How do we want to live in 10 years?
We are looking for answers to this question at the Foresight Academy. On our platform, companies from ten different industries join forces to imagine possible future scenarios and gain reliable insights into what humans of tomorrow truly desire. Our roots are European. Our perspective is global. Our research spans three continents.
Business, science and design all play an important part in our process. The businesses bring their key questions to the table and supply industry expertise. Scientific collaborations ensure a solid academic foundation. Design creates tangible results and helps tell stories of the futures we want to build. Our network partners then use the newly gained knowledge in their companies.
The Foresight Academy methodology is optimal for capturing potentials of the new and building desirable futures.
The Foresight Academy is a 2-year program comprised of a series of workshops, inspirational talks, co-creation sessions, research trips, and regular opportunity for exchange across industry borders. Participants have access to handbooks, working material, reports, and presentations to share the methods and outcomes with their organizations.
Method handbooks created by gravity for the Foresight
Academy
In our project we imagine future change. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we were confronted by massive, immediate change in the here and now. How does such an unprecedented event impact us and our view of the future?
 
We went back into the field – virtually this time – to find out if our pre-corona study is still relevant. The answer? Yes, it is. Now more than ever.
>> Read full article
Combining many perspectives
 
Our research method is new, and it is different. We do not provide a concrete answer to a single question – instead, our method creates a different understanding of the future. We are not primarily interested in finding out what the most likely future is. We develop stories and scenes for a desirable future. This is why we use a very broad methodological basis.
 
An important part of our research is interviewing Trend Receivers. Trend Receivers are individuals who – due to their individual biographies and their unique skills – perceive changes and potentials of the new in a specific area in a highly sensitive and differentiated manner. We integrate international perspectives by involving individuals on three continents. In this way we not only identify megatrends such as urbanization, but also pick up on weaker signals and discuss new and upcoming aspects and potentials.
Our goal is to identify signals of change, to distinguish the meaningful from the noise.
The Foresight Academy methodology
Participants taking part at Trend Receiver Interviews
PublicHome_3DWelt
Speculative Design
At the end, the results always keep the balance between remaining broad and open and becoming specific. The task is to visualize our research outcome and desirable future everyday life in a way that is both concrete and sketch-like. We kept our spaces and environments mostly white and in a kind of plasticine ambient. This way, we are specific and at the same time leave room for one’s very own interpretation.
The feedback from the partners is similar: even those participants who had been involved in research of the future at their respective companies for a long time appreciated the exchange among the involved people and partners and stated that they experienced a new approach and many new aspects and facets. This is also due to the fact that they take actively part in the Trend Receiver interviews. This dialogue is a core element of our methodology.
>> More detail about the methodology
The Foresight Academy in a nutshell

Have a look at our video for a quick introduction to the project and its impact on the participating brands.
We discuss desirable futures with forwardthinking individuals across Europe, China, and the United States.
We do not provide a concrete answer to a single question – instead, our method creates a different understanding of the future.
"The future takes place outside the comfort zone”

Remo Masala, travel visionary and former CMO of Designhotels, Kuoni and Thomas Cook Group, is constantly searching for answers. He wants to know: What kind of destination and hotel concepts will exist? As a trend receiver, he has also provided some information for our research project. In this interview, he reveals why the project has helped him as well and how it has enabled him to develop further.
>> Read full Interview
These are our key questions
How do we choose to live and organize our everyday lives?
Where does life happen?
What are our dreams and main goals in life?
How will we express who we are?
How do we like to spend our time?
How do we want to interact and connect in 2030?
What role will our hands and physical experiences play?
How will brands offer a meaningful contribution?
How do we treat ourselves?
How will we stay healthy?
What do we fear?
How do we want to live in 10 years?
We share featured content from our research. Stay tuned for future updates.
COVID-19 UPDATE

In our project we imagine future change. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we were confronted by massive, immediate change in the here and now. How does such an unprecedented event impact us and our view of the future?

We went back into the field – virtually this time – to find out if our pre-corona study is still relevant. The answer? Yes, it is. Now more than ever.
>> Read full article
ENLIGHTENMENT 2.0

Learn about the growing desire for a revival of the enlightenment values across societies globally. What does a better world look like? Our study sheds light on the desire for reason, equality, liberty, and joy that transcends regions. Join us in learning about the enlightenment revival set to grow as we move towards 2030!
>> Open full article
TRENDS IN VISUAL AESTHETICS AND THE EFFECT OF COVID-19

Dr. Rebecca Swift, Senior Director & Global Head of Creative Insights at Getty Images, treated the Foresight Academy to a highly insightful journey into Getty’s most recent visual research. We explored the evolution of visual language consumption impacted by four forces: Wellness, Tech, Sustainability & Realness. Examining each force with a COVID-19 lens shows how visuals are not only consumed based on our collective current and emerging desires and values – it also shows how pictures can take an active part in materializing future trends in our collective imagination. What types of images can make brands a shaping force for the future without neglecting their bottom line? For a closer Look, click below!
>> Open presentation
NEW SPIRITUALITY

How do we search for balance in the 21st century? Find out about the myriad of drivers heightening our need to embrace spirituality, from a need to belonging to lingering fear and instability. We see signals of this trend expressed in diverse aspects of society.
>> Open full article
MASS CUSTOMER FORESIGHT

Is it just us? The Foresight Academy Trend Receiver research revealed strong signals for how humans wish to live in 2030. But do these trends extend beyond our bubble? In Goethe University’s Mass Customer Foresight research Lisa Eckmann, Prof. Dr. Jan Landwehr, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Hackethal explore just that: they quantify the extent to which some important trends exist in a representative sample. The quantitative study surveyed 6000 individuals (2000 in each of US/CN/EU) on themes related to conscious consumption, A.I. and data, and rural/urban living. What do we find out? It is not just us! Read our executive summary to find out more about Goethe University’s results and how they manifest across other relevant demographics.
>> Open executive summary

Methodology Handbook 1: Making sense of the future

Author: Author: gravity

Methodology Handbook 2: The Foresight Academy Methodology

Author: Author: gravity

The Customer Foresight Territory

Author: Author: Dr. Eric Eller, Dr. Rupert Hofmann, Prof. Dr. Jan Oliver Schwarz

Customer Foresight Practice: How to Access Future Markets Through Extraordinary People

Author: Author: Dr. Rupert Hofmann

PARTNER COMPANIES

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LEAD AGENCY

The Foresight Academy is a platform where companies from different industries explore how customers want to live in ten years and create shared visions of desirable future everyday life.
This platform was started by Audi / Audi Business Innovation GmbH and it is realized by Foresight Academy GmbH.
 
Do you have questions about the Foresight Academy?
Please feel free to contact us: contact(at)foresightacademy.com