The New Abnormal

This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jan Berger, who advises business leaders on how to steer their companies towards a profitable future. He's the Founder & CEO of the renowned Themis Foresight in Berlin, which he founded to anticipate the economic, technological, social and political drivers of future change.The team at Themis are driven by the conviction that outstanding futures research is the crucial key to success for the strategic direction of Europe's economic and entrepreneurial elite.  They bring the results of this research to corporate clients via foresight, scenarios, roadmaps, and strategic design.  Jan is also President of the World Futures Studies Federation, the independent global peak body for Futures Studies Scholarship, an NGO and UNESCO partner founded in 1973. It operates as a global network of practicing futurists, including researchers, teachers, scholars, policy analysts, activists and others from approximately 60 countries. In our conversation, we discuss all of the above, during which Jan also covers a fascinating and incredibly ambitious initiative in which he's currently involved: 'The Industrial Renaissance Project'. So, I hope you enjoy listening to his viewpoints as much as I did!

This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Stephen Dupont, Principal at Dupont Foresight, who brings a futures mindset to marketing/communications planning and strategy. He also serves on the board of the nonprofit 'Teach the Future' and is a Future Fellow of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Stephen's expertise in foresight helps clients anticipate change – to see around corners, grab opportunities and avoid risks. Based in the US, he helps organisations communicate their visions of the future, by leveraging foresight tools to help leaders make smarter decisions. He's also editor of Compass, the quarterly magazine of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF). Stephen has also had more than 50 of his articles published about marketing, communications, foresight, future trends, creativity, content marketing, writing, and more over the past few years. Over his career, his work has also been honoured with over 50 awards. We discuss all of the above, along with his feedback on the latest annual Dubai Future Forum. So, I hope you enjoy listening to Stephen as much as I did!

Series FiveThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Erik Korsvik Ostergaard, who is a futures-thinker and strategic foresight consultant. He uses futures-thinking to be curious about current and coming trends, and to turn them into strategies. He focuses on transformation and the future of work, leadership, and collaboration; with a particular focus on the Life Science and Healthcare domains.Erik is also the author of "The Responsive Leader", "Teal Dots in an Orange World", and the newly published "Anticipatory Leadership". He’s also written articles for Thinkers50, Børsen, the Global Peter Drucker Forum, Fair Observer, India CSR, CEO World, Thrive - and others.In this interview, we discuss all of the above, and along the way, Erik also outlines some of the issues on which he lectured at the renowned Copenhagen Business School for over a decade.So…enjoy!

Series FiveThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Dr Isabella Hermann, a political scientist who analyses and speaks on the subject of science-fiction.She focuses particularly on how the genre reflects emerging technologies, socio-political value systems, and global politics. This includes various topics like artificial intelligence and robotics, climate change and Mars colonization, as well as mobility and education and many more. Isabella believes that essentially, science fiction provides a “commentary on the present from the future” on every issue that concerns us today. The narratives oscillating between the realistically imaginable and the metaphorical, offering two distinct levels of interpretation. This, she thinks, is what makes the genre so compelling and relevant for our current times.So, I hope you enjoy listening to her views in this wide-ranging discussion as much as I did!

Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Cynthia Scharf, a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Future Generations, a European think tank, leading their work on Climate Interventions. Issue of trust, global equity, behavioural psychology, archetypes and narrative are key to their  work.She served as the senior strategy director for the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative prior to the CFG, which focused on kickstarting international governance for solar geoengineering and large-scale carbon removals. Cynthia previously served as head of strategic comms and chief speechwriter on climate change for UN Secretary-General before, during and after the Paris Agreement. Previously to her work on climate change, Cynthia worked for the UN and international NGOs on global humanitarian emergencies. She began her career as a journalist in Moscow in the early 1990s covering the collapse of the communist system in the former USSR and Eastern Europe. Her articles on climate change and geopolitics have been published in major newspapers across the globe. She's a deeply interesting individual, so we discuss all of the above and more, in what I hope you'll find to be a fascinating conversation. 

Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Diana Stafie, founder of Future Station, the renowned strategic foresight consultancy that empowers organizations to navigate change, identify emerging trends, foster innovation, and effectively prepare for the future.Future Station specializes in guiding companies through scenarios-based strategic planning processes and equipping teams with the necessary skills to thrive in evolving realities. Their diverse client portfolio spans industries such as retail, telecom, banking, manufacturing, FMCG, and real estate, but also NGOs and public institutions.In addition to her role as a strategic foresight consultant, Diana actively engages in research projects and contribute to various think tank groups focused on future topics. She's passionate about sharing her insights and regularly contributes articles and interviews on Foresight, Trends, and Exponential Technologies to business publications.So, we discuss all of the above and more, in a discussion that also includes her impressions of the activity at, and the outputs from, the latest Dubai Future Forum.

Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Velislava Petrova, Chief Programme Officer at the Centre for Future Generations. She oversees CFG's technical and cross-cutting programs, monitoring impact, aligning with political priorities and identifying strategic directions. Velisalva is also an ex-Senior Policy Consultant with the World Health Organization, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Senior Manager at Gavi Vaccine Alliance, and a Disaster Risk Management Specialist with the World Bank. We discuss all the above and more in what I found to be a deeply interesting discussion - and I hope you enjoy listening to her views as much as I did.

Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jonathan Barth: Founder, Think-Tanker, Brussels Expert and Author of the forthcoming book #EscapingCollapse. His passion is to illuminate how Europe needs to respond to the geopolitical turn and make our institutions ready for a security and climate-disrupted world, with particular focus on financial, fiscal, industrial and energy policy.As a think tanker with various affiliations Jonathan maintains and works with a comprehensive network of high-level public officials and policy stakeholders in Brussels and Berlin; including the European Commission, the German government, governmental agencies, and international organisations such as the UN and the OECD.He's a Senior Fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute, Exec Chair of the Board at Geostrategic Europe, Co-founder and Senior Fellow at the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies, and Senior Strategic Advisor at the We Mean Business Coalition.Jonathan is a deeply informed individual, and I found the discussion (which also included an overview of his book, which blends the psychology of grief and economics) to be fascinating. I hope you do too!

Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Loes Damhof - UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies, award-winning pioneer in higher education, and TEDx speaker. As UNESCO Chair Futures Literacy in Higher Education, she designs, facilitates and researches learning spaces that are potentially transformative, where participants explore multiple futures to see the present anew. She uses the Futures Literacy Framework as developed by Riel Miller and applies/ modifies it for the larger public, where an 'openness to emergence' is her main drive and challenge, believing that is where new ways of being, thinking and acting can be explored.So, I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I did, as she discusses how to see the cracks in our thinking and stories, the need to imagine more futures, identify our assumptions, and enhance our perceptions regarding futures work and the discipline of anticipation...

Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features the author, academic and consultant Nardia Haigh, who has spent nearly two decades helping people navigate uncertainty using scenario planning. She has taught hundreds of people how to apply scenario planning methods, and advised individuals and organizations across corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. Her work has been referenced in articles published in outlets including Forbes, FastCompany, and Medium. Nardia holds a Ph.D. in Business Management from The University of Queensland, Australia, and brings a practical, real-world approach to managing uncertainty.In this episode (which coincides with the COP30 climate summit in Brazil) we therefore discuss her practical approach to consulting activity, and the insights illuminated in her writing and lecturing.