WORLD FUTURES STUDIES FEDERATION
INDEPENDENT GLOBAL PEAK BODY FOR FUTURES STUDIES SCHOLARSHIP A UNESCO PARTNER – FOUNDED PARIS 1973
Launched in 2024, the overarching aim on the APF Foresight Evaluation Initiative is to work with APF members to use evaluation to improve quality of foresight practice and support achievement of foresight goals. Guided by the recommendations of the APF Foresight Evaluation Task Force (2021 – 2023), the Initiative supports increased member evaluation capacity through the launching of targeted resources and activities.
The UNESCO Futures Literacy and Foresight team has been engaged in co-designing capacity building activities with stakeholders around the world, working with government ministries, UN agencies and community groups to advance abilities to creatively ‘use-the-future’ to address contemporary global challenges.
There are several peer-reviewed academic and professional journals dedicated to reporting, discussing and analyzing issues of relevance to futures researchers, practitioners and students. There are also some futures-oriented magazines below.
WFSF has published a magazine since its inception – since even before the organisation was formally constituted. The WFSF magazine has gone through several iterations, changing its name and style with the changing times over nearly five decades.
The Australian Foresight Institute Monograph Series was published from 2003 to 2006. In addition to the soft cover edition shown here the series was collected and re-published in a hard cover library edition in 2007. These publications were part of a research program on Creating and Sustaining Social Foresight that was supported by the Pratt Foundation, Melbourne, to whom grateful acknowledgment is due.
FuturePod gathers voices from the international field of Futures and Foresight. Launched on 18 December 2018 by the WFSF Full member, Peter HAYWARD and his colleagues, they are bringing this podcast series to the world. With an initial focus on Melbourne-based practitioners, they gradually expanded their use of computer-based recording technology to allow a global reach for the interviews. This greatly increased the range for potential interviewees and also their interested audience.Through a series of podcast interviews, the founders of the field and emerging leaders share their stories, tools and experiences.
Since 1975 WFSF has offered courses to young people around the world, introducing them to the concepts and methods of the futures studies field. WFSF Futures Courses have been held in Dubrovnic, Romania, USA, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Egypt, Iran and DR Congo. Please refer to the details below for a chronological list of the Futures courses that have been offered since the 1970’s.
A vast amount of high quality research and workshop material has been developed over our 50 years. However, much of it is still dispersed across several places because of the global and now virtual nature of our organization.