Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda Global environmental change, demographic trends, and the diffusion of technological innovations are rapidly reshaping the international system. Disregarding national borders, these forces are transforming international relations, deepening interdependence, and forging a global system from a world of sovereign states. Creating a more sustainable planet for the next century will require dealing with a wide range of policy issues raised by this rapid acceleration of events. The Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda engages in futures-oriented teaching and research that will contribute to humanity's ability to anticipate and deal effectively with these important currents of change.
Global trends suggest both promise and peril.
Rapid population growth and environmental degradation threaten to perpetuate the cycle of disease and poverty in the world's poorer countries, many of which are also burdened by problems of debt, social conflict, and political instability. Wealthier countries are distracted by their own problems and authority crises, intensified by increasing integration into the global economy and the aging of their populations. On a more positive note, a fundamental trend is now discernible which bears the potential to change the predominant notion of progress from one that emphasizes quantitative growth to one that values qualitative human growth informed by a growing concern for long-term sustainability. The Harrison Program examines these significant issues in an effort to understand the nature and interaction of environmental, technological, social, and political systems, and to suggest potential means of breaking out of destructive patterns of behavior. To this end, faculty develop new and innovative educational materials, conduct scholarly research, and organize conferences and workshops that bring together scientists, social theorists, advocates, and policy makers to examine key components of the future global agenda.