Strategic Foresight: The Foundations – 1h

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Start your futures journey by uncovering the building blocks of strategic foresight. In this Masterclass, we’ll explore how foresight weaves together science, art, and practical application to support meaningful decision-making. You’ll discover why an entrepreneurial mindset—paired with robust strategy and innovation capabilities—is essential for successfully navigating an era of disruptive change.

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• Foresight - Between Science, Art, and Practice: Understand the interdisciplinary nature of foresight and how it merges research, creativity, and strategic thinking.

• Assumptions and Principles of Foresight: Learn to question default assumptions and build a forward-looking perspective.

• Defining Strategic Foresight: Clarify the fundamentals of foresight and how it applies in different organizational contexts.

• Mastering the Skills and the Mindset of a Futurist: Explore the critical skills—curiosity, open-mindedness, systems thinking—required to excel in futures work.

• Foresight Needs Strategy, Innovation, and an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Understand how combining foresight with strategic planning and entrepreneurial creativity can drive sustainable growth.

• The New Era of Foresight: From Generative AI to Speculative Design & Design Fiction: Delve into emerging tools and approaches that expand the horizons of what is possible.

Strategic Foresight: Key Concepts and Frameworks – 1h

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This Masterclass dives deeper into the core components and structures that underpin strategic foresight. From identifying megatrends to managing uncertainty, you’ll discover how to systematically track and interpret signals of change.

Strategic Foresight Core Concepts

• Strategic Focus: Determine where to concentrate your attention for future-oriented planning.

• Time Horizon: Decide the optimal timeline for strategic analysis—short, medium, or long-term.

• Megatrends: Explore large-scale forces reshaping societies, economies, and industries.

• Trends: Learn to spot and monitor evolving market, societal, and technological trends.

• Weak Signals / Early Warnings: Gain methods for detecting subtle indicators of disruption before they become mainstream.

• Wild Cards & Black Swans: Understand low-probability, high-impact events and how to account for them in strategic planning.

• Risks and Critical Uncertainties: Evaluate uncertainties and risks that could alter your organization’s path.

Strategic Foresight Frameworks

• An Overview of Frameworks: Compare various foresight models to find the one that best fits your needs.

• Scanning, Sensing & Acting: This framework designed by IF Insight & Foresight is more than a method or a tool — it's a mindset. It's about nurturing agility,  fostering a culture of continuous learning, and above all, allowing organizations and leaders  not just to survive, but to thrive in a fast changing and uncertain future.

Strategic Foresight: Mapping Methods & Tools – 1h

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Equip yourself with a powerful collection of methods and tools that bring foresight to life. This session will show you how to map and anticipate emerging trends, signals, and scenarios—giving you a hands-on approach for real-world applications.

• Creative Techniques & Ideation: Harness brainstorming and other creative tools to unlock fresh perspectives on possible futures.

• Environmental Scanning & Horizon Scanning: Systematically track external signals and developments to stay ahead of industry shifts.

• Futures Wheel: Visualize the cascading impacts of emerging trends and events.

• Stakeholder Analysis: Identify and understand the roles, interests, and influences of key players in your ecosystem.

• Causal Layered Analysis: Reveal underlying narratives and assumptions to spark deeper insights.

• Scenario Planning: Learn to create multiple, plausible futures to better manage uncertainty.

• Three Horizons Framework: Structure your innovation and transformation strategies across short-, mid-, and long-term perspectives.

• Strategic Radars & Roadmaps: Build continuous intelligence systems that align day-to-day actions with long-range goals.

Scenario Planning: Building Multiple Futures – 1h

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Build and refine your understanding of scenario methodologies and processes. Through an exploration of critical uncertainties, drivers of change, and strategic narratives, you’ll learn how to spot emerging opportunities and prepare for discontinuities. Strengthen your strategy and innovation capabilities so you can respond proactively to new challenges and design forward-thinking policies and programs.

• What are Scenarios: Define scenarios as structured yet creative narratives about alternative futures.

• Why, When, and How to Use Scenarios: Discover ideal contexts and timing for scenario planning, and best practices for execution.

• Building Scenarios from Critical Uncertainties: Identify major unknowns that could reshape your industry or market.

• Scenarios as Stories and Narratives for the Future: Create compelling scenario narratives that make complex possibilities relatable.

• Linking Strategy, Strategic Vision, and Scenarios: Integrate scenario insights directly into your broader strategic roadmap.

• Scenarios in Action: Use Cases: Learn from real-world examples and success stories where scenario thinking drove innovation.

Scenario Planning Lab: From Anticipation to Action – 2h

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In this extended Scenario Planning Lab, you’ll apply the proprietary “Scanning, Sensing & Acting” Futures Framework in a guided project. 

Starting with defining the Strategic Focus & Time Horizon, you’ll learn how to conduct thorough scanning and build a “Scanning Dashboard” to identify Megatrends, Trends, Weak Signals, Wildcards, and Critical Uncertainties. 

From there, you’ll design a fit-for-purpose scenario planning project and learn how to transition from anticipation to action—exploring strategic options, co-creating a future vision, redesigning policies, or jump-starting innovation initiatives.

Participants will use ORION.AI in this Masterclasse, allowing for the streamlining of the scanning and analysis process by automatically categorizing and making sense of driving forces, insights, and signals of change.