User:Oliviahageus/Institute for Futures Studies

The Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS) is a Swedish independent research institute established by the Swedish government in 1987. The institute conducts policy-relevant, interdisciplinary research on important future issues and contributes to public discourse through its seminar and publication activities.

Activity
The Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS) is tasked with conducting futures studies, promoting a future perspective in research, and managing and developing theory and methods within the field of future studies. In addition, the institute is expected to stimulate an open and broad discussion about future opportunities and threats in societal development, as well as inform decision-makers.

IFFS is partly financed by the Ministry of Education through a grant from the state budget, but primarily through external research funding.

Research
The research is guided by overarching research programs developed by the current CEO and approved by the board. The current research program is titled "Humanity's Choices - Democracy, Technology, Society, and Future Generations," and it is designed by Gustaf Arrhenius. The research program is structured around four main themes which overlap each other:


 * 1) Future generations;
 * 2) The challenges and opportunities of democracy;
 * 3) The societal impact of new technologies;
 * 4) The socially sustainable society.

All topics are interdisciplinary and involve researchers from a range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, including philosophy, political science, sociology, economics, business administration, demography, psychology, law, history, mathematics, environmental science, computer science, developmental biology, and artistic research. The aim is to use theoretical ideas and empirically oriented research to generate results that are relevant in policy formation.

External activity
In addition to conducting research, the Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS) has a mission to engage in research communication. The institute organises seminars and artistic events, publishes articles and other publications, and produces podcasts and informational videos, often in collaboration with other organisations both within and outside of academia.

An example of collaboration is the long-term partnership with the Swedish Research Council, which involves the production of four seminars per year under the title "Public Conversations, Researchers Meet Practitioners." Here, researchers present their findings in a relevant area, which are later discussed by individuals working practically with the issue at hand. IFFS seminars are also often recorded by the Educational Broadcasting Company (Utbildningsradion) and made available through UR Play and Kunskapskanalen.

As part of the mission to inform decision-makers, IFFS, in collaboration with the Society for Members of Parliament and Researchers (RIFO), has organised seminars in the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen).

Several times a month, IFFS organises open scientific seminars where prominent international researchers in various fields and disciplines are invited to present their findings and participate in interdisciplinary dialogue. The seminars are open for the public to attend both in person and online, and many of them are published on IFFS's YouTube channel.

Moreover, IFFS also organises events related to so-called artistic research. An example of this is the collaboration with the artist duo Bigert&Bergström, Rikstolvan, and Liljevalchs Art Gallery during the summer of 2022. The starting point was humanistic and social science research on climate issues, which resulted in an eight-meter-high installation named "Tipping Point" exhibited in Österlen in Skåne and in Galärparken on Djurgården in Stockholm. Several seminars on the topic were conducted in conjunction with the exhibition.

Since 2014, IFFS has been a collaborative partner with the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP), a panel that brings together hundreds of researchers from the social sciences and humanities to develop solutions to significant societal challenges. The goal is to publish reports that are accessible, interdisciplinary, politically independent, and action-oriented. The first report was published in 2018 by Cambridge University Press, and in connection with this, IFFS organized six workshops with the authors of the articles and a number of open seminars.