H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation, attended the opening of the Dubai Future Forum 2025. Officials reported that the event is the world’s largest gathering of futurists.

The Forum, organised by the Dubai Future Foundation, is being held at the Museum of the Future until 19 November. It has more than 2,500 participants from around 100 countries. It also features over 200 speakers, including futurists, ministers, CEOs, academics, researchers, and global decision-makers.

Sheikh Hamdan announced that designing the future is now a strategic priority for nations and organisations. He revealed that global integration, shared expertise, and cross-sector collaboration are essential to sustain progress and guide humanity in the right direction.

He added that Dubai’s future model is based on international partnerships and cooperation with like-minded innovators. He said Dubai works with global partners to imagine, design, and implement future-focused solutions.

He reported that the Dubai Future Forum, launched in 2022, was created to serve as a global platform to identify priorities, explore emerging opportunities, and support future-ready services and solutions. He affirmed that Dubai will continue strengthening its position as a global centre for future opportunities and forward-looking initiatives.

He stressed that Dubai aims to develop solutions to future challenges by adopting advanced technologies while keeping societal needs at the core of progress.

During the event, Sheikh Hamdan honoured the first-place winners of the Dubai Foresight Awards. The awards recognise outstanding futurists, innovators, and visionaries across three categories.

• Fiji’s ‘Pasifika Futures Report’ won first place in the Foresight Change Makers category.
• Italy’s ‘City Longevity’ initiative secured first place in the Foresight for People category.
• Cameroon’s ‘Congo Basin Futures’ initiative received first place in the Foresight for the Planet category.

Other winners included UNICEF’s UYFF Program, France’s ‘Sustainable Futures’, Greece’s ‘Futures that Heal’, Australia’s ‘For Our Future’, the US ‘Three Futures Test’, and Egypt’s ‘Seeding the Future’. Officials reported that these projects advance biodiversity protection, AI integration, and sustainable foresight practices.

The ceremony was attended by senior UAE officials, including Omar Sultan Al Olama, Lieutenant General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, and Essa Kazim.

Sheikh Hamdan also attended the graduation of the second cohort of the ‘FEEL: A disruptive Futures Programme’. The programme equips global executives and innovators with advanced foresight tools. It included 30 participants from 15 countries, selected from 401 applications.

He also met graduates of the fifth cohort of the Dubai Future Experts Programme. The initiative, developed by the Dubai Future Foundation and The Executive Council, aims to build government-led foresight capabilities among Emirati talent. The cohort included 21 participants from 16 entities.

Sheikh Hamdan said Dubai’s leadership continues to be strengthened by an integrated ecosystem built on teamwork and the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Day 1 of the Forum featured keynote speeches and panel discussions across five themes. These included Foresight Insights, Exploring the Unknown, Empowering Societies, Reimagining Health, and Optimising Systems.

Sessions addressed global transformations driven by AI, long-term decision-making, future societies, proactive medicine, scientific alliances, education, and industrial economic contributions.

The Forum also hosted workshops, including sessions by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, strategy&, the International Organisation for Migration, and the School of International Futures.

Attendees explored AR and VR experiences and interactive activations designed to showcase new future opportunities and innovative solutions.

Organisers revealed that Day 2 will focus on future cities, space exploration, human-planet relations, youth innovation, community partnerships, resource resilience, and global readiness for the future.

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