The Scottish Parliament's think-tank
Are autonomous vehicles the future? How well developed are they already, what is likely to happen next, and how can Scotland exploit the opportunities they present? Scotland’s Futures Forum was delighted to work with Ivan…
On 4 July 2018, the Futures Forum held a seminar on the opportunities for Glasgow from the development of autonomous vehicles. Hosted by Glasgow City Council and produced in conjunction with Jacobs and Glasgow Chambers…
On 21 June 2018, Scotland’s Futures Forum hosted a seminar on the opportunities and challenges presented by the development of autonomous vehicles. A panel discussion chaired by Gail Ross MSP, Deputy Convener of the Rural…
Future Schooling, Education and Learning: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate On Tuesday 19 June 2018, the Goodison Group in Scotland and the Futures Forum continued their exploration of schooling and learning in the future,…
On Friday 15 June 2018, the Futures Forum, the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitution Committee and the Royal Society of Edinburgh brought together a group of experts from throughout Scotland to consider the long-term sustainability…
Tuesday 5 June 2018 at the Scottish Parliament The Futures Forum’s investigation into Scotland’s culture and society in the future continued with a discussion of our working lives in 2030. Read Scotland 2030 – Work…
In partnership with the University of Aberdeen, on 25 May 2018, the Futures Forum held an event on the aspirations for our future in Aberdeen and the North East. Using the Our Future Scotland video…
“Our Future Scotland” challenges everyone – from the First Minister and other party leaders, to leading business and technology figures, and award-winning authors and artists – to share their aspirations for the kind of country…
Find out what we’ve been up to – and what’s coming next!
Seminar in May 2018 on drugs policy in Scotland now and in the future. With NHS Health Scotland, Scottish Drugs Forum and Step Together.
Scotland’s Futures Forum is delighted to announce our Summer Programme of Events. In the Scottish Parliament, we’ll be hosting a panel discussion including author Christopher Brookmyre and robotics expert Professor Sethu Vijayakumar on our aspirations…
NEWS: Following a request from a cross-party group of MSPs, the Futures Forum will consider the landscape for drug use in Scotland.
Future Schooling, Education and Learning: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate On 14 March 2018, the Goodison Group in association with Scotland’s Futures Form held the first debate of the year as part of its…
In 2018, Scotland’s Futures Forum’s Scotland 2030 Programme is looking at different stages of life in future Scotland. The first event in the series considered what growing up in Scotland in 2030 could and should…
Reception in January 2018 to showcase Heriot-Watt University’s academic research behind Social Bite’s ambitious plan to tackle homelessness.
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 Tuesday 14 November…
On Friday 10 November, in conjunction with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Futures Forum held a Scotland 2030 Programme discussion on technology and society in Inverness. Chaired by the Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh MSP,…
Seminar in October 2017 exploring policy responses to obesity and their potential effect on people’s health and lives.
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…
Ten years after the Futures Forum report on reducing harm from drugs in Scotland, this 2017 Festival of Politics explored how much has changed.
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? This video from 2017 explores what inventions we might see by 2030.
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…
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, parliamentary and legal activity over time.
Scotland 2030: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate Read the Education in 2030 – Our Aspirations Event Report The Goodison Group in Scotland continued its on-going investigation into education and learning in the future with…
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…
The first line of an article I read this morning proclaimed that: “Technology has driven human civilisation for thousands of years.” [1] Businessman Mukesh Ambani was discussing the opportunities for India to become a world…
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…
By Eleanore Widger, University of Dundee and @NellWidger 13 April 2017 Something has troubled me as I’ve progressed through my internship thinking about Scotland’s relationship to landscape. My research background in the Environmental Humanities has taught me to be…
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 (@IAMKP) to reflect on the cultural implications for our society from technological change. In…
This debate with Karine Polwart and Chris van der Kuyl in March 2017 explored the effect technological innovation would have on life in Scotland.
An imagined news story from 2030 by Karine Polwart. Written in 2017, “Betty Bags a Booker” reflects on the effect of automation on our society and culture.
An imagined news story from 2030 by Karine Polwart. Written in 2017, “A Digital Haven” reflects on the mixed effect of technology on Scotland’s rural areas.
An imagined news story from 2030 by Karine Polwart. Written in 2017, “Karmic Payback” reflects on the role of apps and personal data in our health and wellbeing.
Scotland 2030: Goodison Group in Scotland Forum Debate Read the Education in 2030: Our Aspirations – Event Report To kick off its investigation into education and learning in the future, the Goodison Group in Scotland…
By Eleanore Widger, University of Dundee and @NellWidger I began my last post by describing the view from my Futures Forum desk. Looking past my computer towards Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags, I received what Neal Ascherson describes…
By Nicola Martin, University of Stirling and @NicolaMartin14 Whilst the current view from my window is not as symbolic as Eleanore’s (I’m currently working from home rather than the Parliament), I too found my thinking for…
By Eleanore Widger, University of Dundee and @NellWidger As I write this I can see, to the right of my computer screen, the gorse-covered north-west side of an extinct volcano, a huge slab of rock…
By Rob Littlejohn, Head of Business at Scotland’s Futures Forum Although I’ve titled this blogpost “New kid on the block”, I can’t pretend that I’m that new, having been in the privileged position of Head of…
Seminar with Nesta Scotland in February 2017 on what Scotland can learn from digital democracy pioneers throughout Europe.
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…
Workshop in November 2016 to support the SUII programme on Fostering Cultures of Innovation, featuring video presentations of each project.
With Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials all sharing the workplace, this forum debate in September 2016 focused on intergenerational learning.