Overview of the Millennium Project

The Millennium Project
- Brief Overview -

Chinese French Finnish German Ibo Japanese Korean Spanish

The Millennium Project provides an international capacity for early warning and analysis of global long-range issues, opportunities, and strategies. It was initiated by the Smithsonian Institution, The Futures Group International, and the United Nations University (UNU). 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 was created through a three-year feasibility study funded by the U.S. EPA, UNDP, and UNESCO. This study, to which participated over 200 futurists and scholars from about 50 countries, concluded that the purpose of the Project should be to assist in organizing futures research, up-date and improve global thinking about the future, and make that thinking available through a variety of media for consideration in public policy making, advanced training, public education, and feedback to create cumulative wisdom about potential futures. Today, the Project accomplishes these ends by connecting individuals and institutions around the world to collaborate on research to address important global challenges. 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, eight of the ten 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:

On-going assessment of what are the most significant long-range issues and opportunities, as well as focused analysis of policies and agencies to address them;
Communications network of futurists and scholars with an international information system of futures research that provides public access;
The annual State of the Future report (based on an integration of others' forecasts and the Project's own work, and built on the foundation of the previous years' reports);
Special studies such as Future Issues of Science and Technology, Futures Research Methodology, Middle-East Peace Scenarios, Environmental Security, Education and Learning to the year 2030, Future Global Ethical Issues, Lessons and Questions from History, and Future of Africa;
Advanced training in the methodology and analysis of critical issues, opportunities, and challenges of the future.

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), Brazil (Sao Paulo), Brussels-Area (Brussels), Central Europe (Prague, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovak Republic), Canada (Kingston and Montreal), Chile (Santiago), China (Beijing), Cybernode (Maui), 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 City), Russian Federation (Moscow), Silicon Valley (US), Slovenia (Ljubljana), South Africa (Pretoria-Johannesburg), UAE (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.

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. Sponsors for the operational program have been Alan F. Kay & Hazel Henderson Foundation for Social Innovation; Amana Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Applied Materials, Santa Clara, California; Army Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI), Arlington, Virginia; 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; Hughes Space and Communications, Los Angeles, California; Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri; Motorola Corporation, Schaumbers, Illinois; Pioneer Hi-Bred International, West Des Moines, Iowa; 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.

The Project has produced the methodology series: Futures Research Methodology; the annual State of the Future reports, and a six part series: Africa in 2025. Other researches are available at Books and Reports and Special Studies.

Short power point presentation of the Millennium Project

Millennium Project Flyer

Millennium Project Planning Committee members

Self-subscription to the project's public listserv: see http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/listserv.html

For more detailed information: e-mail Project Director, Jerome C. Glenn at: jglenn@igc.org

Return to Millennium Project Home Page