The Millennium Project is a global non-profit association that has been fundamental in contributing to the introduction in Chile of strategic foresight and futures studies, in the academic and public sector fields. In 2007, the Chile Node was created, chaired by Prof. Héctor Casanueva, during the visit of Jerome Glenn, Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez and Luis Ragno, from Argentina and José Cordeiro from Venezuela. On that occasion, a seminar was held with the Ministry of Planning, the 2007 edition of the State of the Future was presented in Spanish, and a meeting was held with the president of the Senate and former president of Chile, Eduardo Frei, during which it was raised the proposal to create a "Future Commission" in the Senate, like the one in Finland. With Senator Guido Girardi, president of the created "Commission of the Future" the Node collaborated in the launch of the international event "Congress of the Future" in 2011, which is held annually and is now in its 11th version. The activities of the MP have continued to date, with seminars, publications and contributed to the creation of the Chilean Council for Prospective and Strategy. Likewise, the Node contributes to disseminating the studies and proposals of the MP, and has recently contributed to proposing to the UN SG the creation of an Office of Strategic Threats.
The Millennium Project is an inclusive and democratic organization that helped our team at the Polish Society of Futures Studies and 4CF Strategic Foresight from Poland go out on blue waters of futures studies... but most importantly learn, learn, learn and profit from our colleagues experience. The Millennium Project work is important for world futures and beneficial to foresight practitioners from all over the world, including countries in transition. Selfless service of Jerome C. Glenn, the president of TMP merits a separate, special citation. He is a relentless promoter of futures thinking and futures research.
Around the turn of the Millennium, I learned about The Millennium Project and the visionary work that they were involved with. Since then, I got more involved and helped in several projects that have had real impact in different countries, including long-term plans, government proposals, scenarios, futures trends and much more. Today, The Millennium Project is certainly the leading global think tank for humanity, with participants and contributors from many nodes around the world. If The Millennium Project didn´t already exist, it would have to be created for the improvement of humanity, our planet and beyond.
The Millennium Project is one of the most vibrant, active, and impactful collective intelligence foresight communities in the world. It had impacted global and regional public policy narratives and conversations at different levels. Its openness and pool of foresight expertise are one of the best in the world. The support it had provided to almost 67 TMP nodes including the Philippines helped me gain the necessary support to drive interest in foresight and build future awareness and capacities in applied foresight and eventually societal praxis. The entire TMP community and especially the core team in Jerome Glenn, Elizabeth Florescu, Theodore Gordon, and others have made foresight practice highly global, accessible, and respectable in the sense that it can inform high-level public policy and strategy. Building a network of global foresight intelligence like the TMP is definitely not an easy feat. These among other initiatives i.e. World future day, SOFI, Work/Technology Report 2050, that TMP has done over the years continue to benefit global foresight practitioners like me including advocates, activists, experts, planners, technology, and policy-makers. The Philippine Futures Thinking Society has in many ways gained a lot of knowledge and expertise, support and love from the TMP community.
The Millennium Project gives knowledge, competences and time to projects and activities that help improve humanity’s prospects for building a better future. The members of its network, supported by the extraordinary futuristic minds of Glenn, Gordon and Florescu, do that by conducting futures studies, like the recent Work/Technology 2050, that usually involve hundreds of experts from various fields, and by defining, applying and sharing consolidated and new methodology that improves their results, like the ones included in Futures Research Methodology, one of the most comprehensive collection of futures research methods I know. They do that also by encouraging participatory collective intelligence methods and systems, like its themp.org. I have been involved with the Millennium Project since 2007 through its Italian node and having the chance to help its vision is a privilege, it keeps opening my mind. I think that this “transinstitution” is unique in many ways and its global studies are fundamental for addressing our common challenges, constantly updated in the State of the Future since 1997. We all need the MP to keep improving our futures thinking by making that thinking available for all.
Since the late 1990's as a physician, and an Associate with the Millennium Project I have focused on researching and using the Millennium Project's 15 Challenges of the Future project as a teaching source for classes at all levels of education: Elementary through Adult. The ongoing depth, breadth, research reliability and scholarship of this Global Futures Information System (GFIS) data base is unique and forms an excellent ..ready-made... curriculum for a 12 or 6 week course. This unique broad vision from 15 perspectives of Global Futures and Worldview.....has received excellent reviews at all levels. This resource reflects the 25+ year commitment, dedication and expertise of Jerry Glenn, Ted Gordon and Elizabeth Flourescu “for the Good of Humanity.”
Tom Murphy MD
My first interaction with Jerry was a quick insight into the world of futures. And what a journey has it been. The Millennium Project founders Jerry and Ted both helped us with their technical knowledge for Pakistan State of Future Index report, an inaugural version launched in 2017 with a follow-up edition in 2019. A report which every country must do in the The Millennium Project has a fascinating network of individuals and institutions focused on setting the agenda for the future. This unique network has produced some of the most insightful work in futures thinking always looking ahead of time and space. Their futures research methodology 3.0 manual is one of the best guides for policy and strategy development. Working with the Millennium Project has helped me personally expand my approach towards alternate futures, the frameworks required the dimensions which are needed to be considered. This has benefited my work in Pakistan tremendously.
El Centro Latinoamericano de Globalización y Prospectiva se creó como resultado del Primer Seminario de Aprendizaje Interactivo apoyado en el Aula Digital sobre el tema "Globalización y Prospectiva" destinado a Rectores y Altos Ejecutivos del Área de la Educación Superior de Colombia desarrollado entre los días 15 y 25 de Setiembre de 1996, en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Constituído como nodo inicial del Millennium Project, ha desarrollado una continua actividad desde la presentación y traducción al español del informe "1997 State of the Future", en Argentina al mismo tiempo de su lanzamiento en Washington DC.
La dilatada labor de 25 años incluyó: realizar traducciones del inglés al español, difundir los informes y estudios realizados por el Proyecto. Se organizaron congresos internacionales, cursos, asesoramiento a organismos internacionales. Se formalizaron convenios con universidades y se impulsó la creación de nodos en diversos países de la región: Brasil, Chile, uruguay, entre otos y se generó la creación de centros de investigación, que constituyeron nuevos nodos en el país en Mendoza, Catamarca. Más de un centenar de cursos dictados a lo largo de estos 25 años, junto a la publicación de otros cientos de artículos periodísticos de difusión y libros han sido actividades realizadas con el apoyo en los estudios y métodos desarrollados por el Millennium Project.
In the early 1980's, I became lead analyst for the long-term future at EIA/DOE, and was asked to evaluate all the important global foresight and modeling systems. The Millennium Project has always played a unique and important role in that area for the entire world. So many "futures experts" spend most of their time in one place, while the MP has always interacted in real time with major serious nodes all over the world, creating a unique two-way flow of essential information, which was useful to me in global activities at NSF 1988-2015. We need them more than ever, as they spearhead a new global activity and network of dialogue important to our very survival: See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SeTbYDFvXZmrP0Cf4QYVX04a0Pz0IrY-/view?usp=drive_web (a video to help BOTH sides in Chile's new national elections).
The Millennium Project was a milestone in my professional life, as soon as I started my Masters in Future Studies, a new and poorly understood profession at the time in 2000 I was recommended to connect with Jerome Glenn and Ted Gordon, the founders, and much of that. I know and what I grew professionally was through the Millennium Project and these two great world futurists, tireless fighters for the good of the world, many studies have already been done with very high scientific content and relevance for leaders from all sectors. Having contact with what the Millennium Project produces is to broaden the vision of the future and be strengthened with organized and very well analyzed information. I would like this think-tank to have enough financial sustainability to last many, many years, at this time of multi-crisis governments, NGOs and companies need subsidies that the Millennium Project offers. There has to be a lot of worldwide support.
Since 2004, I´ve been involved with the Millennium Project and its top leaders Jerome C. Glenn, Theodore J. Gordon, and Elizabeth Florescu. Thanks to their support, over 17 years, I have managed to promote the foresight culture in Mexico and develop practical projects with global impact such as FUTURES, the first world foresight encyclopedic dictionary, the MILLENNIUM PRIZE AND THE WORLD MILLENNIUM PRIZE for students and teachers with a penetration in 110 countries of the world, the book FUTURES MEXICO by 2050 that addresses the holistic impact of the 15 Challenges of the Millennium Project in our country and is a replicable model for checking menaces and opportunities, and the new book in progress LATIN AMERICA 2050. 15 CHALLENGES, which also will be a replicable regional model. The Millennium Project and its projects allow us continuous learning and provide us new visions and tools to make our foresight work more efficient.
The Millennium Project is an international network of experts in foresight and forecasting (70 country nodes), who share a common interest in planning for a sustainable future for life around the globe. I have made many friends through shared experiences at meetings and online activities, including with people whose countries are often currently at competitive odds. We count on each other to help provide professional inputs into Delphi studies, scenarios, roadmapping, and open scanning. Our World Futures Day every year, on March 1st, is a 24-hour honest and enlightening sharing of views, not without some debate, among people whose views don’t often get heard. I encourage anyone to find the Node in your country, or to form one, if there isn’t one, and to join the discussion.
I have been involved in the MP activities and followed its research outputs for many years. The MP handbook of Futures Research methods is probably the best source of knowledge in the Futures / Foresight field, as is the annual comprehensive "State of the Future" study. One of the most interesting and valuable studies in the recent years was Work-Tech2050: alternative scenarios concerning the future of work, and their policy implications. These reports are certainly a "must" for any organisation/government/individual interested in the impact of new technologies on future employment/work/culture etc.
I am involved in the Millennium Project activities since 2009, as a co-chair of the Greek Node. Although I had an experience of NGOs before, I was not expecting to find such a sound, professional but still completely voluntary commitment of members around the globe, participating in various initiatives for the good of humanity. Being a member literally changed my life and career!