Expanding Foresight Excellence: Assessment of Practitioner Evaluation Capacity

In the 2019 themed issue on foresight evaluation of the World Futures Review, Gardner and Bishop characterized the state of evaluation practice by foresight practitioners this way: “While evaluation is a useful activity for futurists to include in their projects and/or teaching, it was our observation that very few futurists do so.” In subsequent meetings of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), the results of a one-question poll on evaluation expertise (notice, proficient, mastery) corroborated this characterization but revealed little in the way of practice, gaps and challenges. To this end, APF launched the Evaluation Task Force in January 2021. With upwards of 20 Core and Ad hoc members from around the globe, the Task Force is focusing on expanding practitioner evaluation capacity through sharing of tailored evaluation resources and increased dialogue among evaluators and foresight practitioners. In addition to developing a better understanding of current evaluation practice, barriers, and strengths, the Task Force is administering a 18-item survey to APF Members in September 2021. In this presentation, Task Force Representatives Bruce Tonn (MCRP, PHD), Bill Lesieur (MBA), Annette Gardner (PHD, MPH), and Jay Gary (PHD) will describe the survey results, including a baseline of actual evaluation practice and recommendations for resources to support practitioner and foresight excellence.