News
Small Foundation is delighted to announce a new partnership with the School of International Futures (SOIF), supporting the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners (NGFP) network in Africa.
Strategic foresight, the practice of exploring possible, probable and preferable futures to inform better decision-making today, is recognised as a critical skill for leaders, policymakers and practitioners seeking to build more resilient, inclusive systems. And yet the practice of foresight in planning and decision-making tends to get crowded out or neglected and is under-resourced. SOIF has initiated and coordinated the NGFP network since 2018 as a global initiative that develops foresight expertise and leadership among young and early-career practitioners.
This partnership deepens our commitment to the work of NGFP, which we have supported in various ways since 2020 as part of our commitment to fostering connected, transparent and learning ecosystems. Since then, the network has grown from an awards-based initiative into a global network of over 1,000 members, supported by dedicated network weaving, regional and thematic hubs, and structured learning and mentoring programmes.
The NGFP African Regional Hub has grown by more than 70% since 2022, now bringing together over 300 members and generating early signals of systemic change. The Hub is shifting how foresight is practised, funded and applied across the continent, and helping members engage with decision-makers on issues from food systems and rural resilience to digital governance and AI policy.
Over the next three years, our support will help the NGFP network deepen this work: strengthening trust and connection between members, investing in the network’s collective infrastructure, and expanding opportunities for members to build capacity, share their voice, and access decision-makers and funding. This includes exploring the establishment of an Africa Foresight Academy, strengthening locally grounded methods of practicing foresight, and supporting a new storytelling initiative to capture and share the network’s impact.
Reflecting on the partnership, Cat Tully, Founder of the School of International Futures said:
“There are friendships and collaborations that profoundly shape our journeys – influencing our practice, deepening our thinking, and helping us better articulate and understand our purpose. SOIF and the NGFP network has gained so much from our years of partnership with Small Foundation – who have offered us not only their financial resources, but generously shared their networks, built our confidence and capability in storytelling and learning, and experimented with new ways of working with us.
We are phenomenally excited to enter this new phase of the relationship to deepen practice, identity and impact of futures and foresight across Africa, to experiment and capture some of our approaches to network-weaving (which is often underappreciated and invisible), and to work with our network members to translate their observations, experiences and visions into insights that today’s decision-makers sit up and pay attention to”.
To learn more about the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners network, visit NGFP’s website or explore the NGFP Africa Regional Hub.
