Intergenerational Foresight 2026

Temporal breadth Intergenerational foresight broadens the time frames in which decisions are considered by explicitly emphasizing long-term and potentially irreversible outcomes. It prompts leaders to consider questions of path dependency, future flexibility, and cumulative risks, recognizing that choices made today influence future results and condition the range of options available to future generations. Plurality of perspectives Effective foresight depends on the diversity of perspectives that inform it. Intergenerational foresight treats generational, cultural and regional diversity as critical sources of strategic insight rather than supplementary inputs. Different generations experience risk, opportunity and change in distinct ways, shaped by their position within social, economic and technological systems. Integrating these perspectives exposes blind spots, surfaces alternative interpretations of emerging signals and alters both the range of plausible futures and the range of desirable futures. Shared authority Intergenerational foresight promotes shared authority within foresight processes. It does not displace expertise or leadership judgement. Rather, it distributes influence more deliberately, ensuring that those who will live with long-term consequences have meaningful input into how futures are imagined and assessed. This strengthens accountability by reconnecting foresight outputs to lived experience and long-term responsibility. Systems awareness Long-term challenges rarely arise from isolated causes. Intergenerational foresight, therefore, emphasizes systems awareness as a core principle, encouraging leaders to examine how decisions interact across domains and over time. This perspective helps anticipate unintended consequences while resisting the temptation to oversimplify complex trade-offs. Legitimacy through inclusion Intergenerational foresight clarifies which futures are considered and through which processes, thereby strengthening legitimacy. Inclusion is practised as an integral part of credible long-term decision-making, rather than as ethical signalling or reputational management. When foresight reflects the perspectives of those most exposed to long-term consequences, institutions are better able to justify difficult choices and sustain confidence over time.Core principles of intergenerational foresight The Future50 Initiative offers a practical context for developing and testing intergenerational foresight. Three key design choices shaped this effort. First, the initiative integrated intergenerational collaboration as a core feature rather than merely an outcome. Emerging leaders participated alongside experienced foresight practitioners in shared processes of inquiry, analysis, and reflection, allowing institutional memory and new perspectives to inform each other throughout the foresight process. Second, authority within the initiative is deliberately distributed. Mentors and expert contributors acted as stewards of rigour, remaining open to challenge and learning from participants’ lived experiences and regional insights. This reciprocal dynamic fostered experimentation and exchange, illustrating how foresight can move beyond hierarchical models of expertise without sacrificing quality. Third, the initiative emphasizes regional grounding as a source of foresight intelligence. Participants engaged with real-world challenges rooted in their local contexts, demonstrating how futures thinking is influenced by place, history, and power, and how insights from specific regions can shed light on broader governance issues. Importantly, Future50 does not generate recommendations or policy solutions. Instead, it offers a set of provocations that arise from applying intergenerational foresight.2 2.1 Future50 as proof of concept Intergenerational Foresight: An Approach for Long-Term Responsibility in Governance 9