Date of launch: 2023
Network Chair: Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, SAFN Executive Director, Chair of the Sri Lanka Node
Objectives:
SAFN has representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Its purpose is to create a regional foresight capacity for joint futures research to improve cooperation and synergies among all nations of the region.
SAFN was launched due to four challenges in the region:
- Lack of Futures Research and applications of futures methods in multiple sectors, from Government, Civil society, and Academia to Private Sector;
- The absence of a South Asia unified platform to exchange future studies and their application;
- To become a ‘One Stop Shop’ of Futures research knowledge of South Asia — a repository of data and information for futures researchers and other stakeholders;
- Support South Asian Think Tanks to develop their own Futures Studies knowledge by connecting them with the network of the global futures think tanks in the countries comprising The Millennium Project.
Recent activities:
- SAFN new website in Thailand for the region
- SAFN Monographic Series: 2023 Volume 1, “The baneful existence of Chinese sea cucumber farms in Sri Lanka“.
- Establishment of the Economic Crime and Geopolitics Center(ECGC) — News
- Dedicated page for ECGC
- Release of the preliminary Economic Crime and Geopolitics Index(ECGI) — News
- What is ECGI Introduction video by Asanga Abeyagoonasekera — YouTube
- ECGI Information and Key Insights
Members:
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- Dr. Puruesh Chaudhary, Chair of the Pakistan Node
- Dr. Pramod Jaiswal, Chair of the Nepal Node
- Dr Smruti Pattanaik, Chair of the India Node
- Prof. Swaran Singh, JNU Professor for International Relations
- Maj. Gen. Muniruzzaman from the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Think Tank
- Ambassador Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed from Maldives to Washington
- Ambassador Ashraf Haidari from Afghanistan
- Ms. Lily Wangchuk, Bhutan