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Foresight

Foresight's role is to help government think systematically about the future. It does this by combining the latest scientific and other evidence with futures analysis to help policy makers tackle complex issues.

Foresight brings different government departments together to stimulate and inform the development of strategies, policies and priorities, which are more resilient and robust across a range of possible futures.

Foresight achieves impact in three ways:

  • Foresight Reports are in-depth studies looking at major issues 20-80 years in the future. Recent examples of these are Tackling Obesity, Future Flooding and Mental Capital and Wellbeing
  • The Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre, which does short projects looking at more discrete issues. Recent examples include International Futures, Wider Implications of Science and Technology and UK Futures
  • Foresight Toolkits and Networks look to strengthen futures thinking capacity and share best practice within and across government.

Foresight’s strength lies in its ability to influence and inform policy, through evidence-based, peer reviewed strategic insights.

Foresight’s activities are described on their dedicated website at www.foresight.gov.uk.  

A Typical Foresight Project

‘Tackling Obesities; future choices’ set out to offer new insights into the problem of rising obesity by its unique approach to gathering a range of multidisciplinary scientific evidence and taking a long-term view. The project set out to address the question: How can we deliver a sustainable response to obesity in the UK over the next 40 years?

The project synthesised the evidence from over 30 science reviews which demonstrated that the determinants of obesity and their interrelationships were highly complex and in many cases environmental.

Therefore policies based on reducing the issue merely to individual choices about diet and exercise where likely to fail. In response to Foresight’s report the Government published a new strategy for obesity: ‘Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a cross government strategy for England’ in January 2008.