The Millennium Project is a global participatory futures research think-tank organized as an independent, interdisciplinary, transinstitutional, and multicultural information system, providing an international capacity for early warning and analysis of global long-range issues, opportunities, and strategies. It is a “strategic global intelligence” that interconnects global and local perspectives through its network of 32 Nodes. The purposes of the Millennium Project are to assist in organizing futures research, to improve thinking about the future, and to make that thinking available through a variety of media for consideration in policymaking, advanced training, public education, and feedback -- ideally to accumulate wisdom about potential futures.
The Project was initiated by the Smithsonian Institution, The Futures Group International, and the United Nations University (UNU). It was created through a three-year feasibility study funded by the U.S. EPA, UNDP, and UNESCO, in which participated over 200 futurists and scholars from about 50 countries. Phase 1 of the feasibility study began in 1992 with funding from U.S. EPA to identify and link futurists and scholars around the world to create the initial design of the Project and conduct a first test on population and environmental issues. In 1993/94 during Phase II, a series of reports were created on futures research methodology and long-range issues important to Africa, funded by UNDP. Phase III, conducted in 1994/95 under the auspices of the UNU/WIDER and funded by UNESCO concluded with the final feasibility study report. Today, the Project accomplishes its mandate by connecting individuals and institutions around the world to collaborate on research to address important global challenges. Since 1996, about 2,500 futurists, scholars, decisionmakers, and business planners from over 50 countries contributed with their views to the Millennium Project research.
The project is not a one-time study of the future, but provides an on-going capacity as a geographically and institutionally dispersed think tank. It was selected among the 100 Best Practices by UN Habitat, among best 7 foresight organizations by US Office of Energy, ten of the twelve annual State of the Future reports were selected by Future Survey as among the year's best books on the future, and the international journal Technological Forecasting & Social Change dedicates several entire issues to the annual State of the Future.
The Millennium Project's primary products include:
Millennium Project products include: Futures Research Methodology; the annual State of the Future reports, Environmnetal Security studies; State of the Future Index; a six part series Africa in 2025; World Leaders on Global Challenges; and other researches available at Books and Reports and Special Studies.
The Project works with U.N. Organizations, governments, corporations, NGOs, universities, and individuals. To interconnect global and local thinking, regional "Nodes" (groups of individuals and institutions) have been established to conduct the work of the project located in Argentina (Buenos Aires); Australasia (Melbourne, Australia); Azerbaijan (Baku); Bolivia (La Paz/Santa Cruz); Brazil (Sao Paulo); Brussels-Area (Brussels); Central Europe (Prague, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovak Republic); Canada; Chile (Santiago); China (Beijing); Cyber Node, Internet; Egypt (Cairo); Finland (Helsinki); France (Paris); Germany (Essen/Berlin); Gulf Region (Kuwait); India (New Delhi and Madurai); Iran (Tehran); Italy (Rome); Japan (Tokyo); Korea (Seoul); Mexico, Mexico; Peru (Lima); Russian Federation (Moscow); Silicon Valley (US); Slovenia (Ljubljana); South Africa (Pretoria-Johannesburg); Turkey (Istanbul); United Arab Emirates (Dubai); UK (London); Venezuela (Caracas); Washington, DC (coordinating office). To connect research to implementation, policy leaders are interviewed by the Project's Nodes as part of the assessment of proposed actions to address issues and opportunities.
Sponsors for the operational program have been Alan F. Kay & Hazel Henderson Foundation for Social Innovation, St. Augustine, Florida; Amana Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Applied Materials, Santa Clara, California; Army Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI), Arlington, Virginia; Azerbaijan Ministry of Communications, Baku, Azerbaijan; Dar Almashora for Consulting, Kuwait (for Kuwait Oil Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Deloitte & Touche LLP, Cleveland, Ohio; Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan; Foundation for the Future, Bellevue, Washington; General Motors, Warren, Michigan; Hershey Company, Hershey, Pennsylvania; Hughes Space and Communications, Los Angeles, California; KOREA 2050 (for South Korean Presidential Commission on Education; South Korean Ministry of Education; Ministry of Budget; and South Korean Ministry of Planning); Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri; Motorola Corporation, Schaumbers, Illinois; Pioneer Hi-Bred International, West Des Moines, Iowa; The Rockefeller Foundation, New York, NY; Shell International, (Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company), London, United Kingdom; UNU, Tokyo, Japan; UNDP, New York, NY; UNESCO, Paris, France; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, D.C.; U.S. Department of Energy Washington, D.C.; Foresight and Governance Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C; World Bank (through World Perspectives Inc.), Washington, DC.
Short power point presentation of the Millennium Project
Millennium Project
Planning Committee members
For more detailed information: e-mail Millennium Project Director, Jerome C.
Glenn at: jglenn@igc.org
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