Join us for an interactive foresight workshop exploring the future of food, land and water systems under emerging digital technologies in the Global South. This event is organized by the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT together with the International Water Management Institute, as part of the CGIAR Digital Futures initiative.
Background
As CGIAR accelerates the digital transformation of food, land and water systems (FLWS), anticipating technological and systemic shifts becomes critical. This workshop focuses on identifying and exploring emerging digital technologies and future scenarios with the potential to transform food, land and water systems, for better or worse. Through participatory foresight processes, we aim to build capacity, challenge assumptions, and identify opportunities for policy, investment, and research.
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Why scenarios? Because they don’t predict one future, instead, they explore multiple plausible directions that drivers of change might take. Scenarios help us capture uncertainty and complexity in clear, thought-provoking ways, while fostering engagement, relationships, and fresh ideas
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Objectives
- Explore how emerging technologies could impact FLWS in developing countries over the next decade.
- Anticipate socio-economic and environmental implications of digital transformation.
- Build futures thinking and foresight capacity through participatory scenario development.
- Strengthen collaboration across disciplines and sectors through a human-centered design approach.
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Who should attend?
We welcome participants from diverse fields: agriculture, water, ecology, economics, sociology, design, media, comms, and beyond. Domain experts, CGIAR researchers, human-centered designers, and practitioners are encouraged to join. Special emphasis is placed on engaging women and youth, whose voices are essential to shaping diverse and inclusive discussions.
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How to prepare
Participants are invited to contribute 'signals of change'. Signals of change are signs of how the world is shifting through specific products, policies, events, or experiences that hint at possible futures. You might notice them in news articles, podcasts, or everyday conversations.
We ask all participants to look out and share these signals of change before the workshop, as they will help identify drivers of change for FLWS under emerging digital technologies.
A few questions you can keep in mind to identify a signal of change:
- Does this show me that something is changing?
- Does this help me imagine a different future?
- Does this startle or surprise me?
A few examples:
Delivering regenerative agriculture through digitalization and AI
Can Drones Solve India’s Labour Crisis in Agriculture?
3D printed food: the future of personalized nutrition
How AI can revolutionize water research and management in Africa
Water consumption of African data centers in the age of AI
