Unesco Chair in Anticipatory Leadership and Futures Capabilities

The Chair in Anticpatory Leadership and Futures Capabilities advances future-based leadership. It is an Aarhus University unit, in collaboration with the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, in association with the UNESCO UniTwin reseach. We advance theory and practice of organisational and societal stewardship: leading with the future in mind to inform and improve decisions made today. We engage in research, teaching, and outreach across business and policy institutions in Denmark and across the globe.

The Initiative

Unesco UniTwin Chair Programme

Dr Adam Gordon

Contact

Chair holder

Adam Vigdor Gordon

Associate Professor Department of Management

M adg@mgmt.au.dk
H 2628, M210B
P +4587165974
P +4593509017

Co-chair

Nicklas Larsen

Senior Advisor
Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies
nl@cifs.dk

2 year report

Highlights 2022-2024

Since its inception two years ago, the Aarhus University CIFS Unesco Chair in Anticipatory Leadership & Futures Capabilities has been active in many academic and outreach engagements. This summary report encapsulates the highlights.

Conference

Reimagining Entrepreneurship

The AU Chair in Anticipatory Leadership & Futures Capabilities co-led a professional development workshop at the Academy of Management Conference, Chicago 2024, where the conference theme was “Innovating for the Future.”

Report

Philanthropy

The AU-CIFS Unesco Chair partnered with the Philanthropy Europe Association, Philea, to demonstrate the potential contribution of futures literacy and competency to the philanthropic community. The report looks at the changing landscape of philanthropy and how European philanthropy bodies can apply futures perspective in their work.

Publication

Business crisis management in wartime

The published paper investigates business crisis management in wartime conditions, including how crisis may blunt prospects for future renewal in the short term, but stimulate it in the long term. It represents a collaboration between the AU Unesco Chair, Aarhus BSS Crisis Management faculty, and the Lviv School of Business, Ukraine.

Observations from Ukraine

Long-term Strategy in Times of Upheaval

This study of Ukraine, in association with UCU Business School (Lviv, Ukraine), investigates organization future-orientation and leadership preparedness in the context of external shocks. It was presented at the ISC Strategy Conference.

Research project

The board’s role in navigating future shocks

This is part of a series on the role of external shocks in developing future-leadership capabilities. It examines the board roles in maintaining organizational future preparedness, in the light of the Covid 19 pandemic.