DUBAI, 28th October, 2026 (WAM) -- Dubai Municipality has attained Level 4 ‘Future Foresight Leadership – Master’, the highest tier of the International Foresight Accreditation awarded by the Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI), becoming the first municipality in the world to do so.
The achievement confirms that foresight at Dubai Municipality has evolved from standalone studies into an organisational capability embedded in planning, governance and innovation. It supports Dubai’s anticipatory approach to governance: sensing change early, preparing for emerging opportunities, and responding proactively to emerging challenges.
The accreditation comes less than a year after Dubai Municipality achieved Level 3 in November 2025, marking a rapid progression from systematic foresight to foresight leadership. Over this period, the Municipality has scaled foresight across its operations and strengthened its teams’ capabilities in applying foresight tools in planning and decision-making.
Dubai Municipality received the accreditation following a comprehensive assessment by international experts using GIMI’s S4 Future Foresight Maturity Model, which measures organisational foresight maturity across four pillars: Scoping and Designing; Scanning and Screening; Scenarios and Foresight; and Strategy and Innovation. Dubai Municipality achieved a full score of 10/10 across all four pillars.
Eng. Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalita, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the achievement reflects the Municipality’s commitment to making future readiness integral to how decisions are made and services are designed.
He said: “We are proud to become the first municipality globally to achieve Level 4 International Foresight Accreditation. This milestone reflects Dubai’s approach, under the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to remain at the forefront of cities that do not wait for the future, but imagine, design and deliver it.
“At Dubai Municipality, foresight is part of how we work every day, not a separate exercise. It helps us detect emerging change early, anticipate future needs and make decisions today that remain robust across different futures, serving Dubai’s residents and visitors and supporting the city’s long-term development.”
Eng. Nasser BuShehab, CEO of the Planning and Governance Sector at Dubai Municipality, said: “Achieving the highest level of International Foresight Accreditation is an important milestone for Dubai Municipality. It shows that foresight and innovation are now embedded in how we plan, decide and deliver.
“Our focus is on turning foresight into action: we scan for weak signals, explore alternative scenarios and test our strategic options against them before committing resources. Scaling these practices across the organisation prepares us for future transitions and supports Dubai’s ambition to be a resilient, future-ready city with an exceptional quality of life.”
The assessment highlighted Dubai Municipality’s ability to identify drivers of change and critical uncertainties, supported by a foresight knowledge base of 556 entries across the five STEEP (social, technological, economic, environmental and political) domains, including 396 weak signals, 114 trends, 36 megatrends and 10 wild cards, alongside 33 documented drivers of change, informing the development of its scenarios.
The assessment also recognised the Municipality’s continuous horizon-scanning system, which combines global trend and signal platforms with analysis of their potential impact on municipal services and operations.
It further highlighted the role of the Future Observatory and the Future Shaper network, as well as a set of integrated alternative scenarios to 2040, underpinned by system-dynamics modelling in Vensim. This allows Dubai Municipality to test assumptions and stress-test strategic decisions against different futures before they are implemented.
Together, these tools are building futures literacy across the Municipality’s teams and turning foresight into practical value for the city.
The Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI) is a global non-profit organisation headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, dedicated to advancing innovation and foresight as management disciplines across governments, institutions and companies worldwide.