Foresight
How can we build a better future for children?
What can we do today to make the world a better place for children tomorrow?
This is the question that underlies the foresight and policy analysis work at UNICEF Innocenti.
Simply put, foresight is the use of trends and data to examine potential future outcomes. The practices and methodologies of foresight help us identify the new and changing circumstances that are most likely to shape children’s lives and futures. Foresight not only helps us prepare for what is probable in children’s futures. It allows us to ask: What is possible?
For example, foresight can help us look at emerging trends in green technology and help us answer questions such as: What skills will children and young people need for the future workforce? Will we need new teachers? New learning opportunities? Are there policies and practices we can enact now that can prepare children to thrive in a green future?
Prospects for Children, published at the start of each year, is our main foresight report. It highlights future risks and opportunities for children. A key element of the report is the inputs from the UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellows, participants in an intensive year-long training programme in foresight.
Through these efforts, and in partnership with young people, we are using foresight to help UNICEF and partners chart a path towards a more healthy, sustainable and just future for children and young people.
