Future Thinkers Online Course

Future Thinkers. Forward Movers.

A Strategic Foresight & Future Leadership Summit for Companies in Uncertain Times

Jointly hosted by Breakbulk Events & Media and in cooperation with ProLog Innovation. Program responsibility: Prof. Dr. Sven Hermann, Future Thinkers Academic Chair

2-Day Online Summit · Nov. 3-4, 2026
3 hours each afternoon 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm CET (Central European Time)
Registration fee:
€350
Language: English
Platform: Microsoft Teams

Who This Is For

This program is designed for leaders and specialists in industrial and project-based organizations, particularly in project logistics, heavy-lift and supply chain functions across sectors such as energy, heavy machinery and plant engineering, who are responsible for strategic planning, market intelligence or building foresight capability within their organization. It suits those who want to move their organization from reacting to change to positioning ahead of it.

About the Program

Markets are shifting faster than most organizations can interpret them. This summit helps you close that gap. Over two focused afternoons, you will work with senior practitioners from Andritz Hydro, RENK Group, thyssenkrupp Uhde, Siemens Energy, Hitachi Energy, Fluor, Auerbach, Lilly and Siempelkamp, alongside academic perspective from the University of Hong Kong and NBS Northern Business School to translate megatrends and market signals into actionable future scenarios, build leadership capacity for navigating uncertainty and leave with a practical Foresight Toolkit you can apply directly in your organization.

This is not a one-off event. Participants take away concrete artefacts, a first scenario set and a Foresight Roadmap Compass for their own organization, designed to be presented internally and built on after the course.

Agenda

DAY 1

Reading the Future & Leading Through It

Core Question: How is the environment changing, what does that demand of leaders, and how do we translate both into plausible futures we can act on?

Welcome & Framing

Why foresight matters now; introducing the Future Thinker journey and the toolkit concept

Hour 1 – Reading the Environment
  • Core Methods of Strategic Foresight (condensed overview)
  • Deep Dive – The World After the West: China's Long Game vs. Corporate Short-Termism
Hour 2 – Future Leadership
Leading beyond the next quarter: building long-term decision-making capacity despite short-term pressure; new leadership competency profiles and talent strategies for uncertain times

Hour 3 – Scenario Development Workshop
From drivers to plausible future pictures (2030–2035); future designing exercise: applying scenario development to your own organization as a core future leadership practice

Debrief & Outlook Bridge to Day 2 

DAY 2

Positioning for the Future and Building the Capacity to Act

Core Question: How do we position for what's coming, what does that demand of the organization, and how do we build lasting capacity to act on it?

Recap & Outlook

Hour 1 – Trend & Market Intelligence
Core Methods of Strategic Foresight (condensed overview)

Hour 2 – Deep Dive  into the Client Perspective: Industry Views & Developments
Expert perspectives from the client/industry side on where things are headed, with a particular focus on the future of tender management. We will discuss how AI is moving bid evaluation in breakbulk and project logistics beyond price toward quality, reliability, risk and sustainability, alongside other emerging shifts in the industry.

Hour 3 – Building the Capacity to Act: Foresight Roadmap Compass Workshop
  • Guided future designing exercise: building a Foresight Roadmap Compass for your own organization
  • Assembling the Foresight Toolkit and closing

Certification

Participants who attend both days receive the "Certified Future Thinker" credential.
 

Registration

Participation fee is €350 per person. Registration is binding upon confirmation by email to [email protected]

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations are free of charge up to 30 days before the start of the event. Registration can be transferred to a colleague within the same company at any time, free of charge. For event questions, email [email protected]