and the future we can only dream about, or fear, until it is suddenly also a realised present, which then instantly becomes the past. But it is of course possible to work with the future and influence it. The article takes a closer look at just this and addresses how the overall challenge of time-scaling and forecasting represents an entanglement of at least four distinctive issues, each of which has its own semi-independent dynamic.
Also in this issue: Behaviour: Spotlight on selected behavioural patterns worldwide / Q&A: Paolo Rizzatto on inspiration and lifelong creativity / Article: Data dumb / Scenario article: Fat futures / Photo series: The Smart City Research Network: Portraits by Tilde Bay Kristoffersen / The Futurist: Nicklas Larsen / Column: The mobility pyramid / Column: The metaverse / Column: Compost futurism / Applied futurism: Teaching futures / Tech brief / Futures Past: The Red Net.
Using The Future (2020)
Our futures are shaped by the decisions we make in the present. By becoming more conscious of how our understanding of the future guides these decisions, both in a professional and personal setting, we can make choices that are better informed and less clouded by biases and misguided assumptions. This report is an exploration of how to enable future-ready decision-making in organisations, through strategic foresight, and more future-conscious decisions on an individual level, through fostering futures literacy and broader inclusion of the public in futures work in general.
Collaboration: This report is made with contributions from Dr. Adam Gordon, Professor at Aarhus Universty, Denmark and Dr. Loes Damhof, UNESCO Chair in Futures Literacy in Higher Education.
Interview with Pupul Bisht, founder of the Decolonising Futures Initiative
CSR in the age of compounded crises (2020)
Companies and organisations are increasingly expected to play a greater role in solving some of the major global challenges and inter-connected crises facing us. Are they up to the task? In this report, we ask if we are shifting our focus from reactive compliance to proactive commitment when it comes to how and to what extent companies and organisations engage in societal causes. We discuss what ’doing good’ and corporate social responsibility mean today, outline crucial trends, and explore questions for the future
Interview with Jordi Passola, Chief of Marketing and Strategy at UNHCR
Queer Futures at World Pride Copenhagen 2021
Queer Futures at World Pride Copenhagen 2021
Queer Futures at World Pride Copenhagen 2021
The Next Era in Global Health - How to enable quality of life and wellbeing? (2020)
When we think about the future of health, we tend to think in terms of more medical technology, new and improved drugs and treatments, better health, and longer lives, continuing the steady century-long trend of life expectancy increasing two to three months every year. While all of the above will likely be true, several challenges lie ahead that will complicate the picture, as well as a range of opportunities that hold the potential to revolutionise health so that it becomes something radically different from today. In fact, if we are collectively to handle the challenges ahead, we need to fundamentally change how we think of and approach health.
In this report, commissioned by Novo Nordisk Business Innovation Garage, we look at these issues and other challenges that must be overcome to revolutionize health. We also look at some of the technologies that will help improve health in hitherto unseen ways, possibly even ushering in an age where health can be preserved and improved beyond existing natural boundaries.
Nordic Health 2030 (2019)
The Nordic Health 2030 Movement was inspired by a workshop series in February 2019 where more than 30 leading decision makers across the met to explore future scenarios and how to best shape the future of health in the Nordics. This scenario process, facilitated by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, was initiated by Nordic Innovation as part of Nordic Innovation's Health, Demography and Quality of Life program. During this process, all participants acknowledged the need for and the value in turning towards preventive health and agreed to develop a collaborative network for achieving this goal.
SELECTED ARTICLES AND MEDIA IN ENGLISH AND DANISH
Forsvarsadvokat for fremtidens generationer: ”Ingen andre lande i verden har en langsigtet vision som en del af lovgivningen”
MANDAGMORGEN
Verdens første kommissær for fremtidige generationer, Sophie Howe, har netop afsluttet sin syvårige embedsperiode. I dette interview reflekterer waliseren over politisk varetagelse af fremtidige interesser, hvad hun har opnået, og hvor meget arbejde det stadig kræver at gøre langsigtet tænkning til en del af politik.
Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning:
Derfor skal fremtiden på skoleskemaet
MANDAGMORGEN
Vores uddannelsessystem afspejler i høj grad undervisningsmetoder og færdigheder, der stammer fra den industrielle tidsalder, mener Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning. Men verden ændrer sig med stigende hast, og vi er nødt til at ruste børn og unge til at gå kritisk og konstruktivt ind i en stadig mere uforudsigelig fremtid.
Barriers to developing futures literacy in organisations
FUTURES, PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL
This paper explores the concept of futures literacy and identifies some of the barriers to developing futures literacy in organisations. As research related to futures literacy is still in its infant stage, no existing research has identified barriers to developing futures literacy in organisations. This article aims to make that contribution to advance this field of study and provide understanding of where best to invest to overcome such barriers.
Greenhushing – når virksomheder holder mund med grønne tiltag
MANDAGMORGEN
'Greenwashing' og andre typer '-washing' er blevet CSR’s onde tvilling, og dommen over synderne er hård. Den hårde kritik gør, at nogle ligefrem vælger at holde lav profil med nye tiltag af frygt for anklager om hykleri, skriver Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning.
Kan kunsten mere end vi giver den lov til?
KULTURMDØET MORS
Kulturen og kunsten skaber fællesskaber, livskvalitet, samarbejdsevne, kreative erhverv, og stærke platforme for demokratisk dannelse. Alligevel insisterer vi ofte på, at kunsten og kulturen har værdi nok i sig selv, og ikke må instrumentaliseres. Men kan kunsten mere, end vi giver den lov til? Er det en del af kunstens og kulturens rolle at løfte centrale samfundsdagsordener som bæredygtighed, integration, sundhed og uddannelse, og i så fald – er kulturbranchen gode nok til at påtage sig et socialt ansvar, række ud til mangfoldige målgrupper, og bidrage til sammenhængskraften i Danmark?
Feel-good stafetten med Nicklas Larsen – om den gule fra stryhns, kosmos og et omstillingsparat vinglas
MY PLEASURE
Har du hørt om Nicklas Larsen? Måske ikke, men hvis dette er dit første møde med ham, kan du godt glæde dig. Der er plads det jordnære, det kosmiske, fester, følelser og alt muligt mere. Det er fantastisk læsning, siger jeg dig.
»Kunstnerne åbner hele samtalen om fremtiden op i nye dimensioner«
KULTURMONITOR
Efter tidligere at have sat tænderne i industriens jordskred, erhvervslivets samfundsansvar og pandemiens åbning af nye døre – blandt meget andet – har den 50 år gamle, almennyttige og uafhængige tænketank Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning nu taget kunst- og kulturlivet under kærlig behandling.
Kunsten kan hjælpe os med at udfordre status quo
BOGHANDLERFORENINGEN
Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning har – på et yderst aktuelt tidspunkt, skulle man mene – udgivet en rapport om kunsten og fremtiden og hvad de kan give hinanden. Boghandlerforeningen har talt med projektleder Nichlas Larsen om rapporten, og vi kom omkring både science fictions rolle for virksomheders strategiudvikling og fremtidens kulturforbrugere.
Fremtidsforsker: “Trangen til at reducere fysisk kontakt vil ændre forbrugernes adfærd”
FASHIONFORUM
Flere og flere fysiske butikker slår nu dørene op, men er folk klar til at bruge penge igen? Og hvordan bliver vores forbrugsmønstre fremover set i lyset af krisen? Vi har spurgt fremtidsforsker ved Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning Nicklas Larsen.
'Woke-kapitalismen' er en farlig linedans, du måske ikke slipper uden om
MANDAGMORGEN
’Wokeness’ og ’cancel-kultur’ er voksende sociale fænomener, der sætter organsiationer i et krydspres mellem aktivistiske grupper og deres modstandere. Og det er ikke længere et sikkert træk bare at holde lav profil, skriver Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning.
