2025 marks the 20th anniversary of Scotland’s Futures Forum and the final stages of this session of the Scottish Parliament, prior to the election in 2026.
We would like to take time this year to celebrate our anniversary and our achievements and reflect on the impact that the Forum has had on public policy and political debate. We would like to develop a work plan for this year with session 7 in mind. We want to support current members through to the election period, and develop a rich resource for all members elected to parliament in 2026, with fresh and engaging thinking on key futures issues.
We are looking for ideas on topics that the Forum could usefully highlight, through publishing short pieces of research, commentary and blogs, or explore by hosting events like seminars and workshops. In making suggestions, please bear the following criteria in mind:
- The subject matter must be relevant to the interests of MSPs
- We only want to reflect back on our 20 years to push forward so reflective pieces should generate new provocations
- All work undertaken by the Forum must have the promise of unearthing new or fresh thinking
- The outputs and outcomes of the Forum’s work must add new value to public policy, or political debate
- Futures methodology must be used when considering issues
Please get in touch with susan.mansfield@parliament.scot to chat through your ideas as early as you can. We aim to finalise our shortlist of proposals on 28 February 2025 for the Board to review shortly thereafter.