The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a Canadian-based global research organization that convenes extraordinary people to address the most important questions facing science and humanity. With a successful 40 year history, CIFAR is looking to the future to identify its strategy for the coming years. 

CIFAR engaged Creative Futures to support strategy development activities and identify the greatest opportunities and risks that CIFAR may encounter or address in the future, and how that may shift the organization’s vision, mission and values in the near term.

Our Approach:

• Creative Futures designed a future-focused approach so that CIFAR could take into consideration the range of changes on the horizon, by imagining the global research landscape and organization in 2040. 

• Conducted interviews with 27 external stakeholders to identify potential future opportunities for CIFAR.

• Designed and facilitated a highly participatory and generative full day session for the entire CIFAR staff team.

• Summarized key insights, recommendations and strategic questions in a final report that was presented to the CIFAR Leadership Team.

Results:

The information gathered through our approach as well as key strategic questions to be answered will be used for the remainder of the strategy development process, including engagement with the CIFAR Leadership Team, President’s Advisory Council and Board of Directors.