Forum for the Future
| Type | Sustainable development charity |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Location | London, UK |
| Area served | International |
| Focus | Sustainable development |
| Employees | approx. 70 |
| Website | http://www.forumforthefuture.org |
Forum for the Future is a British non-profit organisation with a mission to promote sustainable development. Its vision is of "businesses and communities thriving in a future that’s environmentally sustainable and socially just". It runs partnerships with more than 90 organisations across business and the public sector to incorporate the principles of sustainable development. Forum specialises in futures work, innovation and capacity building, and it also runs a Masters course, 'Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development', which has been running since the inception of Forum for the Future. It publishes a magazine called Green Futures which highlights news stories on the environment, sustainable development and green innovation.
Forum has staff based in three offices - London, Bristol and Cheltenham.
Contents |
[edit] History
Forum for the Future was founded in 1996 by Jonathon Porritt, Sara Parkin and Paul Ekins. Peter Madden became CEO in 2005.
[edit] Partners
Forum for the Future has partnerships with more than 90 organisations in the public and private sector.
A full list is available on its website
[edit] Governance and Funding
Forum for the Future is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is run by a senior management team led by Peter Madden and overseen by a board of trustees chaired by Janis Kong. The Forum’s partners have no influence over its governance.
It funds its work from three principle revenue streams: annual fees from its partners; fees and grants for its work on projects which advance sustainability; and charitable donations and legacies.
In 2009 the Forum’s revenue was £4.1m, of which 61% came from business, 14% from central and local government, and 13% from not-for-profit organisations. Source – 2010 Annual Report
[edit] Projects
Recent Forum for the Future projects include:
- Tourism 2023. The Forum worked with leading travel companies to develop four scenarios exploring the future of the UK outbound tourism industry, a vision for a sustainable industry and a strategy to achieve it. It published a report in October 2009 when British Airways, TUI Travel, Thomas Cook and the other partner companies announced they were signing up to the vision [1]
- Fit for the Future. The project explored the impacts of climate change on the UK National Health Service, made recommendations on creating a sustainable low-carbon healthcare system and presented scenarios for the future of healthcare which health professionals can use to test strategy. It was jointly produced with the NHS Sustainable Development Unit. [2]
- FT Climate Change Challenge. The competition, backed by the Financial Times newspaper and technology company Hewlett-Packard, aims to promote green innovation and give publicity to the most promising new ideas to tackle climate change. Nearly 300 projects from around the world entered the competition in 2008-09. [3]
- Sustainable Cities Index. The Forum’s annual Sustainable Cities Index tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities, ranking them on environmental performance, quality of life and future-proofing – how well they are addressing issues such as climate change, recycling and biodiversity. Bristol came top in 2008 and Newcastle in 2009.
- Climate Futures. The report, jointly produced with HP Labs and published in October 2008, analyses the political, economic, social and psychological consequences of climate change and shows how different global responses to the problem can lead to very different futures. It presents five scenarios for 2030 and explores the role of business and technology.[5]
