Thriving in a Turbulent Future: The Power of Futures Thinking for Sustainability Strategies

The operating context for business has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Profound and cross-cutting changes such as climate disruption and artificial intelligence are creating entirely new challenges—and opportunities—for business and sustainability. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events, the growing migration and displacement of populations, and new technologies of transparency will all drive significant changes to global supply chains, for example. Futures thinking, also known as strategic foresight, offers a powerful tool for exploring future possibilities, managing uncertainty and complexity, and developing more resilient strategies.

During this session we will discuss some of the most important megatrends reshaping the business landscape and how futures thinking techniques such as scenario planning are helping companies successfully navigate turbulent times. We will provide participants with an understanding of how strategic foresight works, case studies of futures thinking in action, and an introduction to BSR’s new suite of strategic foresight offerings to revamp approaches to materiality, strategy, stakeholder engagement, and consumer engagement.