Executive Summary The United Nations Secretary-General’s call for a global cessation of hostilities between warring parties to allow vital assistance to be provided for vulnerable people trapped in conflict zones, has had limited impact, leaving many thousands of people desperately vulnerable to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Secretary-General’s call requires more active political [...]
Report of the Secretary-General Summary This report explores the role of space technologies in accelerating sustainable development and the benefits of international research collaboration in this context. It presents applications of space science and technology for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including in ensuring food security, reducing the risk of disasters, preventing humanitarian crises, monitoring [...]
HUMANITARIAN FUTURES Presentation for: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 17 March 2020 b.gwynne@incitare-international.com STRATEGIC FORESIGHT, INSIGHT, COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE, KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND ANTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP Why Strategic Foresight? 50 years of learning from experience (Club of Rome “Limits to Growth” (1972), Brundtland Report 1987 a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) Transnational [...]
Foreword Our world as we know it and the future we want are at risk. Despite considerable efforts these past four years, we are not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We must dramatically step up the pace of xi implementation as we enter a decisive decade for people and the [...]
...the First Steps Initiative will test its potential value by bringing together a small group of participants from different sectors who have played central roles not only in strategic and operational planning, but also in triggering their implementation. In the first instance, participants will be asked to define and consider the nature and challenges that [...]
Daniel P Aldrich, Northeastern University Abstract While idealized crisis response involves smooth coordination between relevant actors, friction between levels of government and between the state and civil society in responding to catastrophe may be more common. This article builds a theory of cross-level friction during and after crisis by analyzing the conditions when discord [...]
By: Dr. Eric James, Executive Director, Field Ready We follow an approach that is deeply rooted in participatory techniques (and the corresponding equivalents found in the commercial sector in what are known as human-centered design) and start to design and co-create solutions. Any aid agency worth its salt does this but what is special is [...]
Dealing with existential risk The threat of existential risk is increasingly recognised by strategic planners as an issue of ever greater importance. The Geneva Global Initiative (GGI) has been created to undertake research and promote understanding in the field of existential risks and ways to prepare to deal with them. In a meeting on 19 June [...]
Geneva Initiative White Paper OVERVIEW There is a growing gap between the risk – understood as likelihood times impact – of catastrophic systemic failure in complex society, and societal understanding and preparedness. This white paper outlines why risk needs to be reconsidered, the extent of societies capacity to respond, and presents a risk posture that [...]
From the French journal Humanitaires Alternatives, November 2018 The future of humanitarianism Dr Randolph Kent • Director of the Futures Project, Royal United Services Institute (London) Dr. R. Kent Going back over 50 years of history in order to consider the future of humanitarianism. Randolph Kent takes up the challenge, pointing out the structural flaws [...]
