Virtual event
Futures Thinking Fundamentals for Busy Public Servants
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Thursday, Apr 23, 2026
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Speakers
What to do next
- Catch up on the 12-minute highlights above or dive into the full recording
- Join the Long-Term Governance & Futures Thinking Community
- Check out our upcoming event How to Win Budget Approval
Resources
Join the Long-Term Governance & Futures Thinking Community
The Long-Term Governance & Futures Thinking Community is a dedicated space for any public servant or policymaker interested in the use of foresight approaches to address long-term problems.
Event Description
Are you guessing what comes next, or building a skillset to think about it methodically?
Public service is full of long-term uncertainty: climate risk, shifting geopolitics, emerging technologies and demographic change. Futures thinking is a foundational skill for navigating the unknown. It helps you understand how change happens, how to spot signals early and how to explore more than one plausible future to guide your decisions.
In this session, we’ll introduce the core principles behind foresight and some of the tools that practitioners use to make sense of uncertainty. You’ll hear from experts who will leave you with a clear understanding of what futures thinking is, how to use it in your role and why it matters more in 2026 than ever.
Image Credit: Unsplash
Speakers
Ine Steenmans
Associate Professor in Futures, Analysis and Policy, UCL
UK
Ben Holt
Director, Foresight and Strategic Change, School of International Futures
United Kingdom
Ine Steenmans, an Associate Professor in Futures, Analysis and Policy at UCL STEaPP. She works with governments on how public servants develop the analytical and strategic thinking capabilities that complex policy problems demand. She teaches futures, data science and policy analysis at UCL, and evaluates and designs government capability programmes, most recently with the UK Cabinet Office.
Ben Holt, Director of Foresight and Strategic Change at the School of International Futures. He previously served as Global Lead for Strategic Foresight at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), embedding foresight in the Ukraine crisis response and leading work on multinational food security programmes. He also co-founded a social-enterprise innovation lab for Cancer Research UK and is the author of The Strategic Foresight Book.
