June 2010 News
Implications of the budget
First, apologies for the dry title: it feels like the puns have been taken a little too far, for example in the constant references to ‘axes’ across the front pages of all the major newspapers today.
These give a pretty clear sense of the overall tone of the budget. But how does that affect voluntary and community organisations, and more important, how can we anticipate and plan for the changes that may come as a result in the way we work, who we help, and who funds us?
<>Some major...Some Southern insight
NCVO Third Sector Foresight are very pleased with how recent training with South West Forum went and - judging from our feedback - so were the participants:
“I found the workshop very insightful & stimulating and would love to work with colleagues on this process”
During both sessions of tailored training for South West-based leaders and development workers for infrastructure organisations, delegates were encouraged to identify the external trends or forces (drivers) most relevant to them.
<><>Do...Reflections on yesterday's seminar
We had a great session yesterday afternoon at Third Sector Foresight’s latest Leading Lights seminar. If you weren’t able to make the session, I hope this will give you a taste of what you missed. If you were one of those taking part in a bursting-at-the-seams room, I’d welcome your comments on what most struck you about the speakers and the discussions. And if you’re interested in reading more, the links below will take you to drivers on key areas on our site.
<>Tessy Britton, our...From Einstein to economics
<>Such an apocalyptic view, from the mouth of a rather respected gentleman, has set many scientists, agriculture experts and others atwitter. For me it’s been a rather worrying thought, but one that I’ve trusted ‘the experts’ to sort out. Head in the sand approach maybe, but I don’t think I’d be alone in this. Similarly, there are many who see climate change and other environmental issues as...If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.
Past Foresight
Foresight from the past
<>I came across this report from the Policy Studies Institute the other day, which made for a fascinating read. Written in 1991, it was an in-depth study where PSI experts devoted their efforts to suggesting what a future in 2010 was most likely to look like. They bill it as ‘painstaking research on what is happening now in the different areas of the project's field of enquiry and how that has been changing; and making <>informed judgements of the likely changes in the...Set some trends
If you believe What the trend?, tracking Twitter’s trends is useful. So useful that they charge $450 per month to analyse the trends for you! Now, I’m not suggesting that any of you engage their services, however, the fact that this service is one of the many available to track the trends on twitter and other social networking sites indicates there is something else going on here, and something that might be worth the VCS having a look at.
<>Twitter trending (listing the topics that are...