Frederick S. Pardee
"Just in my lifetime, new developments have occurred at breathtaking speeds, and they pose crucial questions for the future.
"Are there physical limits to the ability of humans to absorb information, or to the numbers of people who can interact and function effectively? Is it reasonable to assume continued extrapolation of the rates of technological change that have occurred in the last 50 years? What social, economic, and political forces will mold our society? Most importantly, what are the effects of these changes likely to be on future lifestyles and human values?"
The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures is the home of long-term forecasting and global trend analysis at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies on the University of Denver campus. The core of the Center's forecasting efforts is the Patterns of Potential Human Progress (PPHP) series. This project is producing a series of annual volumes on human development topics, beginning with global poverty reduction, forthcoming in the fall of 2008. Each volume will include extensive tables with long-term country-level forecasts across the various issue areas of the International Futures (IFs) model. Other Center activities will include additional reports, publications, workshops and training programs. The Center works with issue-specific and geographically-based groups around the world that share the Center’s interest in evaluating and exploring the human condition from a long-term perspective.
The Center will be physically housed in a pavilion annex alongside Ben Cherrington Hall, home of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. The new structure, to be finished in 2009, will provide the growing IFs Team increased work space, video-conferencing resources and presentation facilities as they continue to improve the model's capabilities and policy applicability through publication and experiment. Your suggestions for such improvement are always welcome.
The funding for the construction and continued operation of the Center are provided by Mr. Frederick S. Pardee. Mr. Pardee is keenly interested in the long-term forecasting of global social, political and economic trends and events. He plays an active role in the development of the Center’s activities, as well as the PPHP volumes.