Sponsor Impact report strategy and more profound innovation. Design futures, using images and objects, is one of them. Irrespective of approach, Curry asserts that success hinges on embedding it in organisational thinking and processes. Scenario planning, he claims, has become a bit old-fashioned because its starting point on the decision focus is reassuring to executives, but doesnt help businesses deal with a world in which expectations and values are changing quickly. An example of SOIFs work is a project on the future of food environments for a charity seeking to improve food outcomes for lower-income households. Working with Shift Design, SOIF combined a horizon scan of relevant trends and drivers with depth interviews with leading-edge consumers on food habits. Putting these data sets together generated a set of hypotheses about spaces where change is possible, which were tested with dierent stakeholders, including consumers. Food for thought or, perhaps, food forethought? In times of substantial change, looking ahead can be overwhelming. Perhaps owning the future is not about one team trying to predict what tomorrow will bring, but rather a collaborative eort involving close and careful listening to those who will live it. A practical guide to staying ahead in a fast-paced world Foresight is vital to business success, Principle 2: Focus on durable needs Principle 3: Get the business to care Why? People are wired to think in the lens of human needs, as these are and out of reach, which is why many but its easy to overlook and ignore. short term; foresight is inherently hyper-conceptual and intangible, and an overwhelm of trends and data makes it hard to know what to pay attention to. To tackle these challenges, C Space has developed three foresight principles, with tips on how to run successful projects. Principle 1: Create trajectories, not just destinations Foresight is very hypothetical, but Its crucial to view trends through the more xed than the world surrounding them. But to bring consumers into a future-facing project, we must help them feel the future. Create the right conditions and space and use future-sounding/ looking stimuli. Design ction can help make the abstract and utopian gritty and grounded. Overcome biases and tap into working backwards from future unconscious knowledge by using Map future scenarios by using visualisation, Lego serious play, and visions can provide clarity and focus. expert insights, tools and machine learning, and identifying patterns in techniques such as creative prediction markets. Find out what really matters by macro forces. forcing new behaviours, and blend behaviours from underserved longitudinal, observational and Discover emerging needs and consumers and extreme enthusiasts, and involve everyday consumers to identify which needs are here to stay. research methodologies such as deliberative approaches to capture changing views and behaviours over time. Foresight can be vague, intangible, clients cite actionability as the main issue with future-focused projects. To get businesses to care and act: Embrace co-creation by putting stakeholders and consumers in the same room to shape solutions Help stakeholders visualise and experience the future through sensory campaigns, newsletters, podcasts and immersive spaces Ditch lengthy reports and say hello to playbooks and toolkits that provide useful frameworks, resources and strategic direction. The ability to see around corners can be both exciting and daunting. By adopting a yes, and mindset, however, and following our guiding principles, we believe these challenges can be reframed as possibilities. Amy Concannon, practice director, foresight, at C Space 28 Impact ISSUE 43 2023_pp22-29_Report.indd 28 18/09/2023 12:06