Our Research

  • Senior scientist observes new breed of cress sprouts optimized for consumption in greenhouse

    Using foresight to examine the global food system

    On behalf of the UK Food Standards Agency, RAND Europe conducted foresight exercises to gain a long-term perspective on the global food system. The team used a three horizons framework and bespoke horizon scanning approach to identify threats and opportunities for the UK and wider global food system out to 2030.

  • Shoes and arrows pointing in different directions on asphalt floor, photo by Delphine Poggianti/Adobe Stock

    Scenarios help explore the future of education and youth in the EU

    Researchers developed a set of scenarios to explore the future of education and youth in the EU, and found that personalised learning policies could be helpful across all scenarios if funded sufficiently and targeted appropriately. Supporting and reinforcing the teaching profession is also key.

  • Man in a field looking at the horizon, photo by Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

    How Horizon Scanning Can Give the Military a Technological Edge

    Horizon scanning could promote innovative practices and innovation uptake, through the adoption of new ideas, equipment, and methods, with benefits that could positively affect the UK economy as a whole. But a wider mechanism for processing and assessing the selected developments would be needed.

  • Working on a computer

    Violent Extremism Evaluation Measurement (VEEM) Framework

    A key challenge in counter violent extremism evaluation is the lack of commonly agreed metrics to measure behavioural changes in people. RAND Europe researchers developed a web-based framework that lists behavioural categories, attributes, and suggested measurement tools.

  • Cyber data map of Europe

    Exploring Europe's defence capability requirements for 2035 and beyond

    Researchers employed horizon scanning methodology to identify new and emerging technologies, strategies and societal developments that might affect capability requirements extending to 2035. The team also developed a range of scenarios used in the context of a table-top exercise analysing the capability implications of future conflicts and operations.

  • Secretary Tillerson Addresses the 10th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Fairbanks

    The future of Arctic cooperation in a changing strategic environment

    The study examined factors that could potentially upset Arctic cooperation in the coming decade. Participants in a table-top exercise considered the reactions of stakeholders to successive events designed to trigger responses that ranged from low-intensity to potential conflict.

  • Human hand holding MRSA colonies on blood agar plate

    Using historical foresight to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

    Researchers examined complex and enduring policy issues that have implications for public health to gain a new perspective on how to tackle AMR. The team combined literature review and interviews with scenario planning and analysis to explore how historical analysis can be used to inform future AMR policy.

  • Syrian and Iraqi refugees arrive from Turkey to Skala Sykamias, Lesbos island, Greece, where Spanish volunteers help them in October 2015

    Mediterranean Foresight Forum

    The Mediterranean Foresight Forum (MFF) was a RAND-funded effort to connect political, social, economic and technological developments in the region with policy agendas. The MFF supported the development of comprehensive, integrated civil-military responses to complex challenges through an innovative combination of research, future scenario-based sensitivity analysis and table top-exercises.

  • Autonomous self-driving driverless vehicle with radar on the road

    Examining future transport scenarios to drive innovation in the UK

    The UK’s roads, railways and airports are some of the most congested in the world. At the request of Innovate UK, RAND Europe identified emerging technologies that could impact the transport network and developed three future travel scenarios to explore how they might make the transport system more efficient and effective by the year 2035.