The Envisaging the Future (EtF) project is a global exercise to discover and document innovative initiatives that address complex issues with health, criminal justice, and social justice impacts and implications, especially in areas where there is an overreliance on punitive and police-focused approaches. This activity forms part of a broader agenda for legal and organizational reforms. By examining alternative approaches and their impacts, our aim is to learn more about the conditions that initiate, underpin, and sustain responses to complex social issues that are people oriented, protect human rights, and uphold the dignity of individuals and communities involved.

The EtF project brings together researchers from six global regions, each scanning their regional landscape for such innovations, under the auspices of the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association. The project has been running for 10 months and has another 12 months to go. This article surveys a sampling of findings from the project. Not intended to be representative or comprehensive, the initiatives or interventions described in this article compose a spectrum of partnerships between police, public health, communities, and other actors, as well as examples that do not directly involve police.