Overview
Arthur C. Clarke was a visionary and a world-renowned writer who believed we could combine science, technology, and imagination to create a better future. His work and his humanity shaped the 20th Century and continues to influence how we see the world.
The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation builds on Sir Arthur’s legacy by:
- Unleashing imagination by integrating science and technology with the arts and literature
- Honoring the visionaries of today
- Promoting “future thinking” among the next generation
- Highlighting how new scientific and engineering advances will shape our future.
To further its mission: “Unleashing imagination to shape the future,” the Foundation has established an annual awards program, educational programs, and lectures. In addition, it partners with university, museums, and other institutions involved in interdisciplinary work like that of Sir Arthur.
Sir Arthur’s Worldview
Arthur C. Clarke was prescient about technological and scientific developments twenty, thirty, or even fifty years in the future. He was fascinated by the exploration of the universe. He cared profoundly about planet Earth. He shared with a global audience his hope for the future of humanity. He believed that imagination–combined with science, technology and the arts–was essential to our future survival. He used writing and the visual arts to bring science and technology to the curious and the young.
The Clarke Foundation believes, like Sir Arthur, that we need big, fresh ideas to address today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Doing this requires “future thinking” in our schools, companies, governments, and other institutions and on the part of our leaders.
Arthur C. Clarke Foundation’s MISSION STATEMENT (October 2017)
The Foundation’s mission is to promote, enable and recognize the power of imagination to benefit humanity.
Our motto – Unleash Imagination. Shape the future.
The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation was founded in 1983 to further the wisdom and values of its namesake, Sir Arthur C. Clarke. The Foundation’s mission is “to promote, enable and recognize the power of imagination to benefit humanity.” Sir Arthur was a scientist who calculated the geostationary satellite orbit, or the “Clarke orbit,” and described how to create global communications. He also practiced the art of writing, perhaps best known for his science fiction. He proved prescient about technological and scientific achievements that were yet to come. He was fascinated by the possibilities of the universe, concerned about the health of planet Earth, and held a cautious optimism for the future of humanity. Moreover, he believed that imagination, paired with science, technology and the arts, was essential to our future survival, to our ability to address big challenges with big and fresh ideas.
The Clarke Foundation believes that to effectively address today’s big challenges and those of the future, we need big, fresh ideas and leaders who inject their decision-making with the power of imagination. We have therefore launched our new intergenerational program, Unleash Imagination. The not-so-distant world of advanced artificial intelligence and scientific achievement poses unique challenges and opportunities for how we define our value as humans, where we find jobs, the health of the earth, the well-being of its inhabitants, the availability of clean water and adequate food supply, and the urgency with which we explore and understand our universe and beyond. Preparation for this future requires imaginative thinking in our schools, companies, government and other institutions and on the part of our leadership. The goal of Unleash Imagination is to spur us to begin preparing now.
