Futurists look for clues about emerging trends and use "signals of change" as concrete examples how the world could one day be different. "Strangesight" leads to foresight, which is translated into alternative scenarios. One tip in finding futures clues is to google search "future of..." Several institutions also identify global trends.
The World Economic Forum publishes an annual Global Risks Report. The 17th edition, 2022 Insight Report has the following key findings:
A divergent economic recovery threatens collaboration on global challenges.
A disorderly climate transition will exacerbate inequalities.
Growing digital dependency will intensify cyberthreats.
Barriers to mobility risk compounding global insecurity.
Opportunities in space could be constrained by frictions.
Year two of the pandemic yields insights on resilience.
Only 3.7% of us feel "optimistic" about the outlook for the world with another 12.1% "positive." Most (84%) are concerned or worried because of the turbulent global context.
The 10 most severe risks on a global scale over the next 10 years, are in decending order:
Climate action failure
Extreme weather
Biodiversity loss
Social cohesion erosion
Livelihood crises
Infectious diseases
Human environmental damage
Natural resource crises
Debt crises
Geoeconomic confrontation
Another good source of futures analysis is the U.S. National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World. The report is published every four years so the 7th edition assesses the key trends and uncertainties that will shape the strategic environment for the United States during the next two decades.
They examine structural forces in demographics, environment, economics, and technology that shape the contours of our future world. Analyze how these structural forces and other factors - combined with human responses - affect emerging dynamics in societies, states, and the international system. Finally they envision five plausible scenarios for the distant future in 2040. The Covid-19 pandemic and corresponding national responses "appear to be honing and accelerating several trends that were already underway before the outbreak".
The key themes of Global Trends 2040 are:
Catalyzing Economic Trends
Reinforcing Nationalism and Polarization
Deepening Inequality.
Straining Governance
Highlighting Failed International Cooperation
Elevating the Role of Nonstate Actors.
The five plausible scenarios for 2040 are:
While it is necessary to directly and unflinchingly face the reality of the above threats, ;there are also signals of hope and a positive future. Futurist Jan McGonigal offers 10 future forces that could make a better world in the next decade in her book Imaginable.:
Which of these possibilities make you feel hopeful for the future?