Trees planted today will still be standing in 2080. We're collecting signals from the edges of the present to imagine the forests of the future.
Horizon scanning is a technique for identifying weak signals — early, uncertain indicators of change that may become significant over time. Unlike traditional forecasting, it doesn't try to predict a single future. It listens for many possible ones.
This platform invites people across forestry, land use, policy and beyond to share what they are noticing at the edges — however uncertain, however distant. Every signal contributes to a richer picture of the futures English woodland policy must be ready for.
Futures thinking asks not what will happen, but what could happen — and what should we be ready for? Here are three places to start.
The UK Government Office for Science's practical guide to futures thinking for policymakers — covering horizon scanning, scenario building, trend analysis and more. The definitive starting point for anyone new to the field.
The GO-Science Foresight Blog brings together practitioners across government sharing how they identify and act on weak signals of change — from migration policy to emerging technologies and environmental futures.
An accessible introduction to why governments and organisations increasingly turn to foresight methods — and why traditional forecasting so often falls short when facing long-term complexity and deep uncertainty.
This horizon scan is part of a masters dissertation at Bangor University examining why England has consistently failed to meet its woodland creation ambitions — and what a more imaginative approach to policy futures might look like.
Persistent ambition–delivery gaps in English forestry policy suggest a failure of anticipatory imagination. Foresight methods offer a way to map plausible futures, reveal hidden assumptions, and stress-test policy against deep uncertainty.
All signals will be anonymised, categorised by PESTLE theme, and used to structure a practitioner foresight workshop. Findings will be published as part of an open-access masters dissertation.
Forestry practitioners, land managers, policymakers, researchers, ecologists, planners — and anyone who pays attention to how land, climate, society and economy are changing. No foresight expertise required.
Submission is voluntary and anonymous. Reviewed by the College of Natural Sciences Research Ethics Committee, Bangor University. Contact: Chris Ashworth OBE.
You don't need to be a foresight expert. If something is changing, or might be changing, or feels like it could matter for England's forests over the coming decades — we want to hear it.
Share what you're noticing