Impact Trust • Working glossary

Drivers of change

The fundamental forces - social, technological, economic, environmental, political - shaping change.

Details

Our Take
Core foresight vocabulary, widely used and generally understood. The 'currents under the ocean' metaphor is an excellent teaching image. Most people intuitively understand that individual events (signals) have deeper causes; this term names the practice of looking for those causes systematically.
Examples of Use
Foresight community, Horizon 2045, STEEP analysis
Synonyms/Variants
STEEP factors; Megatrends; Structural forces
Typical everyday wording
The deep forces shaping what happens on the surface