By invitation only
The GCSP, IPI, and the NUPI are facilitating a two-day workshop with the generous support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.
Strategic Foresight and Scenario-Based Exercises on the Future of Peace Operations
Recent developments in the international peace and security environment have brought peace operations to a turning point. With a decline in the number of UN-led multidimensional missions, budgetary constraints and the UN80 Initiative, the increase in demand for peace enforcement operations, and broader shifts in the geopolitical order, there is an acknowledged need to examine how peace operations are conceived, mandated, structured, and led in the future. This was articulated by the Secretary-General in his policy brief “A New Agenda for Peace,” which calls for a broad-based reflection on the future of peacekeeping, with a view to moving toward more nimble and adaptable models. Within the UN 2.0 “Quintet of Change,” the Secretary-General has also called for greater use of strategic foresight “to empower improved planning and cultivate better decisions amid uncertainty.”
Against this backdrop, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the International Peace Institute (IPI), and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) are facilitating a two-day workshop from 29 to 30 May 2026, on “Strategic Foresight and Scenario-Based Exercises on the Future of Peace Operations.” With generous support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, this workshop will gather some 25 practitioners, member state representatives, and experts from a range of peace operations and planning backgrounds.
Objectives
- Explore how strategic foresight tools can facilitate improved planning within existing missions and on the future of peace operations.
- Test and possibly question existing assumptions about political frameworks, planning guidelines and processes, current and potential models.
- Generate responses to existing and potential mission settings, encouraging fresh out of the box thinking and innovation.
- Promote a strengthened strategic planning culture within the UN, including the ongoing use of scenario-planning.
This workshop builds on previous scenario-based workshops facilitated by IPI in New York and Addis Abeba and draw on the specific expertise of the Geneva community, including humanitarian and human rights responses.
Held on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, a commemoration of Peacekeepers – fallen, past, present and future, will be held to honor their service and sacrifice.
The discussions of the workshop will connect to the upcoming release of the Secretary-General’s report on the future of all forms of UN peace operations and the inaugural UN Peacebuilding week, scheduled for June 2026.
By invitation only