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Taking Care of Business

When he was 19 years old, Professor Ted Fuller started his first business. This was the first in a series of both business and academic pursuits that also included the development of manufacturing and technology enterprises and academic research centres. 

At the core of each of these ventures is a focus on creating futures for people and society, while considering the responsibilities that come with that. His research into enterprise, foresight, anticipation, and emergence has helped others to generate social and economic change.

Ted initially joined the University as Head of 51±¬ÁÏÍø International Business School and resumed a full professorial role in 2015. He is now Emeritus Professor of Responsible Foresight for Sustainable Development and also sits on a number of advisory boards.

Going Global

In January 2019, Ted founded the UNESCO Chair on Responsible Foresight for Sustainable Development. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is the United Nations body responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture, and communication. Its goal is to help prevent war by building the defences of peace in the minds of people.

His main role as UNESCO Chair is advocacy of Responsible Futures, which involves international collaborative research, publications, and regular presentations that aim to invoke real-world change.

"As the UNESCO Chair holder for the 51±¬ÁÏÍø, I work with the Chair group of colleagues and provide support and guidance for projects addressing futures and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," explains Ted. "This is carried out in collaboration with partners from the Global South, with project themes including gender equality, climate futures, technology education, economic development, and food security."

Research in Action

At a recent symposium at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Ted’s panel collated their joint research to contribute to the way that the United Nations’ foresight activities are designed and evaluated.

He also recently participated in the World Summit of Committees of the Future, a gathering in Montevideo, Uruguay, of over 300 parliamentarians from more than 70 countries. During the event, Ted led a working group on democracy of the future which was concerned with the impacts of artificial intelligence. The Summit subsequently produced a Declaration which was sent to the United Nations as part of their work on AI and governance.

Commenting on his role, Ted says: “All organisations, large or small, need to understand the ways that the future is shaping, and how that is shaping their future. Our capability to do that is limited in many ways, and I see my work as extending the capacity to make sense of change and its implications for the future.”

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