Browse by subject: Visions & futures (118)
Why the planet needs family planning: Sarah Parkin
06 Sep 2010
Whilst we increase life expectancy and decrease infant mortality, we need family planning to avert a population disaster...
Whitehall Watch
25 Feb 2009
Must sustainability always suffer from political short-termism? Peter Madden says it’s time to...
What’s in the tea leaves?
05 Jun 2009
Exports of tea and fresh flowers are key to Kenya’s economy – but can they ever be sustainable?
Welcome to the future
11 Jan 2008
Anyone travelling across London recently could not help but notice all the billboard adverts from Barclaycard, welcoming...
Weak signals: how to track a changing horizon
15 Jan 2010
What's a weak signal? And what do we do with it? Hugh Knowles tunes into the signals of the future that are indeed...
Weak signals from the future
15 Jul 2009
What does the future hold? Water wars? Personal solar panels? Peer-to-peer renting? We've got our finger on the...
Weak signals from the future
09 Sep 2009
A cornucopia of climate solutions, or a tangle of unproven techno-fixes? As part of a series of visions for the future, ‘Weak...
Waterscraper: the answer to crowded cities?
25 Jun 2010
In response to our growing population and congested urban spaces, architects have come up with vast, self-contained...
Wales to be "self-sustaining" in energy
28 Jul 2009
A commitment to become energy self-sufficient within a generation is at the heart of an ambitious new sustainability...
Turbulent top-up
20 Jan 2010
Measuring no more than 200 microns across and embedded into car windscreens, 40 volt devices use piezoelectric polymers...
The perils of predicting the future
21 Jan 2010
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” Danish physicist Niels Bohr’s words are a wise...
The hanging gardens of the future
21 May 2009
Peter Madden sees a future in which cities feed themselves
Within a few decades, every one of us will own...
The Green Futures interview: Zac Goldsmith
08 Dec 2009
The Green Futures Interview: Zac Goldsmith talks to Martin Wright about free markets, free choice, whether to trust...
Smart carb quota
19 Dec 2007
Roger East explores the personal carbon rationing route to emissions control.
Seeing school in future terms
05 Nov 2006
What will schools be like in the year 2020? That may sound like a question for children yet unborn, but it's already...
Rotten logic
27 Nov 2009
Could your kitchen mould be capable of complex calculations? Plasmodial slime moulds could potentially be used to...
Reinventing the department store
05 Nov 2006
How might the department store look in decades to come? A recent piece on the Biothinking website posits the ‘holistic...
Pulling power
31 Mar 2009
Scientists link chain of kites to harvest wind energy six miles high
They call it a laddermill – and they...
New Year’s Day 2030
22 Oct 2008
James Goodman explores contrasting futures for a world wrestling with a new climate.
Navigating the future
30 Nov 2007
As Forum for the Future reaches its tenth birthday, Peter Madden looks ahead to the next decade, and the Forum founders...
It’s 2025. Who’s making money – and how?
29 Nov 2007
Sky-high energy and carbon prices are sure to change the way we travel, work and trade, says Martin Wright, in the...
It’s 2025. Who’s making money – and how?
29 Nov 2007
Sky-high energy and carbon prices are sure to change the way we travel, work and trade, says Martin Wright, in the...
How will we holiday in 2020?
27 Aug 2010
As the English summer draws to a close, Peter Madden takes a tour of tomorrow's top holiday destinations.
How will we dress in 2025?
11 May 2009
What are you wearing right now? Now, no peeking at the label, do you know what it’s made of, who manufactured it...
Home improvements
18 Jan 2010
With rising energy prices driving innovation, on-site recycling and micro-generation could see our homes minimise waste for us...
Futurists: shaping business for tomorrow
18 Jan 2010
How we think about the future will dramatically affect our chances of living in a sustainable world, says James Goodman...
Future Positive
24 Jan 2008
It’s 2022 – and low carbon living is as attractive as it is crucial. So what’s on offer? In an exciting new...
Four trends that are reshaping America
16 Nov 2009
For over 30 years, Lester Brown has been tracking emerging trends in energy and environment – and working out what...
Forget organ donation, just print body parts
25 Jun 2010
The first human vein has been successfully printed. How long before we see entire organs built from scratch?
Five essential criteria for leadership on climate change
24 Feb 2010
Iain Watt challenges businesses to embrace all the opportunities that the transition to a low-carbon economy offers.
Feeding the future
15 Oct 2007
England’s farmers are on the front line of climate change. Four out of five are persuaded that it’s really happening...
Fast forward to the future
02 Nov 2006
Our 100th edition isn’t due until July/August 2013, but we bring you a special preview
Fast Forward to 2013: High Time
12 Dec 2007
Imminent calamity woke us up. Jonathon Porritt on learning the hard way.
Fast Forward to 2013: Call the emergency services!
12 Dec 2007
Are exotic technical fixes the only remaining options on climate change? Ian Christie investigates.
Fast Forward to 2013: Briefings
19 Jun 2008
Turning in the wind Wind power’s future all at sea, UK government confirms Offshore wind has caught...
Fast as a feather
27 Nov 2009
Chicken feathers could be used to develop the next generation of hydrogen-fuel cells. New research from the University...
Capitalism, as if the world matters
07 Dec 2007
It’s the only candidate to save the planet, says Jonathon Porritt.
Can the South become climate-resilient?
20 Jul 2010
From solar power and mobile phones to hydroponics and GPS, low-carbon technologies are transforming the economic...
Bionic bacteria
15 Jan 2010
Instead of wrapping your tasty treats in plastic, why not wrap them in… bacteria? Design students think a form...
Augmented reality contact lenses: just a blink away?
19 Jul 2010
Augmented reality vision could leave the snazziest Apps in the past. You just pop in a contact lens embedded with...
Adapting the capital
09 Mar 2009
Mayoral plan addresses climate change risks to London
London’s vulnerability to the effects...
2030 vision
21 Aug 2006
Martin Wright unveils a future where creating wealth and curbing carbon go hand in hand.
2030 Vision
06 Dec 2007
WessexWater is striving to be genuinely ‘sustainable’ by the 2030s. Andrea Marshall tells us how they plan to do it...
2020 vision
09 Mar 2009
Government launches ambitious blueprint for alternative energy future
A government proposal...
2020 Postcard
30 Nov 2007
Wish you were there? Imogen Martineau previews the sustainable holiday of the future.
