Dufva seeks to identify signals that may be weak now but are nevertheless significant from the point of view of the future. Before moving to Sitra Mikko Dufva was a researcher at the foresight team at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He worked on foresight projects on e.g. forestry, mining, synthetic biology, renewable energy, future of work, and platform economy. Dufva has extensive experience in the theory and practice of foresight. His thesis about knowledge creation in foresight and systemic foresight won the Foresight act of the year award in 2016.

Dufva has acted as a guest editor of the journal Futura and as the chairman of the Finnish Society for Futures studies in 2018 - 2019. He is a popular speaker with over 50 presentations a year on e.g. futures thinking, foresight, megatrends, and weak signals.