Where is the world headed post-COVID-19? Expected trends in the coming three years

Crises, while painful and disruptive, can also be a time of opportunity. As our global society navigates the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are questioning the basic structures of our social and economic systems and are exploring opportunities to bounce forward from this crisis to a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient world. In this context, Future Earth, the Imperial College London Grantham Institute, and the Sustainability in the Digital Age initiative conducted a foresight survey to take the pulse of the global population and tap into a broad diversity of perspectives on where the world is headed post-COVID-19. In this report, we summarize the results of this survey and highlight key insights that may help to inform short and medium-term strategies for how we build forward from the COVID-19 pandemic towards a more sustainable future.