Making desirable futures: Conceptualising the role of future-making in impact investing and social entrepreneurship

The thesis examines how people and organisations act and think about the future. Especially when they try to create positive social and environmental change through investing and entrepreneurship. It shows that being impactful is not only about measuring what has already happened, but also about imagining and shaping what could happen. Through interviews with investors and entrepreneurs, as well as a review of existing research, the thesis explains how decisions are influenced by hopes, worries, and expectations about the future. It focuses the idea of “future-making” to describe how actors use stories, numbers, forecasts, and long-term goals to guide their choices today. The thesis demonstrates that these future-oriented practices help organisations navigate uncertainty, balance short- and long-term goals, and work toward societal impact. Overall, it highlights that creating change requires more than prediction: it demands active engagement with different possible futures.