Presented by: n/a
12 October 2007

A one day workshop which brought together 35 humanitarian policy makers and a range of scientists and technical experts to consider the kinds of dialogue required to enhance capacities to anticipated and respond to future human vulnerability. The workshop included a Scenario exercise and a Technology and Policy Fair, which gave humanitarian policy makers the opportunity to share the challenges they face and to discuss the potential solutions that scientists and technology experts could suggest.

Presented by: Humanitarian Futures Programme
3 April 2008

A group of scientists from a range of disciplines, including nanotechnology, robotics, and physics met to discuss some of the innovations and approaches from these fields which could be applicable to the humanitarian sector. The group discussed communications technologies, emerging disesases and the ways nanotechnology, robotics and space exploration could impact upon the humanitarian threats of the future.

Presented by: Professor Jim Norton, Sarah Hughes and Dermot Grimson
10 July, 2008: 13.00-14.30

One of the key outputs of the Humanitarian Futures Programme will be guidance for developing strategy in the humanitarian sector. To launch the work on this, a seminar was held at King’s College, London in July 2008. The seminar provided an opportunity to hear the experience from leading speakers from the public, NGO and private sectors. There was significant time for discussion, so that those attending from across the three sectors could share experience on the challenges they face.

Presented by: Various
Date and time: 16 January 2009

The Humanitarian Futures Group held a seminar on 16 January 2009 to promote dialogue between climate scientists and humanitarian policy makers about the types of climate information required for effective humanitarian planning. This seminar highlighted future climate change crises as an essential focus for dialogue between scientists and humanitarian policy makers and looked at practical ways that the two communities could work more effectively together. Below you can find the discussion paper based on preliminary interviews with climate scientists and humanitarian organisations, the agenda from the seminar, a briefing paper outlining the workshop findings, and powerpoint presentations from the speakers.

Video files (WMV and MP4 format) of the speaker and group discussions are available here.

Presented by: DSTL Horizon Scanning Team, MOD
12:30 – 14:00 – Wednesday 31 October, 2007

DSTL’s Horizon Scanning Team has developed an approach for identifying exciting new developments in worldwide science and technology and for raising internal awareness. In this seminar, the Team will share the principal elements of their work and explore how this process might be adapted for the humanitarian sector. They will describe some of the ways in which horizon scanning can inform strategic planning and bridge the gaps between technical and policy staff. A number of new developments, considered to be of potential relevance to the humanitarian community, will be used to illustrate the value of the approach.

Presented by: Dr Michael Clark, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Health Protection Agency
12:30 – 14:00 – Thursday 13 December, 2007

Scientific evidence for harmful long-term effects on health of radiation and chemicals is often presumed to be overwhelming, but is this the case? As human population rises and global industrialisation continues during the 21st century there are likely to be more radiation and chemical hazards emerging, but how should we assess the risks to make sure that appropriate resources are made available to reduce them? And how should we allow for genuine uncertainties in our knowledge, particularly when new technologies are involved.

Dr Michael Clark is a scientific spokesman for the Health Protection Agency and is responsible for the Press and Information Group at the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards at Chilton. He is a physical sciences graduate of the University of Sussex and obtained his PhD at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London. His research background is in radiation measurements, risk assessments and nuclear safety. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Tennessee.

Presented by: Dr. John Seaman, Evidence for Development
12:30 – 14:00 – Thursday 24 January, 2008

Climate change, increasing world population, and rising oil prices and agricultural production costs have created new fears of future global food insecurity. This seminar examines the extent to which it is possible to make practical and useful predictions about the future of food supply and distribution.

Evidence for Development (EvD) was established to develop and extend the use of economic models and analytic tools that provide new insights into intricate and fragile local economies. These tools can be used to detail, with precision, the risks behind development policies and programmes, and to evaluate development efforts. The methods have been designed to predict the impact of changes such as crop failure, HIV/AIDS, price fluctuations and development interventions.

Dr. Seaman (co-founder of Evidence for Development) is a leading global practitioner, conducting operational research in disasters and emergencies as well as in the economics of poverty. He has a qualification in medicine from the London Hospital (1967) and began his career with extensive field work. He worked as Head of Policy for Save the Children UK.

Presented by: Dr Daanish Mustafa, King’s College, London
12:30 – 14:00 – Tuesday 18 March, 2008

The seminar highlighted some of the ongoing and potential conflicts surrounding water resources with the help of three case studies of groundwater, urban flooding and rural irrigation systems. The presentation outlined different conceptual approaches to studying climate change and make a case for questioning the dominant water management practices in the developing world. It is argued that new thinking in water management will be crucial to securing socially just and environmentally friendly water resources development.

Dr. Daanish Mustafa is a member of the Geography Department at King’s College, London. Throughout his academic career his research interests have been on the issues of development, water resources, and hazards of geography. He has been particularly interested in the role of social power relations in influencing geographies of access to water—be it for agricultural or domestic water use--and vulnerability to hazards. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Subsequently, he was a visiting assistant professor of geography at George Mason University, and then an assistant professor of Geography, at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. Furthermore, he is part of an international research group facilitated by Institute for Environmental and Social Transition (ISET), which through a DFID funded grant, is investigating in South Asia the efficacy of Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives.

Presented by: HelpAge International
12:30 – 14:00 – Tuesday 15 April, 2008

The world is rapidly ageing – whilst this is one of the world’s greatest achievements it also presents significant humanitarian challenges. The fastest ageing regions of the world are Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean – regions which are also especially prone to natural disasters, yet current humanitarian policy and practice fails to sufficiently take older people into account. Policy makers are beginning to recognize the global social protection and health challenges that growing numbers of older people will present. The impact of climate change, for example out-migration of young people from rural areas, has profound consequences for the adaptive capacities of those left behind and the changing social fabric of communities. A more inclusive analysis of the skills and vulnerabilities of all age groups is essential if humanitarian actors are to be prepared for some of the challenges ahead. The seminar was be chaired by Randolph Kent and include three sessions:

• Demography and Disasters (mp4, 63.03Mb)
  Speaker: Mark Gorman, HelpAge International
• Addressing the Health Needs of Older People in Developing Countries (mp4, 35.90Mb)
  Speaker: Bill Gray, HelpAge International
• Social Protection and Emergencies (mp4, 79.98Mb)
  Speaker: Sylvia Beales, HelpAge International

HelpAge International is a global network of not-for-profit organisations with a mission to work with and for disadvantaged older people worldwide to achieve economic and physical security; healthcare and social services; and support in their care giving role across the generations. Their aims are to bring lasting improvement to the quality of life of the poorest and most vulnerable older people; to encourage institutional development of local NGOs working with and for older people; to heighten public awareness of ageing issues; and to advocate the inclusion of older people in development policies and programmes, especially in the areas of poverty alleviation and HIV/AIDS.

Presented by: Dr Mark Pelling, King’s College, London
12:30–14:00 – Thursday 8 May, 2008

Despite over 50% of the global population living in cities, there is little systematic analysis of hazard exposure, loss or adaptation. Climate change and rapid urbanisation have “upped” the stakes with economic and human losses increasing year by year. This seminar will highlight the complex nature of urbanisation with social, economic and environmental processes bringing security for some and risk for others. At heart, urban safety is a question of institutional rather than purely economic development and reform. Local actions to reduce risk and adapt to surprises are commonplace, but need supporting by local and city wide governments to thrive.

Dr. Mark Pelling (King College, London) is a human geographer specialising in the human impact of environmental hazards. He also studies social adaptation to environmental risk, focusing on urban risks and vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. He is currently working on a project examining adaptation to climate change under rapid urbanisation in the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico. Moreover, he is the chair of the RGS-IBG Climate Change Research Group, a member of the United Nations University Expert Group on Measuring Vulnerability, and of the UK Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change committee. Dr. Pelling is also a policy advisor for the ProVention Consortium, Geneva and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Bangkok.

Presented by: Professor Martin Wooster, King’s College London
12:30 – 14:00 – Wednesday 25 June, 2008

One instrument of hazard management and early warning lies with satellite imagery. Satellites are tools which can be used remotely to monitor climate change, population movements, and the destruction of villages. These issues facing the humanitarian sector in the future will become increasingly global, and reflects greater complexity which may result in considerable human and physical impacts which require effective and efficient management by the humanitarian sector. The challenge is now to understand how remote sensing technology can be used by humanitarian community to help monitor and formulate disaster responses.

Professor Martin Wooster joined the Department of Geography in 1998 on a lectureship funded by the NERC Earth Observation Science Initiative (one of four such lectureships awarded nationally in the UK). In 2005 he was appointed Professor of Earth Observation Science at KCL, where he currently heads the Environmental Monitoring and Modelling Research Group. Martin holds a BSc in Physics (Bristol) and an MSc in Remote Sensing (University of London), with a PhD in Earth Sciences (Open University). Areas of work included vegetation, rainfall and lake/ocean monitoring, for such diverse applications as famine early warning, forest fire detection and fisheries investigations. A key current interest is in quantifying the role vegetation fires (biomass burning) play in exchanges of material between the land surface and the atmosphere, and the development of remote sensing approaches to help address this question. Martin Wooster has published in excess of 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and sits on steering committees of the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility and the NERC Airborne Remote Sensing Facility.

Presented by: Dr. Nathalie Wlodarczyk, Deputy Director, Exclusive Analysis
Date and time: 20 November 2008

Write up to follow.

Exclusive Analysis is a strategic intelligence company which forecasts political and violent risks, including war, terrorism and civil unrest. Through our comprehensive and immediate understanding of the issues and groups that pose a threat of violence and business interruption, we make the future intelligible, predictable and profitable. Our risk forecasts combine our well positioned global source base, which reports privileged information to the Global Intelligence Centre here in London, with a proprietary intelligence methodology. Exclusive Analysis’ multi-lingual team of analysts brings extra cultural depth to our analysis of the socio-economic and political landscape in over 180 countries.

Presented by: Dr Tony Cass, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London
Thursday 19 February: 12.30-14.00, War Studies Meeting Room, KCL

The ability to control the properties of materials and devices on length scales between 1 and 100nm forms the emerging discipline of nanotechnology and will revolutionise many areas of human activity over the next few decades. Medicine is one area in particular where the impact of nanotechnology has been identified as being particularly significant as not only will it impact on conventional approaches to diagnosis and treatment (‘smarter’ drug delivery, better imaging agents, advanced diagnostics) but also enhances new medical strategies (genetic and cell therapies). One of the factors in determining both the technical feasibility and social acceptance of nanomedicine is an understanding of what timescales apply to the different applications and this will form the basis of the seminar.

Presented by: Randolph Kent
14 November 2006

HFP Presentation at the Royal Society of Arts. A discussion event setting out some of the key ideas behind the Humanitarian Futures Programme and the major challenges likely to characterise the humanitarian environment of the future.

Presented by: Humanitarian Futures Programme
25-26 October 2007

Annual meeting of the HFP’s partner organisations, donors and advisory group to evaluate the programme’s work over the past year and help to frame activities for the coming year. The one and a half day meeting featured presentations on HFP projects, and key future humanitarian issues including working with the corporate sector, innovation, remote sensing technology and complexity theory.

Presented by: Humanitarian Futures Programme
23-24 January 2008

At the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Humanitarian Futures Programme hosted a discussion forum on future humanitarian priorities in 2020, to help the MFA frame the issues for its revised humanitarian strategy. The forum brought together representatives of humanitarian NGOs, including Tearfund, HelpAge International, Save the Children, CAFOD and Oxfam, representatives from the UK Department for International Development (DFID),and research institutions including the Overseas Development Institute, ALNAP and Chatham House. The discussion focussed on four issues of key relevance to future humanitarian response:

• Climate change and humanitarian impact
• Conflict trends and protection issues
• Demographic shifts and migration trends
• Challenges for donors, including accountability, monitoring, evaluation and learning
• Humanitarian trends, including humanitarian reform consequences, emerging partnerships, politicization and principles

Presented by: Various
13–14 November 2008

The 2008 Humanitarian Futures Programme’s Stakeholders Forum, convened on 13–14 November 2008 at King’s College London, brought together a group of some 40 HFP stakeholders to discuss the future of humanitarian response. Forum participants were asked to focus their discussions on the evolving nature of collaboration and the role of innovation in addressing the needs of the future.

Presented by: Humanitarian Futures Programme
Weds 23 September, 2009

A day long workshop exploring the future of corporate-humanitarian collaboration, aimed at humanitarian policy makers and representatives from the corporate sector. The workshop is presented jointly by the Humanitarian Futures Programme, the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI, INSEAD, Booz & Co, Appleyards, Save the Children Alliance and World Vision International. The event will be preceded by interviews with humanitarian and corporate sector representatives and a preliminary study. More details to follow.