Difference between revisions of "International Futures Forum"

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How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a “dialogueâ€? between a variety of actors  and the IFF’s place in it. The IFF wants to provide the ‘core dialogue thinkers’ who disseminate knowledge, specialist information and support to a ‘tier of converters’. These ‘convert the insights from the dialogue into practical form and [.] disseminate it to a wider audience’. This group is composed of a broad variety of organisations and actors, such as the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified ‘social entrepreneurs’, policy makers, the OECD and also BP. Finally, a further group of agents, who will ‘make things happen on the ground’, should use the information provided through the dialogue. The IFF sees its role almost in a Hayekian tradition of ‘original thinkers’ who inform policy entrepreneurs or ‘second hand dealers in ideas’  – i.e. think-tanks  – with their theoretical and rather abstract knowledge so that they can utilise it to influence the wider society and policy-makers. Not surprisingly, the IFF makes ‘no apology for taking seriously Margaret Mead’s conviction that a small group of individuals can change the world’ . This small group convening for the IFF’s first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and ‘futurist’ Wolfgang Michalski; Kees van der Hei-jden (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy Global Business Network, Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde University, former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell, London), Arun Mairo from Boston Consulting Group India, Biologist Brian Goodwin, Pat Kane from the Sun-day Herald, and Mark Woodhouse, a philosopher interested in ‘scientific, spiritual, and healing communities’ . Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. Its reports are written in airy, pseudo-postmodernist language, renounce almost all empirical research and define and approach policy problems from their own individual per-spectives. During a case study trip to BP’s Grangemouth refinery – the IFF group also conducted case studies on the ‘learning society in Dundee’  and on health provision for ‘deprived individuals and communities in Fife’  – the IFF came up with a ‘vision’ for the future of BP and Falkirk/Grangemouth. When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders , the IFF proposed to under-stand the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees in 2001, as a creative act. As BP is a ‘different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds – intellectual, physical, crea-tive – into the community’, the sacking of workers equals ‘releasing high quality resources into the community’ . This rather interesting take on unemployment and economical restructuring is part of the IFF’s attempt to act as a kind of “spiritual management consultancyâ€?. However, behind these superficially laughable analyses and proposals, behind the language of challenge and creativity, we find policy statements with stark conse-quences if put into practice. If, for example, the IFF’s stance on the NHS-generated ‘entitlement culture’ was transformed into a ‘gift culture’ , the idea of a consensual welfare state based on civic rights and the idea of social justice would be even more transformed than the current New Labour discourse on rights and responsibilities already has achieved. The allocation of health treatment as a gift would mean the final turn towards a charity-based system for the deserving poor
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{{Template:NuclearSpin}}
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:We work in areas where there are no easy answers, where existing models fail to make sense of our confusing reality, where we are in over our heads, where we face an unacknowledged ‘conceptual emergency’.
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The '''International Futures Forum''' is a think tank and PR agency funded by big business and with links to the [[Futures Forum]] of the Scottish Parliament and to the California-based [[Global Business Network]], with which they have several members in common.
  
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:We have developed a body of theory, practice and wide experience in taking on seemingly intractable challenges and developing the capacities in individuals, teams, organisations and communities to flourish in today’s powerful times.'
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==History==
  
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==Funding==
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In 2001, the [[Scottish Council Foundation]] (SCF), a New Labour-esque think-tank based in Edinburgh, undertook an interesting move by founding a new organisation they called the International Futures Forum (IFF).
−
According to the IFF [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/partners.php website]:  
+
 
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'We now enjoy a variety of productive and mutually beneficial relationships with sponsors, clients, subscribers, research funders and others.
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Its purpose was 'to bring international thinking to bear on our [the SCF's] work', with a 'generous grant' from British Petroleum ([[BP]]). Today, the IFF is independent from the SCF and tries to bring together so-called 'deep thinkers' in order to 'examine[s] deep structures in the modern global system in its search for a second enlightenment'.
 +
 
 +
Still supported by [[BP]], it &#39;explore[s] new ways of operating effectively and responsibly in a world of boundless complexity, a world we no longer fully understand and cannot control&#39; <ref>[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/index.php International Futures Forum website], (Accessed 17 February, 2005).</ref>
 +
 
 +
This world is seen as a challenge for business, government and society and confronts them with the task of &#39;restor[ing] the capacity to act effectively and responsibly and thereby revive and foster a culture of human aspiration&#39;. Based on this view of today&#39;s world, the IFF seeks to create a new &#39;paradigm&#39; by renouncing &#39;traditional&#39; ways of making sense of the world.
 +
 
 +
How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a "dialogue" between a variety of actors<ref>'Project Prospectus', [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/IFF1_prospectus.pdf International Futures Forum website], (Accessed 17 February, 2005).</ref>:
 +
 
 +
:&#39;Core dialogue thinkers&#39; disseminate knowledge, specialist information and support to a &#39;tier of converters&#39;, who &#39;convert the insights from the dialogue into practical form and who disseminate it to a wider audience&#39;.
 +
 
 +
This group is composed of a broad variety of organisations and actors, such as the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified &#39;social entrepreneurs&#39;, policy makers, the [[OECD]] and also [[BP]].
 +
 
 +
Finally, a further group of agents, who will &#39;make things happen on the ground&#39;, should use the information provided through the dialogue.
 +
 
 +
In spite of the emphasis on &#39;dialogue&#39;, the IFF appears to see its role almost in a Hayekian tradition of &#39;original thinkers&#39; who inform policy entrepreneurs or &#39;second hand dealers in ideas&#39;<ref>[[Friedrich A.Hayek]]; [[Edwin J.Feulner]] and [[John Blundell]]. 'The Intellectuals and Socialism', London : [[Institute of Economic Affairs]], 1998</ref> with their theoretical knowledge so that they can utilise it to influence the wider society, including policy-makers. And, in fact, the IFF makes &#39;no apology for taking seriously [[Margaret Mead]]&#39;s conviction that a small group of individuals can change the world&#39;<ref>'Project Prospectus' December, 2000, p. 5. [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/IFF1_prospectus.pdf International Futures Forum website] (Accessed 2 March, 2005).</ref>
 +
 
 +
This small group convening for the IFF&#39;s first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and &#39;futurist&#39; [[Wolfgang Michalski]]; [[Kees van der Heijden]] (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy [[Global Business Network]], Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at [[Strathclyde University]], former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/[[Shell]], London), [[Arun Mairo]] from [[Boston Consulting Group]] India, Biologist [[Brian Goodwin]], [[Pat Kane]] from the [[Sunday Herald]], and [[Mark Woodhouse]], a philosopher interested in &#39;scientific, spiritual, and healing communities.&#39;<ref>[http://www.markwoodhouse.com/01_index.html Mark B. Woodhouse website]</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Downsizing or The Second Enlightenment?==
 +
 
 +
Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. During a case study trip to BP&#39;s Grangemouth refinery - the IFF group also conducted case studies on the &#39;learning society in Dundee&#39; ('IFF Learning in Dundee. A Second Enlightenment View') <ref>[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_dundee.pdf International Futures Forum website], (Accessed 4 March 2005)</ref> and on health provision for &#39;deprived individuals and communities in Fife&#39; (IFF Entreprise in Falkirk)<ref>[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_fife.pdf International Futures Forum website], (Accessed 4 March, 2005).</ref> - the IFF came up with a "vision" for the future of BP and Falkirk/Grangemouth.
 +
 
 +
When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders <ref>'Health in Fife' [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_falkirk.pdf International Futures Forum website], p. 2, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).</ref> The IFF responded by proposing to understand the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees, as a creative act. As BP is a &#39;different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds - intellectual, physical, creative - into the community&#39;, the sacking of workers equals &#39;releasing high quality resources into the community&#39; <ref>'Health in Fife', [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_falkirk.pdf International Futures Forum website], p. 3, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).</ref>
 +
 
 +
This rather interesting take on unemployment and economical restructuring is part of the IFF&#39;s attempt to act as a kind of &#39;spiritual management consultancy&#39;. However, behind these superficially laughable analyses and proposals, behind the language of challenge and creativity, we find policy statements with stark consequences if put into practice. The IFF, for example, demands that the NHS-generated &#39;entitlement culture&#39; should be transformed into a &#39;gift culture&#39;, which would effectively generate a group of deserving and undeserving people and would even further the discourse on "rights and responsibilities". <ref>[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_fife.pdf International Futures Forum website], p. 19, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).</ref>
 +
 
 +
Why is BP so interested in the IFF? BP is preparing to pull out of Scotland&#39;s oil industry in the long term as it is "a mature industry"<ref>[http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=2010596&contentId=2015120?categoryId=2010596&contentId=201512 BP website] (Accessed 14 March, 2006)</ref>, it is trying to present itself as a responsible corporate citizen. The Pathfinder Plan, meant to help the more than 1000 laid off employees in orienting themselves on the job market, and the My Future's in Falkirk <ref>[http://www.myfuturesinfalkirk.co.uk/ My Future's in Falkirk website]</ref> (formerly known as the Falkirk Action Plan) -  &#39;a multi-faceted project involving a wide range of stakeholders and designed to help the local area build on its strengths and diversify and broaden its economic base&#39; <ref>[http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2010601&contentId=2015179 BP website]</ref> - are meant to demonstrate a CSR approach &#39;away from an approach characterised by donations to charitable projects and causes, to one more closely focused on outcomes and strongly allied to the BP brand values (green, innovation, progressive, performance)&#39;.
 +
 
 +
== The role of culture ==
 +
 
 +
According to its website the IFF applies Futures Thinking, a body of philosophy and ideas which aims to help make sense of the world in difficult times.<ref>"What We Do", [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/what_we_do.php International Futures Forum website], (Accessed February, 2009).</ref> One of the problems that IFF foresees is that people will not be able to keep up with the pace of change and that they are increasingly fearful for what the future holds. The IFF solution is we need to “embrace the greater complexity and not knowing.”<ref>"[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/iff_publications.php Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times]", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.3, (Accessed February, 2009).</ref> We need to “welcome crisis as a growth opportunity.”<ref>"[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/iff_publications.php Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times]", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.8, (Accessed February 2009).</ref> IFF says it is up to artists and other cultural leaders to help create a climate where this is possible. Although of course “there will be those who rise to the occasion and those who fail".”<ref>"[http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/iff_publications.php Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times]", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.21, (Accessed February, 2009).</ref>
 +
 
 +
== Pro-Nuclear ==
  
−
   
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In 2004/05, IFF / Praxis was paid £32,000 by Nirex "to provide corporate communications advice in relation to the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) consultation programme". <ref>David Wild, [http://www.spinprofiles.org/images/9/94/Jean.PDF  Freedom of Information Request, Letter to Jean McSorley, Senior Advisor to Greenpeace UK], July 15, 2005.</ref>
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We are grateful to the following organisations for their core support
 
  
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* [[BP]]
+
==Funding==
−
* [[BT]]
 
  
−
These are some of the organisations we have worked with:
+
According to the IFF [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/partners.php website] it enjoys "a variety of productive and mutually beneficial relationships with sponsors, clients, subscribers, research funders and others". What they label "core support" comes from [[BP]] and [[BT]]. Other organisations the IFF has worked with include
 
* [[Diageo]]
 
* [[Diageo]]
 
* [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]]
 
* [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]]
Line 24: Line 54:
 
* [[Tayside Health Board]]
 
* [[Tayside Health Board]]
 
* [[Glasgow Centre for Population Health]]
 
* [[Glasgow Centre for Population Health]]
−
 
+
The IFF has a number of subscribers to their research output, among which are
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Our subscribers include:
 
 
* [[World Economic Forum]]
 
* [[World Economic Forum]]
 
* [[Henley Centre]]
 
* [[Henley Centre]]
Line 33: Line 62:
 
* [[AOL]] (Europe) Ltd
 
* [[AOL]] (Europe) Ltd
 
* [[Cultureshift Co-operative]], Australia
 
* [[Cultureshift Co-operative]], Australia
−
 
+
Research funding has come from
−
We have enjoyed research funding from:
 
 
* [[Scottish Enterprise]] Glasgow
 
* [[Scottish Enterprise]] Glasgow
 
* [[Society for Organisational Learning]] (Scotland)'
 
* [[Society for Organisational Learning]] (Scotland)'
  
−
 
+
==Members==
−
 
+
Source: [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/members.php]
−
==Activities==
+
*[[Martin Albrow]] Formerly Professor of Sociology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, author &#39;The Global Age: state and society beyond modernity&#39;
−
In 2001, the Scottish Council Foundation (SCF), a New Labour-esque think-based in Edinburgh, undertook an interesting move by founding a new organisation they called the International Futures Forum (IFF). Its purpose was ‘to bring international thinking to bear on our [the SCF's]work’, with a ‘generous grant’ from British Petrol. Today, the IFF is independent from the SCF and tries to bring together so-called ‘deep thinkers’ in order to ‘examine[s] deep structures in the modern global system in its search for a second enlight-enment' . Still supported by BP it ‘explore[s] new ways of operating effectively and responsibly in a world of boundless complexity, a world we no longer fully understand and cannot control’ [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/index.php] (Accessed 17 February 2005). This world is seen as a challenge for business, government and society and confronts them with the task of ‘restor[ing] the capacity to act effectively and responsibly and thereby revive and foster a culture of human aspiration’. Based on this view of today’s world, the IFF seeks to create a new ‘paradigm’ by renouncing ‘traditional’ ways of making sense of the world.
+
*[[Ruth Anderson]] Chief Executive, [[Barataria Foundation]], Scotland
−
How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a "dialogue" between a variety of actors ([http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/IFF1_prospectus.pdf] Accessed 17 February 2005). ‘Core dialogue thinkers’ disseminate knowledge, specialist information and support to a ‘tier of converters’, who ‘convert the insights from the dialogue into practical form and who disseminate it to a wider audience’. This group is composed of a broad variety of organisations and actors, such as the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified ‘social entrepreneurs’, policy makers, the [[OECD]] and also [[BP]].
+
*[[Tony Beesley]] Conceptual artist and cartoonist
−
Finally, a further group of agents, who will ‘make things happen on the ground’, should use the information provided through the dialogue. In spite of the emphasis on ‘dialogue’, the IFF appears to see its role almost in a Hayekian tradition of ‘original thinkers’ who inform policy entrepreneurs or ‘second hand dealers in ideas’([[Friedrich A.Hayek]]; [[Edwin J.Feulner]] and [[John Blundell]]. The Intellectuals and Socialism. London : [[Institute of Economic Affairs]], 1998) with their theoretical and rather abstract knowledge so that they can utilise it to influence the wider society, including policy-makers. And, in fact, the IFF makes ‘no apology for taking seriously Margaret Mead’s conviction that a small group of individuals can change the world’('Project Prospectus' December 2000, p. 5. [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/IFF1_prospectus.pdf] (Accessed 2 March 2005). This small group convening for the IFF’s first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and ‘futurist’ [[Wolfgang Michalski]]; [[Kees van der Heijden]] (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy [[Global Business Network]], Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde University, former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/[[Shell]], London), Arun Mairo from [[Boston Consulting Group]] India, Biologist [[Brian Goodwin]], [[Pat Kane]] from the Sunday Herald, and [[Mark Woodhouse]], a philosopher interested in ‘scientific, spiritual, and healing communities’[http://www.markwoodhouse.com/01_index.html].
+
*[[Max Boisot]] Adjunct professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, author &#39;Knowledge Assets: securing competitive advantage in the information economy&#39;
−
Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. During a case study trip to BP’s Grangemouth refinery – the IFF group also conducted case studies on the ‘learning society in Dundee’ ('IFF Learning in Dundee. A Second Enlightenment View' [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_dundee.pdf] Accessed 4 March 2005) and on health provision for ‘deprived individuals and communities in Fife’ (IFF Entreprise in Falkirk [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_fife.pdf] Accessed 4 March 2005) – the IFF came up with a "vision" for the future of BP and Falkirk/Grangemouth.
+
*[[Roberto Carneiro]] Former Education Minister, President of [[Grupo Forum]], Portugal, UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century
−
 
+
*[[Napier Collyns]] Co-founder, [[Global Business Network]] (GBN), Emeryville, California
−
:When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders ('Health in Fife' [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_falkirk.pdf], p. 2 Accessed 4 March 2005). The IFF responded by proposing to understand the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees, as a creative act. As BP is a ‘different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds – intellectual, physical, creative – into the community’, the sacking of workers equals ‘releasing high quality resources into the community’ ('Health in Fife' [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_falkirk.pdf], p. 3 Accessed 4 March 2005). This rather interesting take on unemployment and economic restructuring is part of the IFF’s attempt to create new management and organisational approaches. It wants to act as a kind of "spiritual management consultancy" – although behind the airy language of challenges and creativity we find statements with stark consequences if put into practice: for example, the IFF’s stance on the NHS generated ‘entitlement culture’ which should be transformed into a more creative ‘gift culture’, would lead to significant changes in the allocation of resources, as gift cultures rely on their reciprocity rather than on solidarity and social contracts [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/reports/case_encounter_fife.pdf](p, 19,Accessed 4 March 2005). (Source: [http://www.psa.ac.uk/2005/pps/Pautz.pdf www.psa.ac.uk/2005/pps/Pautz.pdf])
+
*[[Brian Goodwin]] [[Schumacher College]], Devon and [[Santa Fe Institute]], author &#39;How the Leopard Changed its Spots: the evolution of complexity&#39;
 +
*[[Mike Hambly]] Business consultant, formerly Chief Executive, [[Digital Animations Group]], Glasgow
 +
*[[Pat Heneghan]] Director, [[ForthRoad Limited]], Scotland
 +
*[[Rebecca Hodgson]] Researcher, [[International Futures Forum]]
 +
*[[Tony Hodgson]] Director, [[Decision Integrity Limited]], founder Metabridge AB, collaborator with the [[Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems]], Senior adviser to [[Global Leaders Group]] and Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Arts]]
 +
*[[Robert Horn]] Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, author Visual Language: global communication in the 21 st century
 +
*[[Kees van der Heijden]] Professor at [[Templeton College, Oxford]], author &#39;Scenarios: the art of strategic conversation&#39;
 +
*[[Pat Kane ]] Writer, theorist and musician, Glasgow, author The Play Ethic
 +
*[[Eamonn Kelly]] President, [[Global Business Network]], Emeryville, California, author &#39;What&#39;s Next? exploring the new terrain for business&#39;
 +
*[[Graham Leicester]] Director, International Futures Forum
 +
*[[David Lorimer]] [[Scientific and Medical Network, Scotland]], editor &#39;Thinking Beyond the Brain: a wider science of consciousness&#39;
 +
*[[Charles Lowe]] Consultant, Former head of e-government BT
 +
*[[Wendy Luhabe]] [[Bridging the Gap]], South Africa, author &#39;Defining Moments: experiences of black executives in South Africa&#39;s workplace&#39;
 +
*[[Andrew Lyon]] Converger, International Futures Forum
 +
*[[Arun Maira]] [[Boston Consulting Group]], Delhi, India, author &#39;Shaping the Future: aspirational leadership in India and beyond&#39;
 +
*[[Wolfgang Michalski]] [[WM International]], formerly Director, [[OECD International Futures Programme]]
 +
*[[Maureen O&#39;Hara]] President Emerita, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco and IFF
 +
*[[Ian Page]] Former Research Manager / Futurist, HP Corporate Labs.
 +
*[[Nick Rengger]] Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, University of St Andrews, author &#39;International Relations, Political Theory and the Problem of Order&#39;
 +
*[[Jennifer Williams]] Director, [[Centre for Creative Communities]], UK
 +
*[[Mark Woodhouse]] Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Georgia State University, USA, author &#39;Paradigm Wars: worldviews for a new age&#39;
  
 
==Contact==
 
==Contact==
 
International Futures Forum    PO Box 29207  St Andrews  Fife  KY16 8YU  UK    T: +44 1334470090  E: editorial@internationalfuturesforum.com
 
International Futures Forum    PO Box 29207  St Andrews  Fife  KY16 8YU  UK    T: +44 1334470090  E: editorial@internationalfuturesforum.com
  
−
==External Links==
+
Website: [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk]
  
−
International Futures Forum website [http://www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk/]
+
==Notes==
 +
<references/>
  
−
==External links==
+
[[Category:Nuclear PR, lobbying and consultancy firms]][[Category:Lobbying firms]]
−
Hartwig Pautz 'Think-Tanks in Scotland' Paper for the 55th Political Studies Association Annual conference, 4-7 April 2005, University of Leeds,  [http://www.psa.ac.uk/2005/pps/Pautz.pdf www.psa.ac.uk/2005/pps/Pautz.pdf]
+
[[Category:Scottish Think Tanks]]
−
[[Category: Think tanks]]
+
[[Category:Nuclear Spin]]

Latest revision as of 16:11, 14 March 2009

Nuclear spin.png This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch.

The International Futures Forum is a think tank and PR agency funded by big business and with links to the Futures Forum of the Scottish Parliament and to the California-based Global Business Network, with which they have several members in common.

History

In 2001, the Scottish Council Foundation (SCF), a New Labour-esque think-tank based in Edinburgh, undertook an interesting move by founding a new organisation they called the International Futures Forum (IFF).

Its purpose was 'to bring international thinking to bear on our [the SCF's] work', with a 'generous grant' from British Petroleum (BP). Today, the IFF is independent from the SCF and tries to bring together so-called 'deep thinkers' in order to 'examine[s] deep structures in the modern global system in its search for a second enlightenment'.

Still supported by BP, it 'explore[s] new ways of operating effectively and responsibly in a world of boundless complexity, a world we no longer fully understand and cannot control' [1]

This world is seen as a challenge for business, government and society and confronts them with the task of 'restor[ing] the capacity to act effectively and responsibly and thereby revive and foster a culture of human aspiration'. Based on this view of today's world, the IFF seeks to create a new 'paradigm' by renouncing 'traditional' ways of making sense of the world.

How does the IFF view its role in the spread of the Second Enlightenment? A diagram in one its first reports shows a "dialogue" between a variety of actors[2]:

'Core dialogue thinkers' disseminate knowledge, specialist information and support to a 'tier of converters', who 'convert the insights from the dialogue into practical form and who disseminate it to a wider audience'.

This group is composed of a broad variety of organisations and actors, such as the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), business corporations, artists and writers, the BBC, unspecified 'social entrepreneurs', policy makers, the OECD and also BP.

Finally, a further group of agents, who will 'make things happen on the ground', should use the information provided through the dialogue.

In spite of the emphasis on 'dialogue', the IFF appears to see its role almost in a Hayekian tradition of 'original thinkers' who inform policy entrepreneurs or 'second hand dealers in ideas'[3] with their theoretical knowledge so that they can utilise it to influence the wider society, including policy-makers. And, in fact, the IFF makes 'no apology for taking seriously Margaret Mead's conviction that a small group of individuals can change the world'[4]

This small group convening for the IFF's first meeting in April 2001 included among others former Director of the OECD International Futures Programme and 'futurist' Wolfgang Michalski; Kees van der Heijden (director of the scenario and strategy consultancy Global Business Network, Emeritus Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde University, former head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell, London), Arun Mairo from Boston Consulting Group India, Biologist Brian Goodwin, Pat Kane from the Sunday Herald, and Mark Woodhouse, a philosopher interested in 'scientific, spiritual, and healing communities.'[5]

Downsizing or The Second Enlightenment?

Rather than being a permanent think-tank, the IFF is an attempt to facilitate an international network of thinkers, businesspeople and policy makers. During a case study trip to BP's Grangemouth refinery - the IFF group also conducted case studies on the 'learning society in Dundee' ('IFF Learning in Dundee. A Second Enlightenment View') [6] and on health provision for 'deprived individuals and communities in Fife' (IFF Entreprise in Falkirk)[7] - the IFF came up with a "vision" for the future of BP and Falkirk/Grangemouth.

When BP asked the IFF how it could combine the challenge of adjusting the plant to global competition bearing on mind the responsibility of BP to all local stakeholders [8] The IFF responded by proposing to understand the downsizing of the plant, which culminated in the lay off of about 1000 employees, as a creative act. As BP is a 'different kind of energy company, radiating energy of all kinds - intellectual, physical, creative - into the community', the sacking of workers equals 'releasing high quality resources into the community' [9]

This rather interesting take on unemployment and economical restructuring is part of the IFF's attempt to act as a kind of 'spiritual management consultancy'. However, behind these superficially laughable analyses and proposals, behind the language of challenge and creativity, we find policy statements with stark consequences if put into practice. The IFF, for example, demands that the NHS-generated 'entitlement culture' should be transformed into a 'gift culture', which would effectively generate a group of deserving and undeserving people and would even further the discourse on "rights and responsibilities". [10]

Why is BP so interested in the IFF? BP is preparing to pull out of Scotland's oil industry in the long term as it is "a mature industry"[11], it is trying to present itself as a responsible corporate citizen. The Pathfinder Plan, meant to help the more than 1000 laid off employees in orienting themselves on the job market, and the My Future's in Falkirk [12] (formerly known as the Falkirk Action Plan) - 'a multi-faceted project involving a wide range of stakeholders and designed to help the local area build on its strengths and diversify and broaden its economic base' [13] - are meant to demonstrate a CSR approach 'away from an approach characterised by donations to charitable projects and causes, to one more closely focused on outcomes and strongly allied to the BP brand values (green, innovation, progressive, performance)'.

The role of culture

According to its website the IFF applies Futures Thinking, a body of philosophy and ideas which aims to help make sense of the world in difficult times.[14] One of the problems that IFF foresees is that people will not be able to keep up with the pace of change and that they are increasingly fearful for what the future holds. The IFF solution is we need to “embrace the greater complexity and not knowing.”[15] We need to “welcome crisis as a growth opportunity.”[16] IFF says it is up to artists and other cultural leaders to help create a climate where this is possible. Although of course “there will be those who rise to the occasion and those who fail".”[17]

Pro-Nuclear

In 2004/05, IFF / Praxis was paid £32,000 by Nirex "to provide corporate communications advice in relation to the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) consultation programme". [18]

Funding

According to the IFF website it enjoys "a variety of productive and mutually beneficial relationships with sponsors, clients, subscribers, research funders and others". What they label "core support" comes from BP and BT. Other organisations the IFF has worked with include

The IFF has a number of subscribers to their research output, among which are

Research funding has come from

Members

Source: [1]

Contact

International Futures Forum PO Box 29207 St Andrews Fife KY16 8YU UK T: +44 1334470090 E: editorial@internationalfuturesforum.com

Website: www.internationalfuturesforum.co.uk

Notes

  1. ↑ International Futures Forum website, (Accessed 17 February, 2005).
  2. ↑ 'Project Prospectus', International Futures Forum website, (Accessed 17 February, 2005).
  3. ↑ Friedrich A.Hayek; Edwin J.Feulner and John Blundell. 'The Intellectuals and Socialism', London : Institute of Economic Affairs, 1998
  4. ↑ 'Project Prospectus' December, 2000, p. 5. International Futures Forum website (Accessed 2 March, 2005).
  5. ↑ Mark B. Woodhouse website
  6. ↑ International Futures Forum website, (Accessed 4 March 2005)
  7. ↑ International Futures Forum website, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).
  8. ↑ 'Health in Fife' International Futures Forum website, p. 2, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).
  9. ↑ 'Health in Fife', International Futures Forum website, p. 3, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).
  10. ↑ International Futures Forum website, p. 19, (Accessed 4 March, 2005).
  11. ↑ BP website (Accessed 14 March, 2006)
  12. ↑ My Future's in Falkirk website
  13. ↑ BP website
  14. ↑ "What We Do", International Futures Forum website, (Accessed February, 2009).
  15. ↑ "Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.3, (Accessed February, 2009).
  16. ↑ "Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.8, (Accessed February 2009).
  17. ↑ "Rising to the occasion - cultural leadership is powerful times", Provocation Paper for the IFF, p.21, (Accessed February, 2009).
  18. ↑ David Wild, Freedom of Information Request, Letter to Jean McSorley, Senior Advisor to Greenpeace UK, July 15, 2005.
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