Looking Outside comes to you LIVE from the Dubai Future Forum, the largest gathering of futurists in the world.

In this conversation we talk about sustainable design with Arup's Director of Foresight, Josef Hargrave. Arup is focused on creating more sustainable built environments, and Josef speaks to how designing for the future needs to be anchored in decisions for the present, by understanding deeply the structural limitations and infrastructure of today.

Josef details several projects he's run for designing out to 2050 across geographies exploring building for cities, having worked in and with over 30 cities around the world. He boils success down to context: it's easy to identify what is changing in the world, but the effort should be in what it means to the project and stakeholders holding the brief. Contextualizing the environment you're designing for will influence how you design for the future and the future populations living in this infrastructure.

Jo and Josef also discuss how foresight done well should ultimately be about making yourself useful to the organization that you're a part of. As the company evolves over time, as Arup has in the 13 years Josef has been there, the application of foresight needs to evolve with it.

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If Josef was not a futurist, he would be an artist or designer. Or open a Chinese restaurant, so he can craft something by and for himself.

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Josef Hargrave is Global Foresight Leader responsible for the delivery of Arup’s foresight services, tools, and projects globally, leading a multi-disciplinary team of programme managers, designers, and consultants that specialise in trends research, design thinking, strategic planning, innovation programmes, thought leadership, and vision making for both internal and external clients. Over the past 10+ years, Josef has delivered projects in over 20 countries, working for some of the world's leading organisations in property, technology, chemicals, mobility, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer goods, and finance.

Outside of Arup, Josef is an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins as part of the MA for Innovation Management (London), a member of the World Cities Summit Science of Cities Knowledge Council (Singapore), a member of the International Panel of Experts at Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), a member of the Friends of the Forum at Dubai Future Foundation (Dubai), and a member of the Advisory Board at Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (Manchester).

Connect with Josef on LinkedIn
Learn more about Arup

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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.

Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.

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All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2023.

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