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Dubai Foresight Awards

Celebrating Impact. Advancing the Future.
Launched by the Dubai Future Foundation, the Dubai Foresight Awards aim to unite the global futures and foresight community by recognising beacons of impact from around the world. The Awards honour individuals, organisations, and groups that have achieved notable success through the development and application of foresight frameworks, methodologies, and innovative tools, and as such, have contributed to the ongoing evolution of foresight practice. In its inaugural edition, the Dubai Foresight Awards received over 140 submissions from 50 countries.
 
The Dubai Foresight Awards ceremony, held on the first day of the Dubai Future Forum 2025, served as a global moment of recognition for those advancing how the world anticipates and shapes the future. Bringing together leading futurists, policymakers, innovators, and thought leaders, the ceremony celebrated excellence in foresight as a critical capability for navigating uncertainty and driving long-term impact. Each award represented not only achievement, but a shared commitment to using futures thinking as a force for positive transformation across societies, economies, and institutions.
 
Below, you will find the finalists across each award category.
 
Applications for the 2026 Dubai Foresight Awards will open in May. Stay tuned to our social media channels for updates and announcements.

Meet the 2025 Winners

City of Longevity

City of Longevity

Lynn Corner receives the Foresight for People award on behalf of Nic Palmarini from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation.

Connect with Nic Palmarini
Congo Basin Futures

Congo Basin Futures

Kenneth Nsah receives the Foresight for the Planet award from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation.

Connect with Kenneth Nsah
Pasifika Futures Report

Pasifika Futures Report

Tuya Altangerel receives the Foresight Changemakers award from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation.

Connect with Tuya Altangerel

Foresight for People

For those turning vision into action, this Award recognises projects that use futures thinking to improve lives. Whether guiding policy, driving social change, or transforming institutions, this category celebrates foresight with a human heart—because the future needs foresight

City of Longevity

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A revolutionary cross-domain taxonomy with AI- Powered foresight enabling policy makers to deliver longevity solutions to citizens. From reactive “Age-Friendly Cities” to proactive “Cities of Longevity” that actively influence how we age throughout the life course.

Key impacts

Designing proactive cities that support longer, healthier lives

Futures that Heal

Three scenario projects from Hawai‘i, Cyprus, and Ethiopia. Each one used foresight to support people living through political tension, social division, or post-conflict recovery

Key impacts

Using foresight to help societies recover and reconnect after conflict

For Our Future

🇦🇺
“Foresight for People” democratises futures thinking, fostering intergenerational solidarity, and driving systemic change, laying the foundations for a resilient, equitable Australia that plans boldly for generations to come.

Key impacts

Embedding intergenerational fairness and foresight in governance

Foresight for the Planet

Honouring those safeguarding our shared future, this Award recognises individuals and teams leveraging foresight to protect nature, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Their work turns long-term thinking into ecological action.

Congo Basin Futures

🇨🇲 🇫🇷
#CongoBasinFutures deploys participatory foresight, storytelling, and indigenous knowledge to explore alternative futures, both undesirable and preferred, for the Congo Basin. The Basin is of immeasurable importance to the world, notably in terms of biodiversity, cultural diversity, carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation.

Key impacts

Using foresight and local storytelling to protect one of earth’s vital ecosystems
Nsah Mala (Kenneth Nsah) PhD

Cool Climate Collective's Three Futures Test

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Three Futures Test translates foresight into investable narratives by mapping climate tech startups across plausible scenarios and stress-testing for resilience,​ leverage and catalytic potential.

Key impacts

Reframing climate foresight to guide innovation and sustainable

Seeding the Future

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“Transforming agriculture in Egypt’s Nile Delta” applies strategic foresight to address climate vulnerability in one of the world’s most at-risk regions. The project reimagines agriculture through innovation, sustainability, and community engagement.

Key impacts

Applying foresight to transform agriculture and build resilience in the Nile Delta

Foresight Changemakers

Celebrating pioneers who have pushed the boundaries of futures thinking, this Award honours those who design and evolve transformative tools, frameworks, and methodologies—those shifting how the world anticipates and shapes what’s ahead.

Pasifika Futures Report

🇫🇯
Foresight that embeds Indigenous Pacific knowledge systems into futures thinking. In a field often dominated by Western paradigms, this work canters Pacific philosophies rooted in relationality, place-based wisdom, and intergenerational responsibility.

Key impacts

Embedding Indigenous Pacific wisdom into foresight to reshape how futures are imagined

UNICEF Innocenti Youth Foresight Fellowship

🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇵🇰
The UNICEF Innocenti Youth Foresight Fellowship (UYFF) is the UN’s first youth foresight function, established to meaningfully engage adolescents and youth in the long- term decisions that impact their lives.

Key impacts

The UN’s first youth foresight program empowering adolescents for long-term change

Sustainable Futures

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Global scale, boundary-aware approach to embedding planetary limits in foresight and engaged scholarship that unites research and action in real time.​

Key impacts

Making foresight global by linking research, action, and planetary responsibility

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Dubai Foresight Awards and why were they established?

The Dubai Foresight Awards celebrate global thought leaders, innovators, and pioneers whose work in foresight and future design has made a meaningful impact. They highlight exceptional contributions to long-term thinking, resilience, and strategies that help shape better futures for people and the planet, while uniting the global futures and foresight community around beacons of impact.

The Awards were launched under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to support Dubai’s ambition to build a world-leading foresight ecosystem, encourage proactive and future-focused thinking, and recognise transformative contributions across industries and communities.

Nominees submit work that demonstrates clear application of futures and foresight approaches. A panel of judges reviews submissions based on documented impact, originality, and relevance to the Award categories. From these, finalists are selected and winners are announced at the annual Dubai Future Forum.

Eligibility and judging focus on:

  • Evidence of foresight methods, frameworks, or tools applied to real-world challenges.
  • Tangible impact in the category entered (e.g., people, planet, or foresight innovation).
  • Implementation, publication, or public accessibility of the work within the past decade.
  • Supporting documentation, testimonials, or credible evidence of impact.
  • Compliance with submission and language requirements (English).
    Nominations must be self-submitted, and past award recipients may not re-enter the same work.

The Dubai Foresight Awards include three core categories:

  1. Foresight Change Makers – For innovators advancing foresight theories, tools, and methodologies.
  2. Foresight for People – For individuals, teams, or organisations whose foresight work creates positive societal impact.
  3. Foresight for the Planet – For projects that use foresight to support environmental sustainability and ecological resilience.

Award recipients are honoured at the Dubai Future Forum, where they gain:

  • A prestigious awards presentation by distinguished figures.
  • Inclusion in Forum media and promotional materials.
  • Opportunities to feature in documentary and storytelling formats showcasing their work.
  • Engagement opportunities at the next Dubai Future Forum, including potential speaking or contribution roles.
  • Travel support to attend the Forum in Dubai.
The Awards are open to individuals, teams, organisations, institutions, and collaborative groups from any country. Nominees must be 18 years above, and their submitted work must clearly demonstrate the use of foresight or future-oriented approaches. Certain participants, such as Dubai Future Foundation employees and judges, are ineligible.
Winners are announced and celebrated at the Dubai Future Forum, held annually at the Museum of the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This global gathering brings together experts from across the foresight, innovation, technology, and policy worlds.

No. Projects that have been previously submitted to the Awards may not be re-submitted in the future cycle, regardless of outcome. Each Awards cycle requires a new and distinct submission.

Applicants are welcome to apply again with a different project, provided it meets the eligibility and selection criteria.

Meet our Judges

Cheryl Doig

Steven Kenney

Florence Gaub

Ingrid LaFleur

John Sweeney

Patrick Noack

Olga Tarasov

Cheryl Doig

Dr. Cheryl Doig is the Director of Think Beyond and Founder of Otautahi Futures Collective. She is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury and a global influencer in the futures, foresight and learning ecosystems spaces. Special projects include the development of the Aotearoa Futures Barometer in partnership with indigenous future makers from Tokona te Raki; supporting global city communities of practice for intergenerational fairness; and the creation of research to support intergenerational ambition and future generations. In 2017 Cheryl was a finalist in the NZ Westpac Women of Influence Awards, in the Innovation and Science category.

Steven Kenney

Steven Kenney is the CEO of Foresight Vector, a futures consultancy, and a founding partner at WhiteLabel Impact, a firm advising social enterprises. He has advised governments, corporations, and non-profits for thirty years on strategy development and implementation, foresight, and organizational change. Steven was the founding director of the Strategic Foresight Initiative at The Middle East Institute. Prior to his current roles, Steven was a Partner with a sixteen-year tenure in Toffler Associates, the consultancy founded by world-renowned futurist Alvin Toffler, and a Vice President at Monitor360 (formed from “Art of the Long View” author Peter Schwartz’s Global Business Network).

Florence Gaub

Florence is a French-German national and has worked as a futurist for international organisations such as the EU and NATO in various capacities. In 2019, she penned the EU’s Global Trends to 2030 report, and her book “The Future: Manual” became a bestseller in Germany.  Florence serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Complex Risks and is a member of the World Science Fiction Society. She holds a PhD from Humboldt University and degrees from Sciences Po Paris, the Sorbonne, and the University of Munich.
 

Ingrid LaFleur

Ingrid LaFleur is a futurist, curator, and cultural strategist exploring the intersections of emerging technology, race, and decolonization. With over 20 years of curatorial experience, she merges futures research with Afrofuturism to inspire transformative change. As Founder of The Afrofuture Strategies Institute (TASI), she advances equitable futures through foresight methodologies. Ingrid has presented at institutions like the Centre Pompidou, Harvard, and Oxford, with her work featured in The New York Times and Time magazine. She holds an MS in Foresight from the University of Houston.
 

John Sweeney

Dr. John A. Sweeney currently leads Future Foresight at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority of Dubai where he is an Education Expert in the Strategic Development Team. Previously, he served as the UNESCO Chair for Futures Studies in Anticipatory Governance and Sustainable Policymaking at Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.As a practitioner, consultant, and educator, John has organized, managed, and facilitated workshops and seminars, multi-stakeholder projects, and foresight games and simulations in 50+ countries on six continents in-person and online with participants from all over the world. 

Patrick Noack

Dr. Patrick Noack is Executive Director of the Dubai Future Institute at the Dubai Future Foundation, where he oversees the research team, the Dubai Future Academy, the UAE C4IR in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, and the Dubai Future Forum. He is Policy Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge and is a member of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region’s Technical Advisory Committee. Time permitting, he writes an opinion column in The National on foresight topics. Patrick holds a MSc in Social Policy from the LSE and a PhD from the University of Aberdeen.

Olga Tarasov

As Vice President of Inquiry & Insights, Olga leads Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ thought leadership efforts, developing original research and tools to accelerate philanthropic practices and innovation. In this capacity, Olga has lead hallmark programs, including the Theory of the Foundation and Strategic Time Horizons initiatives catalyzing knowledge, collaboration, and impact. She currently leads the Foresight & Futures Initiative to help philanthropy innovate, envision and build a better future. Olga holds a masters of international affairs from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s in international affairs from The George Washington University.

Our panel of judges is drawn from the Friends of the Forum group.

Prizes

We are seeking 3 finalists per category. Each finalist will receive

A Trip to Dubai to attend the Dubai Future Forum

Travel assistance will be provided for the successful finalists. In the event that a group of individuals are nominated, only one person per group will be eligible for travel assistance.

Award Recipients will gain

Prestigious Award Presentation

Awards will be handed over by a well-known figure in Dubai and/or in the global futures community.

publicity & Recognition

Winners will be included in Dubai Future Forum media and promotional materials, including on social media.

Dedicated Coverage

The Dubai Future Foundation will produce a short film series on each winner and the work for which they were awarded. 

Dubai Future Forum 2026 Engagement

Winners will be asked to contribute to a session, providing them with an opportunity to showcase their work.

Connect with Us

Dubai Future Forum
Global Futures Society
Phone
+971 50 4377995
Engage with us
#DubaiFutureForum

Dubai Foresight Awards

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