APA Foresight

APA Foresight helps planners navigate change and prepare for an uncertain future.

With foresight in mind, planners can guide change, create more sustainable and equitable outcomes, and establish themselves as critical to a thriving community.

APA Foresight is about understanding drivers of change that are outside of our control, how we can prepare for them, and when it is time to act. Let's use the future to create great communities for all!

Interested in learning more? Reach out to Petra Hurtado, Chief Foresight and Knowledge Officer, or Zhenia Dulko, Foresight Manager.

 

2024 Trend Report for Planners

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APA Foresight

The 2024 Trend Report for Planners, developed in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, features more than 100 existing, emerging, and potential future trends that APA identified as relevant to planning. The trends are structured within three timeframes (Act Now, Prepare, Learn, and Watch), which indicate the urgency of planners' actions.

Trend Report Honored

IF Awards logo

APA's annual Trend Report for Planners, created in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, received an IF Award for Implementation from the Association of Professional Futurists for using strategic foresight methods to prepare communities.

APA Trend Universe

All trends and signals from 2024, 2023 and 2022 Trend Reports are now also available online in APA's Trend Universe where they will be regularly updated, reflecting the accelerating pace of change of today and tomorrow. Here, you can find existing trends (act on them now!), emerging trends (start preparing for them!), and potential future trends (keep watching and learn more about them!), all organized around seven general themes.

 

APA Foresight

Using the Future to Create Dynamic Plans gives planners the ability to imagine multiple plausible futures, use the future in their work, and plan with the future. This interactive self-paced training includes how to use strategic foresight in planning with applicable tools and methodologies to equip planners with the essential skills needed to navigate change and understand how future uncertainties may impact communities.

Foresight Communities

A Foresight Community is a multidisciplinary group of experts who meet regularly through a series of facilitated workshops. The community members are thought leaders in their fields and are chosen based on their ability to provide forward-thinking perspectives. APA currently convenes two types of Foresight Communities: "deep dive" communities on specific foresight topics (such as the recently concluded community on Artificial Intelligence) and a Trend Scouting Community dedicated to trend scouting and horizon scanning.

 

Recent Publications

 

Topics We're Exploring

Artificial Intelligence

autonomous mobility

cLIMATE CHANGE

digitalization and smart cities


Making Sense of the Future