Recent topics

Our work
- UPCOMING EVENT: COP28: Code Red for parliaments – what next?How are parliaments changing to respond to the climate and biodiversity emergencies? How are they supporting their elected members to deal with the issues..
- COP28: An update from the conferenceMalini Mehra, chief executive of GLOBE International, joins parliamentarians in the COP pavilion to provide an update on how conference negotiations are going.
- Scotland’s Land: One resource, many usesThis half day conference in October 2023 explored how we could best use our land to to underpin food security, maintain sustainable communities, and meet our climate and biodiversity targets.
- Alternative approaches to economic development in ScotlandThis blog by David Waite, Richard Crisp and Anne Green reflects on different ideas of economic change and where they've come from.
- Futures Forum Autumn 2023 UpdateAn update from the Scottish Parliament’s think-tank on its work in autumn 2023. This includes information about a public debate in October.
- A Fair and Sustainable Scotland: How fair is fair?This panel discussion in October 2023 explored how fair Scotland is as a country. Complete equality of outcome is impossible - so what does success look like?
Listen to a recent podcast

Artificial Intelligence and Democracy - Richard Leonard MSP and Professor Ewa Luger - Podcasts By The Scottish Parliament
With developments in artificial intelligence (AI) speeding up, what effect will this technology have on our democracy?
What do we mean when we talk about artificial intelligence? What are the opportunities and what are the dangers?
And how, as citizens and as a democracy, should we react?
This Scotland's Futures Forum podcast, recorded in May 2023, explored the potential impact of AI on our lives and the implications we should consider.
Featuring expert contributions from Professor Ewa Luger, Professor of Human-Data Interaction at the University of Edinburgh, and Richard Leonard MSP, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee.
You can find out more on the Scotland's Futures Forum website.
Read our recent blogs
- Alternative approaches to economic development in ScotlandThis blog by David Waite, Richard Crisp and Anne Green reflects on different ideas of economic change and where they've come from.
- AI and Education: A free-market future?With AI growing in importance throughout our lives, this blog explores a free-market future for education and schools. It accompanies our event report: "AI and Education with the Goodison Group"
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If you would like to be kept informed of the work Scotland’s Futures Forum, you can join our mailing list.
We use the mailing to send messages about upcoming events and other work that may be of interest. We send a couple of emails a month at most. We ask only for your name and email address, and we never share your information with anyone else.
If you would like to sign up, please email: ScotlandsFuturesForum@parliament.scot.