Future-oriented laboratories
Future-oriented laboratories are proposed themed laboratories in which The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) would examine how work, media, energy, health, space, education, food, water and other systems could change, and what capability countries would need. Each would operate under a written charter with an owner, a question, methods and review. This page lists each theme by its actual charter state. No laboratory charter is on record yet, so each theme is shown as a concept, linked to the specialist platform where related work sits. Return to GCRI programmes.
- Institution
- The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- Service level
- R0: information and enquiries
GCRI · Programme portfolioProgramme portfolio, in outline: domain structure with placeholder names and illustrative values, not a record.
The short answer.
Future-oriented laboratories are proposed themed laboratories in which GCRI would examine how work, media, energy, health, space, education, food, water and other systems could change, and what capability countries would need. Each would run under a written charter with an owner, a question, methods and review, and each theme is listed by its actual charter state.
Scoping to review.
Fig.A programme from scoping to the owner's decision. Design, not a record.
People and services in East Africa.
Where people live and how far each division sits from a large city's services, shown for East Africa as an example geography for this subject.
Each theme, by charter state.
| Theme | Charter state | Related work |
|---|---|---|
| Work | Concept; no charter on record | Future of Work and Skills |
| Media and information | Concept; no charter on record | Information Integrity and Public Trust, at The Global Risks Forum |
| Energy | Concept; no charter on record | Energy Nexus |
| Health | Concept; no charter on record | Health Nexus |
| Space | Concept; no charter on record | Space and Earth Observation |
| Education | Concept; no charter on record | Future of Work and Skills |
| Food | Concept; no charter on record | Food Nexus |
| Water | Concept; no charter on record | Water Nexus |
Other themes may be proposed. A theme appears as chartered only when its charter is recorded.
What a charter must contain.
- 01
Owner and question
An accountable owner and a material question about future change.
- 02
Methods
Named foresight, scenario and modelling methods from the STEM Commons, with their limits.
- 03
Review
Domain and editorial review, with conflicts declared.
- 04
Outputs and closure
Planned outputs, rights, duration and how the laboratory closes.
Foresight is not prediction.
- Scenario results are labelled as scenarios, never as forecasts or observed impact.
- Capabilities still in research are labelled as research.
- A theme listed here confers no status on any institution working in that field.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Strategic foresight | A structured and systematic way of using ideas about the future to anticipate and prepare for change, in OECD usage. |
| Living lab | A real-life setting in which users and communities take part in developing and testing innovations. |
| Futures literacy | The capability to use the future in different ways in the present, as UNESCO describes it. |
How to propose a laboratory.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. Proposals can go to research@therisk.global. Related testing is on Labs gateway, and foresight is published in the Foresight Outlook series when released. The Global Risks Forum (GRF) examines futures from a governance view through its Foresight Nexus.
Questions and answers.
Are any future laboratories running?
How is a laboratory different from a specialist platform?
Which themes come first?
Can an institution sponsor a laboratory?
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.