The future is already happening.
We are in business to bring together policy and regulatory advocacy with expertise in technology and innovation for human and planetary health.
We support those who think big and build businesses for our common future based on technological progress and responsibility.
Future Affairs is a first of its kind
impact focussed
strategic advisory and advocacy firm.
Food & Agriculture
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Industrial Biotechnology
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Energy & Buildings
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Biotechnology & Health
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Food & Agriculture *** Industrial Biotechnology *** Energy & Buildings *** Biotechnology & Health ***
WITH WHOM WE WORK.
Our clients are start-ups and scale-ups, corporations, non-profit organisations, investors and other financial market players.
WHAT SETS US APART.
At home in business, policy and politics.
What sets us apart is that we speak business, politics, policy and regulation.
With a comprehensive background in impact-driven business, we understand and translate the complexities faced by our clients, as well as the perspectives of legislators, regulators and policymakers.
We know how to make the most of lobbying strategies - based on a deep understanding of the specific business, its risks and impact potential. Vice versa, we also understand how regulation and policy impact businesses.
Our comprehensive approach, grounded in business experience, enables us to support our clients in understanding the impact of political developments and regulation.
Beyond sustainability.
Future Affairs might be the new kid on the block, but we're not new to the industries we work with.
We have extensive industry experience across a wide range of sectors, including sustainable finance, impact investing, net-zero carbon buildings, biotechnologies and biomanufacturing, energy transition and consumer trends.
We believe that sustainability has become a hygiene factor. This means that sustainability alone is not sufficient to make a business stand out, but it is essential for maintaining global competitiveness.
What drives us - and our clients.
Our clients are operating in highly regulated environments. Many are working on products and technologies of strategic and geopolitical importance in an increasingly uncertain world.
A world shaped by geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, threatened democracies, an escalating climate crisis and social inequality.
The common denominator of all our clients is the ambition to make a positive impact for our shared future.
This is what drives them, and this is what drives us.
HOW WE WORK.
Holistic impact advisory approach.
We assist our clients in mitigating risk when making concrete investment decisions. We support them from targeted lobbying to science-based advocacy strategies and communication.
Our services include advising clients on their environmental and social impact. We develop impact communication strategies and positioning, forge international partnerships, establish consortia across EU member states, and create strategic visibility.
In essence, our approach is dual materiality-based. This means we work at both the front and back end of an organisation, inside out and outside in.
Impact experts.
Everyone's talking about impact, but very few understand the complexity of its systemic and industrial conditions. For instance: what is needed to unlock the significant decarbonisation potential of a technology.
We know what we're talking about. And if we don't, we know how to figure out what we don’t know yet. We work with our international network of expert partners, including world-class research institutions.
“As a firm we are not just the new kid on the block.
Like our clients, we are a class of our own
- a different animal.
We understand the Brussels bubble and we know that it often seems to be far from our clients’ own reality.
We know how to navigate the political dynamics between Brussels and the European member states. We also understand business leaders and their organisations who want to change the game for the better.
Being rooted in both worlds, being able to translate and understand the real-world business problems of the front-runners, we are able to develop the right strategies with them and translate them to Brussels, member states and decode vice versa. This is what really sets us apart.”
Anna Handschuh
Founder and Managing Director
Future Affairs
A selection of our clients and partners.
Who we are.
Future Affairs is headquartered in the Netherlands, less than one hour from Brussels. In about three hours, we are in Paris, London or Frankfurt by train.
We live and breathe Europe.
We work with a talented, international, multidisciplinary and multilingual team. To create more impact, we team up with partners with specific expertise across the globe, if needed.