Resilience Frontiers

Resilience Frontiers

2022

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where. the. future. is. Now. Resilience Frontiers shifts our thinking into the future, to move us towards a desirable world.

Because when we look at the future through a lens of what is possible, we see a flourishing world appear where people and nature can truly thrive.

It is a future towards which the eight pathways of change created by Resilience Frontiers are designed to take us.

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The starting point is to adjust our mindset towards a desirable future world and see how we get there, and what types of new systems can be catalysed in order to produce that future world.

Youssef Nassef, Director, Adaptation UNFCCC; and founder of Resilience Frontiers 3

8 Cross-cutting pathways 1

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2 Transforming humanity’s relationship with nature Promoting the human activities and approaches needed to ensure a sustained net-positive effect on nature.

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Lifelong learning for environmental stewardship Inspiring a shift in global consciousness to achieve a culture of learning that becomes the foundation on which we build a resilient world together.

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Ensuring universal equitable coverage of, and open-access to, (big) data and information Harnessing and scaling the immense power of frontier technologies in the collective interest of all.

Managing water and other natural resources equitably and inclusively Working together to protect, manage and nurture shared resources.

A roadmapping phase lies at the heart of the Resilience Frontiers methodology. In 2022, it will start to identify the first-mover pathway actions that will kickstart an irreversible paradigm shift towards a desirable future.

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6 Managing transboundary issues equitably Establishing collaborative relationships to move from an international to a global paradigm where needed to achieve global sustainability.

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Applying a holistic, ecosystem-centered approach to optimise future health and wellbeing Creating neighbourhoods that optimise human health and wellbeing using frontier technologies and breakthrough innovations.

Regenerative food production

Transforming financial instruments

Transitioning towards practices that help renew nature, confer resilience and ensure food security.

Prioritising the use of emerging technologies to evolve the financial system towards fostering environmental and human wellbeing.

Resilience Lab @COP 26 2021

Shifting mindsets, shaping the future was the theme of the Resilience Frontiers lab at COP 26 in Glasgow. One day was devoted to each pathway, with visitors to the pavilion taking part in interactive sessions and activities led by experts from all walks of life.

The sessions focussed on inspiring people to see the future through a transformational lens, and to imagine ways in which the eight pathways would catalyse a desirable world of permanent resilience and regenerative prosperity.

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Opening Day

Lab highlights by pathway

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Each day was introduced with an interactive workshop led

by Tia Kansara, CEO of Replenish Earth. During the first session on transforming humanity’s relationship with nature, people were asked to go on a meditative journey, starting from a resilient 2050 and working back to the present day.

Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat, who moderated the session, encouraged everyone to picture a future in which nature thrives and biodiversity sits at the heart of human life and activities.

In a workshop session led by Kirsten Dunlop, CEO, Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate- KIC) and Barna Barath, Supervisory Director, Climate-KIC, the focus was on each individual’s critical role as an environmental steward. They guided a group activity that showed participants that regardless of how disconnected someone feels from a group their actions are intrinsically linked to its wellbeing.

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Jen Ballie, Research Manager at Scotland’s V&A Dundee design museum, asked everyone inside the lab to use the moonshot method to build a picture in their mind of a thriving world. The exercise elicited visions of a future where empathy and mindfulness became guiding principles, allowing frontier technologies and citizen data initiatives to support the interests of communities.

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An interactive, youth-led event moderated by Gail Sant, United Nations Association Climate and Ocean Youth Ambassador, used storytelling to show how invisible borders destroy lives. Then the debate turned to the practical ways the world could co-exist to create a culture of collaboration at regional, national, and international levels.

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Songs and poems performed

by Liv Torc and Chris Redmond, the Hot Poets, explored the importance of cooperation, and touched on concepts of self-sovereignty and the ways resilience can be achieved, even in the toughest moments.

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We’ve got to rethink the very nature of our identity and challenge consumerist definitions of human value.

Professor Stephen Reicher, Royal Society of Edinburgh, University of St Andrews

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Sean Bradley, Clever Cities Programme Manager at Groundwork London, moderated a session that looked into ways ecosystem-based approaches can be applied to urban design. The panel session identified different ecosystem connections that could inspire nature-based urban planning, and explored the ways they could be scaled up to have a global impact.

7 Kim Stanley Robinson, the acclaimed science fiction author, contributed hugely to the programme. Here he reads from his latest book: The Ministry of the Future.

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In a panel session moderated by Sheila Ochugboju, Lead Consultant at the Network for African Women Environmentalists, indigenous food systems were showcased as game changers for resilient food production.

In a session chaired by Robert Filipp, Founder and President of Innovative Finance Foundation, there was consensus on the need for a seismic shift to take place within economic systems, with debate turning to the development of systems that promote long-term collaboration instead of competition, and mobilise capital in the best interests of people and the planet.

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Yes, we can really do something, not just in the way we’ve always done it, but to really shift our paradigm and challenge the decisions we were making before.

Loes Damhof, senior lecturer, Futures Literacy, Hanze University of Applied Science

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The journey so far 2018 COP 24: Preparatory meetings were held to consult with stakeholders on the design of the Resilience Frontiers process.

2018-2020

2019

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Songdo, South Korea, April 2019: This was a milestone moment for Resilience Frontiers. A foresight-driven event brought together 100 visionary thinkers from diverse backgrounds to take part in a brainstorming and collective intelligence process. Going beyond the conventional limits in thinking, these futurists, policymakers, NGOs, business leaders and academics used future-led thinking to address drivers of change, including frontier technologies, biotechnology, and the emerging sustainability ethos; the basic needs of human beings, such as water, food, health, nature, and human security; and institutional arrangements related to finance, education, law and governance, human habitats, and values. Through a holistic approach and using foresight methodologies they laid the groundwork for eight paradigm-shifting pathways towards desirable futures.

2019

Resilience Lab at COP 25:

Dozens of events were held over 11 days to engage stakeholders. Visitors to the lab learned about each of the pathways and discovered how they could be part of Resilience Frontiers.

During one open and interactive dialogue at COP 25 on ‘Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing’ participants from a diverse range of backgrounds debated ways citizens could live up to their responsibility as stewards of healthy ecosystems that are able to provide for the wellbeing of all. While another dialogue, ‘2050: A Vision of Transformed Food Systems for People and the Planet’ explored ways regenerative food systems could contribute to a world where people live in harmony with nature.

2018-2020

2019

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Resilience Frontiers Dialogues:

In October 2019, during the Asia Pacific Climate Week, Resilience Frontiers hosted a dialogue on indigenous values. And in December 2019 another dialogue was held on the subject of ecosytems and human wellbeing.

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2020

Virtual Resilience Lab:

At a time when COVID-19 had the world in lockdown, Resilience Frontiers led a virtual lab series to engage global thought leaders. The outputs from this series fed into the roadmapping phase of the initiative.

Roadmapping Meeting:

Resilience Frontiers met with the objective of fine tuning the methodology for identifying the top transformative actions for each of the eight pathways.

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2018-2020

Bright Lights:

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In 2020 work began identifying a rapidly growing number of innovations, companies, organizations, and projects, which are already leading the way in creating a desirable future. These changemakers exemplify the best practices in working with future-focused values and will be showcased as part of a Resilience Frontiers Bright Lights ecosystem that can inform and inspire others to innovate in alignment with the pathways.

Connect

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where. the. future. is. Now.

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