The Future of Death

From sustainable funerals to death literacy, the pandemic has forced us to look at how we address death as a society. In this episode of Lives of Tomorrow CEO of trend forecasting and consumer insight company WGSN Carla Buzasi and senior strategist Allyson Rees explore the key issues that will shape the ideas, rituals and economy of death in 2023 and beyond.Allyson has covered death and rituals as part of WGSN’s consumer lifestyle coverage since 2017 and has just published a forecast called ‘The Future of Death’.Two factors were key in producing this research, ageing populations and the pandemic. The latter brought the topic of death to the fore and there was an increase in discussion around death and dying on social media. Allyson and colleagues at WGSN followed this shift and were influential in the research into this forecast which spanned over an 18-month period.In this episode Carla and Allyson discuss the future of death, attitudes and discussions on this topic and any shifts noticed as well as traditions and rituals that are emerging. You can also expect to hear conversations around how we talk about death, is it still taboo or are we changing our behaviours and talking about it, planning it and being open with our loved ones. In this episode, we cover:how we address death as a societysustainable funeralsritualseconomy of death in 2023 and beyondAllyson shares the insights acquired through her research.Learn more about her work here.