DAVOS, SWITZERLAND—If 2019 was a critical year for spurring activity—albeit not tangible action—on climate change, 2020 will be a vital year because it ushers the final countdown to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
For more than a decade, our editors and writers have embraced the skills, practices, and behaviors of futurists, covering the trends that are defining our global society. Through our World in 2050 think tank/do tank we have explored the future of diplomacy; philanthropy; connected cities; jobs and education; and, much more. So, how does the future look like?
“The changes we have witnessed during our lifetimes will pale in comparison to those which lie before us,” says our cover story author and director of global foresight at Arup, Chris Luebkeman. We are privileged to usher the new year and new decade with his wise words in this special edition launching in Davos. For those who have been our diligent readers since the start, you will note we are consumed with the world in 2050: how will major global forces such as demographic changes, resource stress, technology, and economic power shifts change our future? And is the future something we can truly foretell?
Those in the “foresight” sphere have told me no, it’s not possible. But it is possible to push ourselves to imagine, understand, and plan the future. Chris, together with Jonelle Simunich, have authored a report that looks at four plausible futures. They are plausible because each is found somewhere on Earth; we are already living some versions of these scenarios. In this crucial year and decade, it is up to us to craft a path for one of these futures based on what we decide to prioritize.
At Diplomatic Courier believe the future is a story we write ourselves. It’s being written every day by engineers, students, business leaders, and startup founders. This is why, we have opened our global platform to finding and supporting these authors and visionaries of our human future. If I have just described you, dear reader, then I urge you to join us by applying to the Olympics of Innovation, our yearly global innovation list that champions top ideas, startups, and innovations in seven categories. The program focuses on solutions in seven clusters representing transformative trends for our long-term future.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University where he delivered these words: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade”, that planted the seeds to align an entire country to go to the moon. We could say that JFK did not set that goal by knowing how we could achieve it or by promising it would be easy, he simply said that we were going to accomplish something incredible, setting the timeframe and inspiring toward action.
The idea of "moonshot" is that there are no limitations to what we can achieve as a society if we put our minds and imagination to the task. What is your moonshot? Tell us at www.cocreate.world!
