Discover and learn from the Solidarity Playbook on cybersecurity

Earlier this month, our Director of Programmes, Rachel Wilkinson, was invited to speak to EU policy makers to share the Centre’s work on strategic foresight, signals and trends. The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) is an inter-institutional collaboration among the officials of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European External Action Service, with the support of the Committee of the Regions and of the European Economic and Social Committee. It monitors global trends and offers strategic foresight to the EU’s decision-makers. The meeting saw policy makers from across all EU institutions come together and learn about trends and discuss their possible implications.

The value of futures thinking  

Futures thinking can help us navigate uncertainty by revealing the interplay of dynamic trends, identifying risks, opportunities, and innovations, and creating a collective vision for the future. At the Centre, we have been promoting futures thinking to civil society organisations for many years. Scanning the Horizon is our established collaborative platform for trend scouting and analysis in the international civil society sector. It includes leading ICSOs, national CSO umbrella organisations, philanthropy, and futurists. Members utilise futures skills and methods to shape and adapt their strategies. From this community and other programmatic work on futures thinking, such as our toolkit for tomorrow, we have developed futures resources to support civil society. 

It is important for civil society to have a voice and be included in conversations with policy makers. At the Centre, we bring forward different perspectives and can share a global view of trends and signals. At the gathering of ESPAS, we had a unique opportunity to share our approach on futures thinking and the methods we use to develop futures thinking resources, such as trends mapping and signal spotting, through which we seek diverse inputs and ask critical questions to challenging our assumptions about the signals and trends we see emerging. 

Taking a participatory approach to futures thinking  

We take a participatory approach to our futures thinking. This allows for more inclusive and transformative futures to emerge, enabling out-of-the-box thinking with diverse input building upon our past experiences. By seeking a broader range of opinions and situations from a global perspective, we enable more inclusive and transformative futures to emerge. For policymakers, these wider perspectives ensure the implications on civil society organisations are better understood and more robust and future-proof policies are developed. 

Trends and Signals  

Our recent work highlights several key trends impacting the civic space. This includes Mis, Dis, and Mal information: AI-driven manipulation, erosion of trust in public institutions, and the rise of opinion engineering through social media. These trends can harm trust, democracy, and social cohesion, and CSOs need tools and strategies to address mitigating these effects. 

Our work on anticipating futures examined trends on civic space. Key trends in this area are the increase in global conflicts, crises of multilateralism, tech solutionism, the influence of corporations, securitisation, disinformation, demographic shifts, growing inequalities, and climate injustice. All these interlinking and overarching themes need to be addressed to strengthen civic space. How we react to these challenges is vital for maintaining social stability, promoting human rights, and upholding the rule of law within the EU and globally. 

CSOs and Futures Thinking 

For more information about our futures work and that of the ESPAS please see:  

• ESPAS (external website homepage)  
• Toolkit for Tomorrow: Anticipating Civil Society Futures (toolkit) – Now also available to download in French and Spanish.  
• Insights and Foresights: Learnings on mis-, dis-, and malinformation (resource collection)  

Rachel Wilkinson

Programme Manager – Futures and Innovation

International Civil Society Centre

Rachel leads the Futures and Innovation programme at the Centre. She is responsible for managing the portfolio of projects and events as well as leading and developing the Scanning the Horizon strategic peer learning platform. Rachel has more than 15 years of experience working in the third sector, on a national and international level, working for various ICSOs in international development and human rights in both London and Berlin.

In a world defined by complexity – climate crises, technological revolutions and geo-political shifts – how do we move beyond reacting to today’s problems to proactively preparing for the future? At a recent Scanning the Horizon community session, we turned to the Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar, a cutting-edge tool, to explore this question. The session was facilitated by our member Climate-KIC along with Horizon 2045. 

The session introduced the Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar – a participatory tool that maps signals of change across seven broad themes, from technology and geo-politics to the environment and social dynamics. What sets it apart is its ability to go beyond cataloguing trends, instead inviting users to explore interconnections, imagine plausible scenarios, and engage in collaborative, systems-level thinking. 

As we delved into the radar during the session, participants were struck by the diversity and scale of signals it tracks – more than 500 spanning the globe. It challenged us to ask: How do these signals connect? What stories do they tell about the future? And how can we act on them? 

One breakout activity, “Radar Roulette”, was a playful yet revealing exercise. Participants explored random signals on the radar and debated their implications. Whether discussing advancements in AI or shifts in global health governance. 

For CSOs, the radar can be a practical tool. Futures thinking equips organisations to step out of crisis-response mode and adopt longer-term, systemic approaches. The session reinforced that horizon scanning can help CSOs to spot early signals of disruption or opportunity for transformation, build adaptive strategies that are flexible to change, and strengthen collaboration by connecting diverse actors across disciplines and geographies.  

For civil society organisations, the Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar is more than just an intellectual exercise – it’s a transformative tool. Futures thinking empowers organisations to step out of reactive, crisis-response modes and adopt long-term, systemic strategies. The session underscored that horizon scanning helps (I)CSOs identify early signals of disruption or opportunity, craft flexible and adaptive strategies, and foster collaboration across disciplines and geographies. By using the radar, (I)CSOs can make informed decisions today that will pave the way for a more resilient and equitable tomorrow. 

Let’s use tools such as the Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar to anticipate challenges, seize opportunities, and build a future that works for both people and the planet. Together, we can move beyond merely reacting to crises and instead create strategies that transform and inspire. 

Links

• Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar 
• Horizon 2045
• EIT Climate-KIC 

Feature image: Adapted still of the Horizon 2045 Foresight Radar designed by Pupul Bisht.

Alexandra Schlegel

Programme Officer

International Civil Society Centre

Alexandra is working as Programme Officer in the Solidarity Action Network and Scanning the Horizon projects of the Centre. She joined the Centre in January 2022 as the Executive Assistant and changed into the Programme Team in December 2023. Her role at the Centre involves addressing anti-rights actors, overseeing futures and foresight initiatives within the Scanning community, managing the SANE Resource Hub, and organising events. She is strongly engaged in voluntary work with different international as well as local organisations with a background in Political Science and International Relations. She holds a MA in International Relations from Leiden University next to her BA in Political Science and History from the University of Tübingen. She has lived in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands as well as Jordan and is currently living in Berlin.

2025 marks an exciting new chapter in the Centre’s story as we embark on a new strategic cycle, aimed at strengthening a shareholder community that is inclusive, resilient, and deeply connected to the people it serves.

Together with our partners we are building a future where every community has a voice, challenges are met with innovative solutions, and global collaboration turns today’s obstacles into tomorrow’s achievements.

Currently, civil society is facing unprecedented challenges. Shrinking operating space, geopolitical unrest, rising inequality and social divides, the proliferation of anti-rights actors, digital and technological threats, and a fast-changing volatile environment determine our working conditions. At the Centre, we tackle these challenges head-on by collaborating with communities and partners to inform policies, promote equity, and ensure no one is left behind.

As a convening organisation, the Centre has – and will continue to – play a key role in supporting the civil society leadership community to tackle and foster new solutions to the ever-growing challenges. We provide safe spaces where sector
leaders can come together to discuss current and common challenges, share learnings, and offer future perspectives on emerging trends.

This year, building on our continued leadership support, we will further consolidate our programme initiatives, guided by our new strategy which focuses on three key priority themes:

• Understanding and shaping the futures of International Civil Society Organisations
• Shaping and strengthening civil society’s operating space
• Focusing on the empowerment of civil society partners and marginalised communities

Our dedicated project team oversee several communities of practice. Working collaboratively, they help to tackle and investigate these key priority themes through outcomes focused research, engagement with key stakeholders at community meetings, and cross-cutting collaboration through various knowledge exchanges.

We invite you to take part and look forward to collaborating with you through our convenings, offerings, and programme initiatives in this important year. Let’s stay strong, work together and support each other.

Welcome to our Programme for 2025

Wolfgang Jamann

Executive Director

Stay up-to-date with all our convenings, events and engagements here

Wolfgang Jamann

Executive Director

International Civil Society Centre

Dr. Wolfgang Jamann is Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre. Until January 2018 he was Secretary General and CEO of CARE International (Geneva). Before that he led NGO Deutsche Welthungerhilfe and the Alliance 2015, a partnership of 7 European aid organisations. From 2004-2009 he was CEO & Board member of CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg and President of the CARE Foundation. Previously, he worked for World Vision International as a regional representative in East Africa (Kenya) & Head of Humanitarian Assistance at WV Germany. After his Ph.D. dissertation in 1990 he started his career in development work at the German Foundation for International Development, later for the UNDP in Zambia. As a researcher and academic, he has published books and articles on East & Southeast Asia contributing to international studies on complex humanitarian emergencies and conflict management.