Courses & Education
Learn to Forecast trends
why?​
By enabling your creativity, I can teach you to practice and develop the skill, techniques and mindset to research, anticipate and work with the future. By equipping more businesses and students with these skills, we can create a future that not only ensures sustainably successful businesses, but is positive for humans, for the environment and the world.
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Options:​
Futurist School
This is for you
If you want to learn the skills and tools to research and anticipate trends. If you need to cultivate a futures thinking mindset in your business. If you want to up-skill yourself or your team to make it a part of everyone's responsibility to identify potential problems and innovate future relevant solutions.
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WHAT is it?
I offer a selection of courses in locations around Denmark and the UK that teach foresight skills, future thinking and trend forecasting. Click on the titles below for more information:
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Courses available:
Essential Futurist
Learn the core skills to apply future thinking to your daily work
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Duration
Half day course ​
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Please contact Jill​ for upcoming dates and locations.
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Course Overview
It’s essential to look ahead if you want to ensure the relevance of your product or service in the future world, but how can you anticipate what’s coming next, and how it will affect your business? How can you know where to focus and what to invest in?
Trends and future thinking can seem like a dark art, but in fact, ‘foresight’, ‘trends’ and ‘future thinking’ is a skill that can be developed. And I can teach you.
Future thinking is a collection of many skills, as it’s a combination of creative thinking and hard evidence: of design and science. Being a good trend forecaster and future thinker uses research skills, data, curiosity, processes, experimentation and imagination.
Learning outcomes
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The role of a trend forecaster and futurist
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Why it’s essential to look ahead
The basic tools and processes for:
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Researching what will impact the future
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Organising your findings into trends
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Translating the trends into actions for your business
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Nurturing the mind-set to think critically, challenge perceptions and imagine future possibilities and make this a part of daily life
Who it's for
These skills are an invaluable tool for any business professional, from solo freelancers to the biggest corporations.
Study methods
This course will blend real case studies from Jill’s personal experience as The Future Thief with skill development and practical tasks to provide a taste of the basics of trend forecasting and future thinking.
Time & tools needed
The activities are solo, not group exercises, but discussion is encouraged.
Bring your curiosity and an open mind
You might want to bring a notebook/paper and a computer or tablet to take notes, but it’s not a pre-requisite
All other activity materials will be provided
Tea, coffee and water will be provided
20 minutes preparatory work will be required, briefed 2 weeks before the course start date
​Learn and practise the skills and processes to think more strategically and ensure your concepts and business have relevance in the future
Duration
There are two options for this course:
6 weeks: weekly 3-hour sessions
2 days: 1st and 2nd day are 10 days apart
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Please contact Jill​ for upcoming dates and locations.
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Course Overview
This is a more in-depth and applied version of the ‘basics’ course, practising a range of skills and tools in order to make more strategic, future focused decisions. We will work on applying them to your live business challenges to make the skills immediately actionable.
It’s essential to look ahead if you want to ensure the relevance of your product or service in the future world. But how can you anticipate what’s coming next, and how it will affect your business, your product and your consumer? How can you know where to focus and what to invest in?
The goal is for you to be able to begin a lifelong practice of future thinking, so you can easily apply it to your work.
Learning outcomes
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The role of a trend forecaster and futurist
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The benefits of looking ahead
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The structure of trends and how they connect
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Research techniques and tools
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Organising your findings
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Synthesising and grouping information
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Translating trends into recommendations and actions
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Communicating trends
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Back-casting
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Forecasting
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Scenario mapping
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Using trends and applying them to your business
Who it's for
These skills are an invaluable tool for any business professional, from solo freelancers to the biggest corporations. Historically it is used by those working in marketing, innovation and strategy, but it really is suitable for all ‘departments’ of an organisation. It is especially relevant for people needing to problem solve in situations where there is no formula or established way of working. Or, where there is a desire to break free of convention, gain foresight and be one (or several) steps ahead of the game.
Study Methods
This course will be a mixture of lecture time, but with an emphasis on activities and practical tasks to develop skills. The activities are a mixture of solo and group/pair exercises. Discussion is encouraged!
Time and tools needed
Bring your curiosity and an open mind
You might want to bring a notebook/paper and a computer or tablet to take notes, but it’s not a pre-requisite
All other activity materials will be provided
Tea, coffee and water will be provided
There will be a piece of pre-work to complete, and there will be homework between sessions, but no more than approximately 20 minutes per day.
Ultimate Futurist
Colour & Design
Forecasting
Learn the basic skills to anticipate future trends and what they mean for aesthetics, colour and materials
Duration
Half day course​
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Please contact Jill​ for upcoming dates and locations.
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Course Overview
How can you anticipate what’s coming next, and how it will affect the design of your product? Is the tone of voice, look and feel right for the future? How can you know what styles, colours and visual communication styles are likely to be important in the coming years?
Trend Forecasting is not a dark art, but in fact it’s a set of skills that can be developed and a mind-set that can be nurtured. And I can teach you.
Future thinking is a combination of creative thinking and hard evidence: of design and science. Being a good trend forecaster and future thinker uses research, data, curiosity, processes, experimentation and imagination.
Learning Outcomes
-
The role of a trend forecaster and futurist
-
Why it’s essential to look ahead
The basic tools and processes for:
-
Researching what will impact the future
-
Organising your findings into trends
-
Translating trends into design, colour and material/sensory direction
Who it’s for
These skills are an invaluable tool for any professional working with design, colour and visual communication, from solo freelancers to the biggest corporations.
Study Methods
This course will blend real case studies from Jill’s personal experience as The Future Thief with skill development and practical tasks to provide a foundation of the basics of trend forecasting for design.
Time and tools needed
The activities are solo, not group exercises, but discussion is encouraged.
Bring your curiosity and an open mind
You might want to bring a notebook/paper and a computer or tablet to take notes, but it’s not a pre-requisite
All other activity materials will be provided
Tea, coffee and water will be provided
20 minutes preparatory work will be required, briefed 2 weeks before the course start date
In-House Training
Cultivate a foresight led organisation
This is for you
​If you are looking to up-skill your team’s future thinking abilities.
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WHAT is it?
All courses can be adapted, made bespoke to the needs of your business and delivered in-house. Please get in touch for details.
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University Lecturing
Maximise your students creativity through trend and foresight skills
This is for you
If you need to drive your students research skills out of their comfort zone. If you need to teach them the skills to identify future needs and develop the habit for future thinking in all their projects.
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WHAT is it?
I regularly deliver modules and guest lectures on all aspects of trend forecasting and future thinking, from full process to specific aspects. They can be combined with your existing modules or form a whole new one.
Please get in touch so we can create a solution together!
Terms & conditions
Refunds & cancellations
A course will be confirmed to proceed not later than 14 days prior to its scheduled
starting date.
Course registration is only confirmed when full payment has been received from a
participant.
If sufficient confirmed registrations have not been received two weeks in advance of
the scheduled starting date, the course may be cancelled or postponed.
In the unlikely event that the course is cancelled, all confirmed participants will be
notified immediately and receive a full refund.
If a participant chooses to cancel their confirmed registration, or cannot or does not attend the workshop, the following refunds will apply:
The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place on the course (for which they are registered) at any time, at no cost.
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If notice is received 14 days or less from the scheduled starting date, no refund will be offered.
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If notice is received 15 days or more from the scheduled start date, a refund of 50% will be offered.
Taking from the next to power your now © 2022 The Future Thief