This working paper describes some of the ideas underpinning NZCER's Future-Focused Issues (FFI) project. There is a variety of ways to interpret what it means to take a "future focus" in education. This paper explains why the FFI project has focused primarily on concepts specifically mentioned in relation to "future focus" in "The New Zealand Curriculum": sustainability, enterprise, globalisation and citizenship. It introduces the notion of "wicked problems"--challenges characteristic of the 21st century that intertwine future-focused issues--and what these may mean for society and education. Finally, it outlines what we have learned in our studies of education in relation to the FFIs. Appended are: (1) Previous NZCER projects that the future-focused issues project draws on; and (2) Previous NZCER projects that the future-focused issues project draws on. (Contains 3 figures, 2 tables and 9 footnotes.)