“Achieving sustainable urban development is likely to prove impossible if the urban divide is allowed not only to persist, but to continue growing, opening up an enormous gap, even in some cities a gulf, an open wound, which can produce social instability or at least generate high social and economic costs not only for the urban poor, but for society at large.”

Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka

Searchlight Convening: The Future of the Urban Poor

Organized by Intellecap with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2011 Annual Searchlight Convening involved representatives from the eleven horizon scanning and trend monitoring institutions who comprise the Rockefeller Searchlight function. These organizations serve as an “ear on the ground” and provide a regionally focused view of the world, with a particular emphasis on economic, societal and political trends, challenges and innovations that might – positively or negatively - impact the lives of the poor. An innovative and unique approach in the development sector, they support the Foundation’s ongoing exploration for novel ideas and intervention opportunities as well as early signal detection - “clues” to where and how the world is evolving.

Searchlight Report: Building a Searchlight Function

The Rockefeller Foundation believes that a critical component to establishing a successful trend scanning enterprise involves bringing the practitioners together to learn from each other, share knowledge and best practices, and foster a sense of community. This was the spirit guiding the workshop held in Bellagio, Italy and organized by the Society for International Development, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, in April 2010. The workshop consisted of multiple representatives from each Searchlight organization, along with the participation of an additional set of experts and scholars who provided invaluable insights and intriguing outlooks on both the process of horizon scanning and the content and ideas that can result from such efforts.

Foresight for Smart Globalization: Accelerating & Enhancing Pro-Poor Development Opportunities

Pro-poor foresight is forward-looking analysis that focuses on poor and marginalized people by expanding their social and economic opportunities and by enhancing the social, economic, and ecological resilience of human society. Yet foresight, as generally applied within government, industry, and the non-governmental sector, rarely includes an explicit focus on poverty.

The application of pro-poor foresight for envisioning the future of human development is crucial for ensuring long-term prosperity and sustainability. This realization was the guiding and motivating force behind a workshop organized by the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF), with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. The workshop, “Foresight for Smart Globalization: Accelerating & Enhancing Pro-Poor Development Opportunities,” was held from March 16-20, 2009 at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy.

The Future of Cities, Information, and Inclusion

This ten-year forecast map charts the important intersections between urbanization and digitalization that will shape this global urban experiment, and the key tensions that will arise.

The explosive growth of cities is an economic opportunity with the potential to lift billions out of poverty. Yet the speed of change and lack of pro-poor foresight has led to a swarm of urban problems—poor housing conditions, inadequate education and health care, and racial and ethnic inequalities. The coming decade holds an opportunity to harness information to improve government services, alleviate poverty and inequality, and empower the poor.

The Institute for the Future created this 2020 Forecast: A Planet of Civic Laboratories Map to highlight future innovations that will harness urban data to reduce poverty and promote inclusion. These forecasts will inform and inspire your thinking about how technological and social trends may converge to create new opportunities; they will also highlight the tensions that may arise.