The Scottish Parliament's think-tank
On 27 October 2017, the Futures Forum held a joint consultation event with the Scottish Youth Parliament on the question of technology. Chaired by Maree Todd MSP as a Futures Forum director, the debate covered…
A decade after the Scotland’s Futures Forum published its recommendations to reduce the damage of drugs on our population with plans to tax cannabis, prescribe heroin and provide consumption rooms, the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of…
Having explored the challenges provided by the technological revolution and climate change in its first two events in 2017, the Futures Forum heard from Dr Jamie Coleman, chair and co-founder of Codebase, and Dr Katherine…
The French philosopher Voltaire is quoted as saying in the 1760s that “We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation”. What did that mean then, and what might it mean today and in the…
What does the future hold for young people? What do they think will happen? As part of a BBC Scotland Learning project “The Future and Me”, pupils from the Glasgow Gaelic School and St Andrew’s…
This informal reception introduced guests to the main concepts behind Fit Home, a unique partnership between housing, NHS Highland and social enterprise, which, supported by academic research, showcases a collaborative solution to wellness in the…
Scotland 2030: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate On 5 September 2017, the Goodison Group in Scotland and the Futures Forum continued their on-going investigation into education and learning in the future with a debate…
By Dr Steph Smith, Scotland’s Rural College and @ScienceSeaweed Humans are curious creatures. Not in the sense that we are random assemblages of cells which share about 50% of our DNA with a banana; but curious…
A healthy society and culture depends on a healthy environment. This project explores how Scotland’s environment might change over the coming years and how our relationship with it will and should change at the same…
Data and Politics: Comparative Agendas Project 10th Anniversary Conference Reception This reception marked the 10th anniversary of the Comparative Agendas Project, a worldwide network of political and data scientists working to investigate trends in government,…
Scotland 2030: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate The Goodison Group in Scotland continued its on-going investigation into education and learning in the future with a debate in the Scottish Parliament on 13 June 2017….
By Eleanore Widger, University of Dundee and @Nell Widger Earlier this year the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and Mountaineering Scotland made an unlikely alliance in opposition to government plans to plant thousands of new trees. According to the…
As part of the Scotland 2030 Programme, and on the basis that a strong society and economy can exist in the long term only if the environment – land, air and water – are functioning…
By Nicola Martin, University of Stirling and @NicolaMartin14 “We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation.” This summary of a quotation from French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire is commonly used by commentators who wish…
By Eleanore Widger, University of Dundee and @NellWidger A curious thing happened in Scotland during the Romantic period: vast numbers of tourists from Britain, Europe and elsewhere used new road networks and steam packet routes to access the…
By Nicola Martin, University of Stirling and @NicolaMartin14 5 April 2017 Before we consider what various stakeholders understand by the notion of a civilised nation or civilisation in the present, and even before we consider…
Scotland’s Futures Forum – the Scottish Parliament’s in-house think tank – launched its Scotland 2030 programme on Wednesday 29 March 2017. Billed as an exploration of Scotland’s culture and society, the programme will ask what…
As part of the launch of our Scotland 2030 Programme in March 2017, we asked award-winning folk singer, songwriter and essayist Karine Polwart to reflect on the cultural implications for our society from technological change. In response,…
Iain Banks, the great Scottish author, once said, “Technology determines the possibilities of society.” This has been true since humans developed basic tools, and it remains the case today, although those possibilities and the rate that…
To launch the Scotland 2030 Programme in 2017, we invited folk singer and writer Karine Polwart to reflect on how technology might change our society. In response, she brought three imagined news stories from 2030….
To launch the Scotland 2030 Programme in 2017, we invited folk singer and writer Karine Polwart to reflect on how technology might change our society. In response, she brought three imagined news stories from 2030….
To launch the Scotland 2030 Programme in 2017, we invited folk singer and writer Karine Polwart to reflect on how technology might change our society. In response, she brought three imagined news stories from 2030. This is…
9 February 2017, at the Scottish Parliament The best in European democratic innovation was presented at a seminar in the Scottish Parliament hosted jointly by Scotland’s Futures Forum and Nesta. Pioneers from across the continent brought their experience…
The growing level of automation in Scotland’s economy and the implications for our workforce was the subject of a Scotland’s Futures Forum’s Breakfast Seminar in 2017. Hosted by Richard Leonard MSP on behalf of the…
New research reveals up to £1.23 billion tax gain by increasing the number of successfully transferred SMEs and Family Businesses in Scotland Research demonstrates how SMEs and Family Businesses can significantly grow the Scottish economy….
As part of Scotland’s Futures Forum strategic link with the Goodison Group in Scotland in the area of learning and skills, our organisations undertook a project on Scotland as a world-leading learning nation. This ambitious…
The Edinburgh Beltane Beacon for Public Engagement held an event on 15 June 2011, focusing on ‘Realising the Potential of Engaged Universities’. The event, part of the ‘Big Ideas for Society’ day of UK Universities…
In early March 2011, Scotland’s Futures Forum along with Edinburgh Beltane hosted two seminars to consider the findings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s report ‘Facing up to climate change: breaking the barriers to a…
Increasing numbers of women are being imprisoned in Scotland (and other comparable jurisdictions), and this cannot be explained by rates of offending or changes in the nature of offences. The Scottish Universities Insight Institute recently…
In an era of financial austerity, governments need to consider innovative new ways of funding the solutions to a variety of social problems. At a Futures Forum seminar attended by over 100 individuals from the…
As part of the 2010-11 seminar series, in partnership with Edinburgh Beltane, a Futures Forum was held on 15 November 2010 bringing together around 70 delegates to explore what is understood by ‘an inclusive Scotland…
Sustainable Communities in Scotland is a scenario project looking at what sustainable communities might look like, in Scotland, in 2030. Our main report describes three scenarios for the future: opportunities missed opportunities taken opportunities uninvited…
In 2010, Scotland’s Futures Forum and the City of Edinburgh Council’s Culture and Sport Division engaged in a short-term project to explore the future of the city’s arts and culture sector. The purpose of the…
In 2010, the Futures Forum undertook work on Scotland’s public finances. It was aware from its own work that the future would include public sector budgetary constraints, rapid technological change and shifting relationships between citizens,…
On 8 March 2010, Scotland’s Futures Forum held a seminar to consider how far we are from realising a low carbon economy in Scotland. The seminar was attended by 90 policymakers, academics and those from…
As an Associate Member of Scotland’s Futures Forum at the time, the National Trust for Scotland asked the Forum to work with their Members and staff to help provide a futures perspective to the Reid…
On 7 September 2009, in partnership with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government, Scotland’s Futures Forum hosted a seminar with Professor Joakim Palme, Director of the Institute for Futures Studies at Stockholm University. The…
On 29 May 2009, Scotland’s Futures Forum and Glasgow Caledonian University’s Poverty Information Unit co-hosted a conference to explore the extent to which the Scottish Parliament, in its first decade, has reduced poverty and inequalities and to…
In 2008, Scotland’s Futures Forum published its report on how Scotland can reduce the damage caused by alcohol and drug misuse by half by 2025. The project used a systems mapping approach and explored the…
In 2006-07, Scotland’s Futures Forum looked at issues and opportunities for Scotland’s ageing population, specifically to stimulate debate on the positive aspects of the population structure. Growing Older and Wiser Together Report Read the Parliament’s…