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Foresight Courses


Foresight Courses - Global List 

This page is where we want to build a good global list of graduate, undergraduate, and earlier Foresight Courses, and contact emails for the instructors. We hope to enable materials sharing among foresight educators around the world, and ensure access and entry to foresight studies for interested students from a wide range of starting points. Please also see our Foresight Curricula page, which includes freely sharable and reusable material from some of the courses. 

Foresight Courses can be roughly defined as any course with 50% or greater emphasis, by time or materials, on the future of the domain under study. Ten or to fifteen week courses that end with a week or two of structured discussion of the longer term future of the course subject matter are an ideal to be strived for in all modern universities, a model we would call Integrated Foresight (IF). IF courses aren't being counted here, but we would like to develop university rankings that tell the consumer to what degree IF is practiced within a university degree program. On this page, we're focusing on finding specific courses with a majority foresight emphasis. 

You can seek editing rights by contacting us, or email Karen Arvidsson with details and links to programs.

See Jose Ramos's excellent International Survey of Futures Courses, 2008, and the Foresight Programs and Courses page of the WFSF. We need to replicate this great work when we can, and bring it to this wiki.

The following information is in the process of being updated and added to. Items below are current listings as of 2013. Please advise us of any items you are aware of, that are not yet listed.

Australia

Bridge 8, with The Leaders Institute of South Australia offer a series of strategic foresight modules in support of their leadership development programs and services. These include:  A Leading Insights presentation for GLF Alumni and the public on why strategic foresight is an important component of adaptive leadership, a one-day module within the new Integral Leader program, and a two-day module on Strategic Development for community boards.

Griffith University, Queensland  Offer a Master & Grad. Certificate of Design (Futures), and Master of Design (Futures) Honours. Course units include: Investigative Procedures in Design, Future of Design, Industry practice, Rethinking Context and Practice , Design Sustainment and Futures, Investigative Procedures in Design, Strategic Design Thinking, Design Research Project, Dissertation Project.

Chasing Sunrises Steve Tighe offers workshops on emerging trends, future scenarios, creating your vision, learning to apply foresight methods & techniques, and strategic planning. He is based in New South Wales.

Designer Futures offer a range of workshops and consultancy services. Principal is Anita Kelleher.

Looking up Feeling Good Marcus Barber offers Advanced Strategic Thinking; Innovation Capability; Future Alert Subscription   Marcus offers a range of core foresight programs, such as environmental scanning, and tools and methods. These are public programs are available to multiple organisations in the one room with no limit on the number of members from that organisation being present. Also offer customisation of programs for organisations. 

Metafuture.org is run by Prof. Sohail Inayatullah, and a range of courses he is involved with providing, e.g. Tamkang University, Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, includes: Futures thinking; Macrohistory and Macrohistorians; and Futures-oriented policy making;  Mt Eliza Centre for Executive Education, Melbourne Business School; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, supervision of Phd and MA students; Centre for Social Change Research, Queensland University of Technology; Prout College, courses on Prout, Macrohistory, World Futures, and Neohumanism, policymaking and contemporary issues; Futures Thinking & Strategy Development - for general managers or directors in strategic planning roles seeking to position their organisations for the future  are provided as well as articles and links to his and other foresight professional's pages and works.

Mt Eliza Futures Thinking and Strategy Development Course/ Melbourne Business School The Mt Eliza School of Business is a private educational entity offering management development. Courses are subject to change. This four-day Futures thinking and Strategy Development course has been run a number of times, facilitated by Professor Sohail Inayatullah and  Dr Robert Burke who is a Programme Director and futurist in residence at Melbourne Business School, Mt Eliza executive education.

Oases Graduate School, Australia provide a non-university based, accredited 
Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters degree program and/or units. The oASES program has been running for a number of years and is facilitated by a range of lecturers, including Jose Ramos and Alex Burns, and there are links also to the Swinburne programs plus complimentary learning opportunities. oases also run a range of short courses, such as Towards a sustainable culture (workshops), Myth Mapping, Tides of resilience, and Breakfast Sessions.

Preferred Futures is a consultancy run by Peter Ellyard, and offers workshops in Preferred Futures Envisioning/Strategic Planning and Leadership and Management , which are customised for clients. 

Swinburne University of Technology Graduate Certificate to Masters level. Units are embedded within an integrated MBA 1st year, with dedicated Foresight units commencing at Grad.Dip.  

Thinking Futures  Multiple workshops are offered by Maree Conway. What is this futures thing all about anyway?, Strategic Thinking: what it is and how to do it, Environmental Scanning: what it is and how to do it, Strategic Planning: what it is and how to do it. Plus consulting and customised training.

TimeFUTURE Headed by Melanie Williams, offers curriculum development, scenario planning, research, plus academic and business writing.

University of Adelaide Entrepreneurship & Innovation centre offer two subjects in foresight: TECHCOMM 7028 - Foresight & Social Change Offered via 2x on campus coursework options, and 1x online.

University of New South Wales from time to time offers an opportunity for research & urban design through its 
City Futures Research Centre  It also offers a specific subject in the School of Engineering & Information Technology @ ADFA: Technology Foresight - ZEIT8232

University of the Sunshine Coast Futures Methods and Techniques; Strategic Foresight Leadership; Sustainable Futures;  Applied Futures Studies: methods, values & strategy and the Graduate Certificate in Futures Studies 

University of Queensland  No futures specific courses, however units exist that are complimentary to the field, e.g. the Resilient Communities course within the Master of Sustainable Systems offers a suite of theories and skills for facilitating interventions in complex systems. 

University of Western Australia M. Integrated Human Studies - although not a 'futures' course, offers subjects clearly linked to futures thinking & humanity in the 21st+ century.

VECCI (Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce & Industry) Offer a Master of Commerce (Strategic Foresight). This course is linked to the Swinburne Masters, and at this point requires updating. We are waiting information from VECCI on it's structure.

Austria

Austrian Institute of Technology Have a Foresight & Policy Development Department, offering courses and research opportunities. The Head of Dept. is Hon.Prof. Dr. Josef Froehlich. They offer: Technology Management, using customised software and databases, plus methods such as scenario techniques, Delphi and expert interviews, Weak Signal Analysis, Scouting & Technology roadmapping;  Research, Technology & Innovation Policy dealing with current and future needs for research and innovation systems;  Regional Infrastructure & Policy relates to issues of spatial development, infrastructure construction, environmental issues and climate protection linked to promotion of sustainable technologies. The AIT Foresight & Policy Development Department support joint research with other institutes in innovation and sustainability streams.

Amsterdam

Club of Amsterdam - 
next event: 

The future of Digital Identity or the death of Social Media as we know it. 
Thursday, April 25, 2013 Reception: 18:30-19:00, Conference: 19:00-21:15 
Location: Info.nl, Sint Antoniesbreestraat 16, 1011 HB Amsterdam [Next to Nieuwmarkt] 
Tickets: Euro 10 (Students), Euro 20 (Members, members of LinkedIn etc.) or Euro 30. 

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan Foresight  One year two-semester live video course from The Millennium Project to the Azerbaijan State Economic University – graduate and undergraduate students. The first semester covers introduction to futures research concepts, philosophy, history, and 15 global challenges.  The second semester covers futures research methods from Futures Research Methodology version 3.0. Also workshops on Security Foresight, Combating Gender-based Violence project, and Concepts and Methods of Futures Research for Governance and Decision-Making Seminar. 

Belgium
University of Houston/The Destree Institute +32 81 234 396 - Certificate in Strategic Foresight
Five-day program, includes foresight, forecasting, and planning. Two days of strategic forecasting and three days of strategic planning. Two instructors, both with broad foresight experience. University of Houston Futures Studies Program
Locations: Houston, Texas, USA and Brussels, Belgium; Online. Faculty: Peter Bishop, Andy Hines.
Houston 2013:  5-Day, Project-Based, Face-to-Face Workshop May 13-17, 2013, Houston, Texas, USA
Brussels, Belgium 2013:  May 27-31, 2013.

Canada

Integral Coaching Canada  run a range of integral coaching certification level programs.

OCAD University Toronto offer a  Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation and a part-time Graduate Diploma and full-time Master’s, see the Graduate program in Digital Futures .

Denmark

Aarhus University  Offer PhD roles in Corporate Foresight. Two intakes per year. They also deliver a PhD course in Engineering jointly with the Technical University of Denmark (details and contacts below.)

AlstrupNEXT Neils Chr. Alstrup co-creates futures workshops for organisations and undertakes projects and assessments/

Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies  run short, intensive half-day seminars with a few participants, and have developed and run extensive educational courses stretching over years. Run a futures seminar annually.

Copenhagen Business School, Organising Futures: Foresight methodologies as strategic thinking in organizations.

Futurenavigator run a range of workshops and customised events including: Meaning Mining, Scenarios, Blindspotting, Future-based Ideas, Trendmapping.  

The Technical University of Denmark via the DTU Management Engineering Department Industrial Dynamics and Strategy Group is also active within innovation system studies: especially within the energy and environment area. Contact: Per Dannemand Andersen, Professor in Technology Foresight and Innovation.  The Group have been involved in designing and carrying our foresight exercises since 1998, including sensor technology, nanotech, agri/food, light&sound, hydrogen, wind power, rural development, etc., and developing methods such as foresight methods for sectoral innovation systems and teaching foresight, strategy, scenarios and other foresight and linked content. Strategic Foresight in Engineering is a PhD course, which will run in September 2012. 

In collaboration with the Aarhus University, DTU have a PhD course on “Strategic Foresight in Engineering”, Copenhagen, 17-21 September 2012. An application should be emailed to the course’s secretary Jette Gents, jege@dtu.dk. For more information you can contact Per Dannemand Andersen, pean@dtu.dk (+45) 4525 4535.  

The Industrial Dynamics & Strategy Group recently carried out a review of foresight in Denmark, on behalf of the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation,and the report is available to the public (in Danish):   http://www.fi.dk/publikationer/2012/ny-rapport-om-fremsyn

Trends & Scenario Group, Copenhagen led by Matthew Spaniol, offers a number of workshops in Trend Analysis, Strategy, Scenario development and Communications with set programs and customisation available.

Europe - Region

The European Foresight Platform (EFP) is a network building program supported by the European Commission’s (Framework Programme 7). It aims at building a global network of networks bringing together different communities and individual professionals to share their knowledge about foresight, forecasting and other future studies methods.

Finland

Finland Futures Academy, University of Turku  Finland Futures Academy (FFA) offers undergraduate studentsa futures studies study programme of 20 to 30 ECTS to be included in a higher degree and/or Master's degree.They also offer a two-year Master’s Degree Programme in Futures Studies together with School of Economics in the University of Turku. The master's degree programme is organised in English. The Centre also offes anInternational M.Sc. in Strategic Innovation and Future Creation together with European partner universities.

France

Angers University Offer a MSc. Foresight and Innovation which is a 2 year masters with field trips, online content, thesis & international components available. Delivered in English. 

Conservatoire national des artes et metiers A business-based foresight program: Master Law, Economics and Management specialty prospective mention management, innovation, strategy and organization. (Master of Management, Foresight, Innovation, Strategy, Organisation)

Sciences-Po offer a range of foresight-related sociology subjects throughout their Bachelor's Degree and as executive development programs, and a defined foresight topic: CSPO1025D Utopie-Distopie Futurologie. Their website has a range of handbooks and course descriptors in view-online formats.

Germany

Institute for Futures Studies and Knowledge Management offer a range of futures-linked studies via the EBS (European Business School). Dr. Heiko A. von der Gracht is the Academic Director.

Freie Universität Berlin have commenced for 2013 a Master in Futures Studies for those wishing to develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental aspects of futures studies, their potential and limits and to study the skills necessary to implement the results of research as well. Application deadline is April 30, 2013. Foreign students need a German language certificate. 

India

Kerala University, India Offer a M.Philosophy Programme in Future Studies, & PhD Philosophy.

Israel

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Technology Analysis & Forecasting (ICTAF) at Tel Aviv University undertake research projects in conjunction with industry partners in technology, energy, society, peace & security. 

Japan

Aichi University Japan Professor Ryota Ono of the Information and Communications Policy and Planning, Futures Studies division leads some courses, detail of which are being sought.

Malta
M.Sc in Strategic Innovation & Futures Design The Masters program includes studies in creativity, innovation management, foresight and entrepreneurship in education and training. It offers practical, workplace transferable skills through a blended learning model. Subjects are listed here. The next intake is in October 2012.

Singapore

Nanyang Technology University The Complexity Programme focuses on themes of governance, cities, neuroscience, innovation, ecosystem, change & society.  The S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies produces a range of foresight publications, supports a think tank with a quarterly newsletter, and runs a MSc (Strategic Studies) program as an imperative discipline that aims to equip students with the ability to comprehend strategic theories and emerging security issues. There is a focus on conflict studies, and a PhD program. Multiple subjects are offered.

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, via Jose Ramos with T.S. Gopi Rethinaraj, offer PP5218 Foresight Methods and Analysis for Public Policy

Spain

The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) is one of the seven scientific institutes of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). The Institute’s main activities relate to providing strategic support for the conception and development of EU policies. Its core competence is the ability to work at the intersection between the socio-economic aspects of an issue and the science and technology involved. A range of conferences are listed from time to time, and the website lists a range of research projects being undertaken.

Sweden

Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design & Engineering  Foresight and Scenario Design, Given in English on distance at 1/4-speed, asynchrous (no real-time communication) with indivudal and group assignments. Goals of designing and presenting a unique scenario work, and Trends and perspectives  again, in English on distance at 1/4-speed, asynchrous (no real-time communication) with individual and group assignments. Enquiries:  magnus.hoppe@mdh.se 

Stockholm University, Trendspotting and Future Thinking (7.5 ECTS) through the School of Business. Given in English, the subject introduces trendspotting and future thinking techniques aiding activities such as visioning, scenario planning, blogging, sociology & anthropology. 

The Netherlands

Tilburg University offers a Research Ph.D in Philosophy which covers strategic foresight work, and a Research Masters program. The Tilburg Sustainability Center focuses on topics such as corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, sustainable investment, environmental economics and climate change.  They offer a range of strategic management courses, as well as Systems Thinking and Modelling.

United Kingdom

Dept. Business Innovation & Skills Foresight (UK) Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre Strategic futures training: Online Programme in two modules: Introductory course: objectives and techniques and Intermediate course: objectives and techniques.
 
Foresight Action Network’s Summer meeting Future Evolution of Humanitarian Action - will UK policy lead or follow? 12 noon – 2.45 p.m. on Tuesday 9th July 2013 at King’s College, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS.  This event is hosted by the Humanitarian Futures Programme at King’s College, London and supported by Shaping Tomorrow.

Infinite Futures Fifth Wave Workshops:  Dr Wendy Schultz offers intensive training in horizon scanning, scenario building, storytelling for leadership and change management, innovative design through foresight, strategy formulation, and facilitating long-range change. Skills workshops: incasting, scenario building: Manoa, Schwartz/GBN, deVries/Sociovision, FAR/futures tables, visioning (Manoa), strategy formulation and expressions of interest taken for online training.

Manchester Business School Manchester Foresight Course 2013 Foresight: Exploring the Future, Shaping the Present: 1st-5th July 2013. A course for sponsors and practitioners of foresight.

Smith school of Enterprise and the Environment  Oxford University Futures Directorate School of Enterprise and the Environment.
The Smith School is an interactive hub within Oxford University that engages with, educates and equips public and private enterprise via networks & projects. They liaise also with The Mt Eliza School in Australia. The Futures Directorate. The Smith School has opened six centres of research and teaching, at the core of which is the Futures Directorate. This takes on specific programmes of Study working with the academic, business and policy communities to deliver in-depth foresight analyses of 21st Century sustainability challenges.

Ireland 

Dublin Institute The Futures Academy The Futures Academy is an applied research and strategic consultancy organisation, which brings foresight methods to public and private organisations to help them to better understand how new technologies, scientific developments, social trends, legislative frameworks, environmental concerns and other emerging issues can affect their future and how they can prepare for their consequences. 

USA 

California Institute of Integral Studies offer a Master of Arts & PhD programs, and courses in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, plus Transformative Leadership (online program)

Model Thinking. Online class run in conjunction with Stanford in Feb 2012 by Prof. Scott E. Page, from CCB. Leverage Points and Scenario Analysis Research.

CPS HR Consulting offer training in organisational strategy and a one-day Strategic Foresight training class conducted by Merlin Switzer. 

Integral Institute Offer a suite of programs within the Integral Theory framework including Degrees, Research opportunities, Coaching Certificates, and scholarships, plus a conference. Programs are delivered in conjunction with J.F. Kennedy University or the Fielding Graduate University

Integral Life are a partner-organisation with the Integral Institute, and offer a range of courses and products related to Integral Theory, and also in specialist areas such as Integral Christianity, Spiritual Intelligence, Kosmic Creativity and web-based events.They are partnered with Integral Coaching Canada, and the Integral Institute of Australia. 
 
Leading Futurists A range of workshops and training in foresight tools are offered by Jennifer Jarratt & John B. Mahaffie - enquiries should be made via their website as to dates and options.

Regent University School of Global Leadership  Offer a Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight  2 years f/t, 4 years p/t. They also offer Doctoral Degrees: Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership and Doctor of Strategic Leadership.

Stanford University offer subjects ME 410ABC. Foresight and Innovation, and ME 410X Foresight Project Experience with Corporate Partners, as well as several industry programs in Foresight and Innovation Management. These run from 1 day to 1 week, in length, customized to client requirements.

University of Houston  offer a range of courses e.g. a Master Degree in Futures Studies - full masters, certificate and short courses.
University of Houston Futures Studies Program.
2013:  Certificate in Strategic Foresight 5-Day, Project-Based, Face-to-Face Workshop May 13-17, 2013, Houston, Texas, USA (and May 27-31, 2013, Brussels, Belgium, via the The Destree Institute, +32 81 234 396.
Extension Courses in Future Studies - onsite courses with credits. 1 day Futures Summer Camp - for middle schools, Futurizing Your Teaching Practice  - 1 day. Next dates for these short courses in 2013 TBA.

Wake Technical Community College - Centre for Strategic Futures run a range of courses from time to time - especially in the trends and technology space - recently Globalized Work and Your Future - some content currently accessible online.


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