Exploring the Future

Shaping Today and Beyond

The UN Futures Lab is a global network that empowers the UN System and beyond to use futures thinking and strategic foresight in planning, policy-making, and decision-making.

Our Global Hub supports teams, provides tools, and builds capacity to help shape a more resilient and anticipatory UN.

The way we all imagine the future matters

Every “what if” sparks new ideas and drives us to create a better tomorrow. What if we embraced uncertainty and complexity with imagination? By exploring multiple futures, we gain fresh perspectives on present challenges and opportunities. We may not control uncertainty, but we can shape how we face it.

Founded in January 2023, the UN Futures Lab is a network dedicated to helping the UN System and beyond embrace futures thinking and strategic foresight. Our goal is to weave these approaches into planning, policy-making, and decision-making, paving the way for a more resilient and forward-looking United Nations.

Supporting Member States in navigating rising uncertainty

Global crises such as persistent drought in sub-saharan Africa, species extinction and habitat loss, as well as global transitions to renewable energy have re-enforced the need to be better prepared for major global risks. While futures and foresight have long existed at the UN, a more coherent and systematic approach is needed.

The UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report in 2021 proposed the establishment of the UN Futures Lab to support being better prepared for major global risks while ensuring that policy decisions consider their impact on future generations. Member States reiterated the importance of a more anticipatory UN and requested regular updates on the UN Futures Lab.

The UN Futures Lab is playing a key role in shaping a more resilient, forward-looking, and adaptive UN that uses new skills and expertise to better support Member States in navigating a complex and uncertain future.

We embed long-term thinking and strategic foresight into decision-making processes at a policy and programmatic level. We also support the advancement of UN 2.0 by putting foresight into practice and combining it with the other quintet areas – data, digital, innovation, and behavioural science – wherever possible.

UN Strategic Foresight Guide

Whether you are new to foresight or want to dig even deeper, this Guide will support you in your foresight journey. You will learn about key concepts of strategic foresight, get an overview of foresight tools, and find expert tips on framing and designing your first foresight engagement.

Our vision

The UN and international policymaking and programming transitions from short-term reactions to long-term sustainable choices.

Our mission

To support the development of foresight capabilities, promoting a sustained emphasis on long-term vision in policymaking and programming. Our work extends across global, regional, and country levels, within each UN entity, across the UN System and beyond.

Our key priorities

Building foresight skills and practices

by sharing guides, tools, and facilitating workshops.

Consolidating and sharing foresight knowledge

by establishing networks and encouraging collaboration, with a Global South focus.

Supporting decision-makers in planning and action

by providing strategic foresight tools and insights to navigate uncertainties and anticipate future trends.

Driving inclusive and collaborative foresight

The UN Futures Lab operates on a demand-driven approach, building on existing structures and initiatives through partnerships with UN entities and multistakeholder actors at global, regional, and national levels in support of Member States.

We champion futures thinking approaches that are participatory and inclusive by actively engaging diverse stakeholders from various sectors and geographies, including Governments, academia, civil society, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations.

*The Global Hub is led by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG), UN Global Pulse, UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Global Hub team encompasses a range of functions aimed at advancing strategic foresight initiatives globally, and includes expertise in strategy, policy, foresight, partnerships, community management, and communications and creative strategies.