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This article begins with a reprint of interviews from the November/December 1995 issue of Planning Review (the previous identity of Strategy & Leadership.). In those interviews, four leading futurists — Ian Wilson, Oliver Markley, Joseph Coates, and Clement Bezold — discussed the critical issues they believed were facing business leaders in the first decade of the twenty‐first century, the strategic implications of these issues, and how business leaders should respond. Their original remarks are followed by their current thoughts about what progress has been made in five years and how the critical issues may have changed in that time.

New technologies are posing new challenges to social science. Their very novelty also challenges the established methods that social research institutions have used to define their priorities. The UK’s Economic and Social research Council (ESRC) confronted these challenges, in part, by commissioning a futures study. It engaged the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) and the Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC), to develop quickly a process for informing the choice of social science research priorities related to genomics. Four major reports were developed as background inputs to a scenario workshop process. As well as outlining a set of scenarios for the development of the genomics field, reports covered genomic applications, forecasts for drivers shaping genomics, and how the ESRC’s “thematic priorities” might relate to developments in genomics in the coming years. With this input and using advanced “groupware”, the scenario workshop identified five priority areas focused on how research should be conducted and 11 priority topics for what research is needed.

This paper develops four alternative scenarios depicting possible futures for genomics applications within a broader social context. The scenarios integrate forecasts for future genomics applications with key drivers that are shaping genomics. Each scenario is a narrative depiction of an alternative path towards four very different futures for genomics. The scenarios are intended to give the user the a framework to explore and test their assumptions about the future of genomics, and help them explore the wider interactions between genomics applications and society. Scenario 1, “genomics, inc.”, is a “best guess extrapolation” of key drivers shaping genomics. Scenario 2, “broken promises”, explores hard times for genomics. Scenario 3, “out of our control”, explores the opportunities and challenges brought about by the globalisation of genomics. Scenario 4, “genomics for all”, explores the successful and visionary development of genomics.

The purpose of this paper is to conclude the special issue on the topic of pro‐poor foresight.

The paper takes the form of a draft synthesis statement and selected recommendations to emerge from the “Foresight for smart globalization” workshop.

There is a need for change at all levels of governance to address the challenges of global poverty, and efforts are needed to foster and improve national foresight capacities.

Adding poverty as an explicit dimension of existing and future foresight activities is a key component of fostering pro‐poor decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of smart globalization and identify links with the Rockefeller Foundation's philanthropic activities in a number of areas, including health, climate change, urbanization, economic insecurities, and basic survival needs.

The paper addresses how a new conceptualization of globalization intersects with the field of foresight by describing the Rockefeller Foundation's approach to addressing complex issues of human development.

A forward looking research component is a valuable organizational structure that can add value by tracking and monitoring current and emerging trends relevant to the Foundation's strategic framework, operational initiatives, and areas of work.

The paper suggests a closer interaction of foresight and development experts and practitioners by suggesting that individuals in both disciplines need to work more closely together to coherently address the multitude, interlocking global challenges of the 21st century.

The paper introduces the notion of “smart globalization” to the foresight community and details how this mindset has influenced and directed the ongoing work of the Rockefeller Foundation.

In the absence of new policies, global trends in energy supply and consumption are unsustainable all around. Today, roughly 2.6 billion people use fuelwood, charcoal, agricultural waste and animal dung to meet most of their daily energy needs for cooking and heating. There are 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, equal to over a quarter of the world population. The purpose of this paper is to present pro‐poor solutions for addressing the crippling impacts of current global energy use on the world's poorest people.

The paper lays out scenarios for global energy demand and greenhouse‐gas emissions and highlights the impact of these trends on developing countries. Based largely on publications and research from the International Energy Agency, it shows that better targeted subsidies, capacity building, integrated policy approaches and improvements in data collection can help to alleviate the impacts of current energy use on health and the environment.

Decisive action is needed to expand energy access and to arrest the potential impacts of climate change in poor countries. It is demonstrated here that investments in programs that are tailored to promoting development and addressing climate change simultaneously can be successfully deployed.

There is an urgent need for policymakers in rich and poor countries to join together and tackle the global energy and climate challenges, and, as this paper shows, pro‐poor foresight is needed to ensure that these challenges are met in an equitable and sustainable way.