IFTF Foresight Essentials
IFTF Foresight Essentials for Individuals
IFTF Foresight Essentials is designed for individuals who want to understand and foresee urgent future forces, learn how to identify emerging imperatives, and develop the leadership strategies needed to be world-ready.
All IFTF Foresight Essentials courses for individuals offer a certification to graduates. You’ll also gain membership to a global network of like-minded foresight professionals.
There are four paths all designed specifically for individuals, leaders, managers, and consultants alike:
IFTF Foresight Essentials
Whether online or in-person, IFTF Foresight Essentials is a one of-a-kind course designed to help individuals and organizations develop their skills in the art and science of foresight. As a participant, you’ll learn to filter information to determine its usefulness; transform urgent foresight into actionable insights; disrupt short-termism; and develop and test your own experiments in future-making. Upon completion, you’ll receive an IFTF certificate and join a community of like-minded visionaries dedicated to adopting strategic foresight practices.
IFTF Design Futures
This course combines design-thinking and futures-thinking methods with a focus on how to create experiential scenarios and artifacts from the future. Designed by award-winning design futurists, it combines media, design, and immersive experiences to expand your imagination, inspire you to craft new prototypes, and create new policies to shape the coming decade.
IFTF Scenario Building
In times of high uncertainty, one essential foresight method stands out—alternative futures scenarios. Scenarios allow us to pre-experience not one, but multiple futures, so we can better anticipate opportunities, risks, and coming changes. Dive deep into the alternative futures scenario method with IFTF senior researchers and learn how to build more surprising, actionable, plausible, and inspiring scenarios.
IFTF Futures Thinking on Coursera
Are you looking for an online pre-recorded, introductory, self-paced futures-thinking immersion—one where you can take your time and work on more personal futures projects? This course, led by IFTF researcher and best-selling author Jane McGonigal, is packed with IFTF-curated essential futurist readings, 45 fundamentals of foresight, custom video content, and peer-reviewed assignments—all on the proven skills-building Coursera learning platform.
Experience IFTF Foresight Essentials Online or In-Person
Now Live and Online!
We have adapted our renowned in-person IFTF Foresight Essentials training into an interactive, immersive online learning series. Our live, online instruction format provides the same curriculum as our in-person trainings over the course of 6 four-hour sessions, and is optimized for all time zones around the world.
The course includes:
- Online immersion in futures-thinking skills, methodologies, and processes
- Proprietary IFTF toolkit with 22 specialized tools and accessories
- PowerPoint deck of actionable takeaways
- Personalized strategic Foresight-Insight-Action plan for post-training application
- IFTF Certificate of Completion demonstrating your accomplishment to potential employers or clients
Upcoming Courses
IFTF Foresight Essentials
Comprehensive tools and methods for the complete foresight professional
- Nov 21-Dec 15, 2022 | Live-Online | 6 sessions
6am-10am PDT | 9am-1pm EDT | 16:00-20:00 UTC - Feb 1-Mar 8, 2023 | Live-Online | 6 sessions
5-9pm PST | 9am-1pm CST/SGT | 12-4pm +1 AEDT - Feb 28-Apr 4, 2023 | Live-Online | 6 sessions
9am-1pm PDT | 12-4pm EDT | 5-9pm CET/6-10pm CEST - Apr 18-20, 2023 | In-person | Palo Alto, CA
9am-5:30pm PDT - May 3-Jun 7, 2023 | Live-Online | 6 sessions
6am-10am PDT | 9am-1pm EDT | 3-7pm CEST
IFTF Design Futures
Learn to bring the future to life through vivid artifacts and experiences
- May 2-16, 2023 | Live-Online | 5 sessions
8am-12pm PDT | 11am-3pm EDT | 5-9pm CEST
IFTF Scenario Building
Craft compelling scenario-based stories from your insights
- Nov 7-18, 2022 | Live-Online | 5 sessions
9am-12pm PST | 12pm-3pm EST | 17:00-20:00 UTC - Apr 17-May 2, 2023 | Live-Online | 5 sessions
9am-12pm PDT | 12pm-3pm EDT | 16:00-19:00 UTC
IFTF Fast Futures: Foresight for Beginners in 90 Minutes
Foresight for beginners in 90 minutes
- Dec 6, 2022 | Live-Online
10-11:30am PST | 1-2:30pm EST | 18:00-19:30 UTC
Looking for a course refresher?
We offer alumni of any previous IFTF Foresight Essentials training 4.5 hours of private sessions to review the tools and methodology with you and answer your questions. The sessions are typically broken down into three 1-hour video or phone conferencing sessions with a senior IFTF instructor, scheduled at a mutually agreed date and time. The cost is $2,500.
Email register@iftf.org for more information.