A Note from the Chairman

Dr. Richard Smith, FSC Chairman

A Note from the Chairman

Dear FSC Friends,

As we close out 2025, it’s clear that this past year marked a genuine watershed moment for the FSC as to the clarity of our purpose. So many attendees to Live in '25 told me that they felt like they had really found their tribe. That matters. Communities like this don’t appear by accident.

With that in mind, I’m pleased to share that Cycles in the City '26 will take place May 28-30, 2026, in New York City. We will once again gather in a setting designed for depth rather than scale – an environment where real work and real connections can happen.

Last year I was pleased to discover that Cycles in Science and Nature turned out to be our most popular day. This year, we’re drawing on that inspiration to lean even more strongly into serious scientific and conceptual exploration. The unifying theme for 2026 will be: cycles as natural intelligence.

Much of the focus in the cycles community, understandably, is on cycles as a predictive tool. What many of many of us are starting to glimpse, however, is that cycles are also indicators of health and even of learning in natural systems. Meanwhile, in today’s increasingly artificial systems, natural cycles are often suppressed – to the advantage of a few and the detriment of many.

At Cycles in the City 2026, we will explore cycles not merely as forecasting tools, but as visible signs of an underlying order – patterns through which life, markets, and natural systems learn, adapt, and respond over time. Markets will remain a crucial domain of study, including a focused examination of the approaching 18.6-year real estate cycle peak in 2026, but they will be situated within a broader inquiry into time, learning, and intelligence across systems.

Looking Back on 2025

Beyond the conference, 2025 was a year of consolidation and maturation for the Foundation:

• The Masters Working Group continued to deepen into a serious professional forum, distinguished by the quality of its dialogue and participants.
• Cycles TV expanded our reach while helping clarify what kind of conversations FSC is best suited to host.
• Our technology and analytical capabilities advanced meaningfully, reflecting a shift toward more rigorous, institutional-grade work.
• The ongoing archives project reaffirmed that FSC’s past is not something to be admired from a distance, but a living resource for present discovery.

Most importantly, the Foundation has grown into something more coherent: a place where cycles are studied not as mechanical curiosities, but as expressions of how systems behave in time – and a community of people seeking new insights and discoveries as to how our world really works.

Looking Ahead

In 2026, FSC will continue to focus on three guiding priorities:

1. Cycles as Natural Intelligence — advancing a serious, non-reductionist understanding of
   cycles.
2. Community and Participation — fostering a culture of shared inquiry and contribution.
3. Application with Integrity — exploring markets and other systems scientifically.

Thank you for being part of this community and for helping shape what the FSC is becoming.

It’s about time,
Dr. Richard Smith
Chairman of the Board and Executive Director