What's an Environmental Scan?
At the request of the Calgary Foundation, the Institute for Community Prosperity has prepared scans of major current socio-economic trends, issues, and developments at local, provincial, national and international scales. New scans were prepared for every year since 2016 (except for 2020).
Information in this scan is derived from several sources, including news stories, op-eds, policy reports and academic literature. Like the previous scans, this is a selective sampling of issues, not a comprehensive analysis of all trends in all sectors. Most of the trends covered in previous scans are still in play, but included here is updated context, as well as new sub-topics not previously raised. These scans are intended to not just be predictive about near future probabilities, but also to add context to current events, and to illuminate undercurrents and ‘sleeper’ issues. Some observations in this scan are commonly known, while others are closer to the edge – perhaps even a bit startling, contentious, or discordant.
The Latest Scan
2024 Environmental Scan: The Great Acceleration is the eighth such scan, helping interpret the events that marked 2023 and peering into 2024.
The 2024 Scan is organized under a set of themed chapters, in alphabetical order: CLIMATE, ECONOMY, EDUCATION, GLOBAL AFFAIRS, FOOD SECURITY, HOUSING, POLITICS, PHILANTHROPY, TECHNOLOGY, and WORK. There are also ‘deeper dives’ on the two topics currently dominating headlines: Affordable housing and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
