These drivers differ from trends in that they are more factual, objective and long-term structural forces that are pervasive, powerful and transformative – and their impacts are rarely black or white.
In the Global Drivers collection, available exclusively for members of LS:N Global, which features the PDF trend report and access to an hour-long webinar, we explore some of these impacts and how they enable clients to rethink what kind of world consumers will live in, driving the businesses of tomorrow.
Become a member of our trends intelligence platform, LS:N Global to get access to this 52-page report. You can book a demo and find out more about the membership below.
Header image: Carolina Carballo for The Future Laboratory
The digital and offline worlds are converging. For millions of people around the world, living a day without technology is almost unthinkable. On the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, new technologies are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, creating new data streams and altering the way society operates.
Climate change is the biggest global risk, according to the World Economic Forum. The stresses and conflicts created by this force have far-reaching impacts for our planet, resulting in eco-system degradation, more frequent and harsher weather patterns, competition for resources and new migratory flows.
The coronavirus crisis has unearthed pervasive social, political and environmental inequalities and divisions on a global scale. People are experiencing unprecedented turbulence as political instability and extremism, polarisation between rich and poor, new health epidemics, global trade wars and rapid technological advances all contribute to economic and social upheaval.
Today’s interconnected world, in which goods, services, information and culture are rapidly spread, instantly creates impact in one global region that has a knock-on effect on others. Simultaneously, the pandemic, supply chain shocks, sustainability concerns and economic protectionism are leading to localism being prioritised across many regions.
Over the next decade, a number of forces will begin to evolve the global population, contributing to major social and cultural shifts that will affect the demographics of tomorrow.
In the past four decades the number of people living in cities has more than doubled to over 4bn today, more than half the world’s population, according to the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Covid-19 has already significantly altered urban life – both physically and socially – reviving anti-urban sentiments, but the broader global trend of rapid urbanisation continues.
Image credits: Tech Pack campaign by Nike, The self sufficient city by Guallart Architects, Parc de la distance by Precht.
In our new Global Drivers webinar, we explore how businesses can navigate use global drivers to contextualise decision-making by considering why and how the world is being reshaped. Members of LS:N Global can tune in today to hear The Future Laboratory's co-founder Chris Sanderson break down these six key drivers.
The 60-minute webinar is available on demand on LS:N Global, so you can tune in whenever your schedule permits.
Image credit: NBNW x FILA
This report and webinar are available exclusively for members of The Future Laboratory's trends intelligence platform, LS:N Global.
Members gain exclusive access to the trends, markets
Get in touch with a member of our team to discuss our membership packages and book a demo of LS:N Global today.
Image credit: LS:N Global by Victoria Ling for The Future Laboratory