The ongoing public debate about the role of packaging and its end-of-life environmental impact makes the forum essential and timely as the industry comes to terms with new levels of scrutiny and changing customer expectations.

Finding solutions to such a complex problem is likely to involve many areas of work, including innovating while maintaining packaging’s core role in protecting produce, and gaining understanding of how regulation can support both industry and consumers in their sustainability efforts. The Collaborative Industry Forum is an academically moderated group aimed at shaping a long-term strategy (10 years) for adopting a Circular Economy model.

It uses Futures & Foresight, a technique used by governments for policy development and by large commercial organisations to explore future opportunities and challenges to ensure long-term sustainable growth. It consists of structured approaches to anticipate and prepare for possible and preferable futures. The method supports organisational contingency and resilience for a range of possible future scenarios. The overall aim of the group is to apply the Futures technique to help prioritise strategic objectives for the packaging sector.

The Forum will meet several times over the course of a year. Professor Jeff Gold and his team will provide support and moderation of the Futures Group. Each session will provide thought leadership on relevant industry topics and an interactive workshop to identify strategic priorities and actions. Some actions will require the gathering and analysis of extant research that will inform the group’s decisions.

Professor Gold and the Retail Institute team provide information and analytical support and emerging findings will inform both theory and practice.

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