Scotland’s Futures Forum
Scotland’s Futures Forum is the Scottish Parliament’s futures think-tank. It works on a non-party basis to promote research and to stimulate debate on the long-term challenges and opportunities that Scotland faces. It works to inform MSPs and others and enable them to consider the effects of decisions taken today on Scotland’s long-term future.
Scotland’s Futures Forum is the Scottish Parliament’s futures think-tank. It works on a non-party basis to promote research and to stimulate debate on the long-term challenges and opportunities that Scotland faces. It works to inform MSPs and others and enable them to consider the effects of decisions taken today on Scotland’s long-term future.
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The Missing Piece in Scotland’s Future
An Intergenerational Approach Scotland is facing some of its biggest challenges in a generation. Loneliness, an ageing population, housing pressures, overstretched public services. These are usually treated as separate problems. But what if a single approach could help address all of them? Intergenerational practice is not a nice-to-have. It might just be the missing piece…
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The Agile Government of The Future
Governing at the Speed of the Future Former Canadian premier Justin Trudeau observed that “the pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.” In the age of artificial intelligence, that is no longer a warning but a governing condition. The core challenge is not just responding to…
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Democracy | Economy | Environment | Health | Justice | Local Government | Session 6 | Society
Peace Literacy, Peace Politics and Scotland’s Future
Professor Alice König, University of St Andrews This blog discusses the world-building nature of conflict storytelling. At present, war stories vastly outnumber peace stories in the media we consume. This has consequences for our ‘peace literacy’, which in turn impacts our ability to build and maintain peace. The blog argues that greater investment in peace…
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Update on Scotland’s Futures Forum
Following a review, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has formally agreed to dissolve Scotland’s Futures Forum as a limited company and establish a new futures thinking service within the Scottish Parliament. This decision is about strengthening futures thinking within Parliament, not removing it. Scotland’s Futures Forum was established to help the Scottish Parliament think…
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Arts&Culture | Democracy | Education | Looking Beyond | Session 6 | Society | Technology
Trust, suspicion and tech: considerations for knowledge institutions
Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author, and not of Scotland’s Futures Forum, members of its staff, or the Scottish Parliament. Knowledge institutions – including universities, libraries, museums, scientific offices in governmental and non-governmental settings, and the press – play a central role in creating the conditions for democratic and informed deliberation and decision-making in society. As institutions, they are varied, but they share the purpose of collecting…
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Event Recap: Infrastructures of Wellbeing
On 23 March 2026, Scotland’s Futures Forum partnered with the Scottish Futures Trust, Social Impact Scotland and The Innovation Unit to explore what a prevention first Scotland would look like for the nation’s wellbeing, as well as how it might be achieved. The session, hosted in the Scottish Parliament, brought together stakeholders working across health,…
