Based on the results of previous research, the author of the article defines the functionality of the academic and non–academic form of foresight – a comprehensive practice of working with the social future, including predictive, design, planned, project, reflexive, communicative and socio-organizational components. It is argued that foresight as an activity gravitates towards its formation as a non-traditional transdisciplinary social design and engineering. The results of systematization of the features of such activity are presented, two approaches to understanding its tasks are identified – as defined and implemented within the framework of professional management practice and as arising within the framework of various activities and requiring the mastery of a certain kind of universal competencies. Using the example of Russian practice (in which both terms «social design» and «social engineering» are replaced by term «social projecting»), the implementation of both strategies is considered – in the form of, firstly, research and analytical activities that have received academic registration, with the ultimate goal of designing a new social functional, and secondly, non-academic practice of «rapid foresight». It is shown that the latter is distinguished by the strengthening of the projective component. If, within the framework of academic foresight, the project result in the form of, for example, priority areas of technological development is achieved as a result of a long series of first research and only then social design and social engineering’ events, then events using methods of rapid foresight use ready-made knowledge and the potential of creative thinking of participants to develop social projects in the most tight deadlines. It is concluded that within the framework of non-academic foresight, it is possible to use the epistemic and social potential of various actors, and this allows to create inventive projects and quickly move to their implementation through the efforts of project groups arising within the same foresight activities. However, without the existence of a single outline including academic and non-academic foresight, the latter will face the same risks that are realized in the course of social practice divorced from scientific support.
foresight; social design; social engineering; social project; academic activity; transdisciplinarity; social functional.