Author: proadmin

Eye of Europe Mutual Learning Event | Foresight for Long-Term Visioning and Priority Setting

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The fourth Mutual Learning Event of the 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 project took place in beautiful Budapest on April 7-8th 2025, focusing on “𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.”

The event featured presentations on European and national foresight exercises, highlighting diverse practices in shaping long-term visions and setting strategic priorities. These insights fueled lively discussions during two interactive sessions.

Over twenty participants from diverse stakeholder groups joined the event held in Budapest, Hungary: Eye of Europe partner organizations, representatives from the European Commission, R&I funding agencies, representatives of governmental bodies. 

Presentations

  • Opening and Introduction to the Eye of Europe project | Radu Gheorghiu, coordinator of Eye of Europe project
  • Introduction to Forward-looking Activities and Policy Making | Attila Havas (CERS, Hungary)
  • Introduction of the MLE4 context, objectives and agenda | Lenka Hebáková (TC Prague, Czechia)
  • Foresight for European R&I Priorities | Nicola Francesco Dotti, EC’s DG for Research and Innovation: Common R&I Strategy & Foresight Service
  • Building anticipatory governance as a core element of policymaking across OECD countries | Julia Staudt
  • Malta: Foresight and Visioning in the R&I policy cycle | Jennifer Cassingena Harper, Insight Foresight Institute
  • UK: Discussing strategies for positioning a country or region as a leader in specific R&I domains | Luke Georghiou, University of Manchester
  • Romania: Digital Transformation in the Romanian Public Administration: Scenarios and Associated Digital Roles for Civil Servants | Bianca Dragomir, Institutul de Prospectiva
  • Hungary: The Priorities and the Methodology of the Programme Strategy | Péter Racskó, NRDI
    Office

Read more: MLE event page on Futures4Europe

Futures4Europe Conference 2025 | Exploring Future-Oriented Collective Intelligence

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The concept of Future-Oriented Collective Intelligence (FOCI) offers a transformative approach to making sense of and addressing future challenges that are complex and interconnected. The topic will be at the centre of the Futures4Europe Conference that will take place on 15 – 16 May 2025 in Vienna, Austria, at the Skydome in Vienna’s thrilling 7th district.   

The event will focus on three subtopics that correspond to the tracks of the Call for Papers: 

  • Collective Intelligence for R&I Policy Making;
  • Science as Collective Intelligence;
  • Emerging practices and cultures in future-oriented collective intelligence.

The programme will consist of keynotes, parallel sessions with paper presentations and interactive formats.
Selected papers will be published in the international bi-monthly Foresight journal by Emerald Publishing. 

For updates on the event, please visit the event page on futures4europe.eu

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The Conference is organised by AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, as part of the Eye of Europe project, which envisions a more cohesive and influential R&I foresight community that contributes significantly, as collective intelligence, to shaping and guiding policy decisions. The project has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe Research Programme under Grant Agreement n°101131738. 

Press release: Institutul de Prospectiva advises European Commission on futures

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Institutul de Prospectiva is one of the core partners in a €20m framework contract on foresight services recently signed with the European Commission. The Foresight on Demand consultancy contract runs for the next four years.

The Foresight on Demand (FoD) consortium is supporting the European Commission and fourteen other EU organisations on science and technology programming from now until 2028, after a successful cooperation between 2019-2023. This framework agreement enables the European Commission to promptly call up required forward-looking expertise and build up anticipatory capacities in its own organisations. Knowledge is developed in participatory processes to orientate and underpin Europe’s investment plans for science, research, technology and innovation. 

Strategic support for the European Commission during previous framework contract

Institutul de Prospectiva has also been part of the Foresight on Demand consortium that delivered, between 2019 – 2023, timely and effective inputs to policy-making. Previous Foresight on Demand projects have helped develop a variety of policy instruments and measures, including EC directives, awareness-raising measures, information platforms, stakeholder networks and other research funding tools. One notable example is the FoD project “Foresight towards the 2nd Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe”, which has helped underpin Horizon Europe’s upcoming Strategic Plan.

Customers of Foresight-on-Demand projects in the past have included various Directorates-General of the European Commission (Research and Innovation, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Justice and Consumers, Internal Market), as well as agencies and bodies of the European Union (European Environment Agency, Mission Boards).

“Throughout the previous framework contract, Institutul de Prospectiva has contributed to numerous projects, on components related to horizon scanning, large scale Delphi consultations, scenario and vision building, speculative design. These projects addressed a wealth of themes, among which the future of food, of retail, of ecosystems’ flourishing We also explored the human condition transformed by technology and created fictional artifacts regarding our future selves and our expanded perception”, says Bianca Dragomir, vice-president at Institutul de Prospectiva.

Shaping the future with foresight

In addition to concrete results, such as scenarios, visions of the future and recommendations for action, which are disseminated in the form of in-depth case studies and reports, policy briefs and even futures stories and ‘artefacts from the future’, foresight processes also have indirect effects. In participatory settings, such as workshops, discussion and information events (panels, webinars), but also by means of Delphi surveys or interviews, foresight activities have a positive effect on the consolidation of stakeholder networks and on strengthening the anticipatory skills and capacities of political decision-makers, both crucial elements for long-term, coordinated and transformative policy-making.

A growing foresight community hosted by futures4europe.eu

The futures4europe.eu platform will continue to serve as the online home of the European foresight community. The work to be carried out by the Foresight on Demand consortium in the next four years will be featured on the platform along other European, national and even regional foresight activities and their diverse results.

Institutul de Prospectiva will continue to contribute to the enrichment of the platform futures4europe, not only by showcasing our foresight work and results, but also by creating content for non-expert audiences interested in forward-looking knowledge. With its planned upgrade in autumn 2024, futures4europe.eu will strengthen its position as the heart of a collective intelligence that aims at contributing significantly to shaping future-oriented policy decisions and to fueling conversations around futures”, adds Bianca Dragomir.

More information:

Bianca Dragomir; bianca.dragomir@prospectiva.ro

Eye of Europe’s first Mutual Learning Event | Emerging Practices in Foresight for Research & Innovation policy

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The first Mutual Learning Event (MLE) took place on May 23, 2024 in Bratislava, Slovakia as part of the Horizon Europe project Eye of Europe, which aims to contribute to the maturing of a vibrant Research and Innovation (R&I) foresight community in Europe and to support the integration of foresight practices into R&I policy-making.

Forty participants from partner organizations and external representatives of ministries, governmental bodies, R&I funding agencies and the European institutions gathered in the premises of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic.

This MLE, organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), focused on the identification of emerging needs and approaches in the practice of foresight for research and innovation. To this end, the MLE in Bratislava was structured along the following phases:

  • Eye of Europe’s vision and main building blocks, presented by project coordinator Radu Gheorghiu
  • The context and role of this MLE, and a brief overview of other mutual learning events that took place since 2020, presented by Michal Pazour 
  • Showcasing preliminary results of the Stocktaking of the organisation of R&I Foresight activities in the European Research Area (ERA), by Simone Weske. The presentation highlighted key benefits of the R&I foresight activities, constraints and bottlenecks, as perceived by the survey respondents.
  • Four country studies – Slovakia, Finland, Austria and Sweden – have brought interesting insights and comparisons related to R&I foresight uptake and potential for improvement:
    Slovakia: Research and Innovation System and the potential for R&I Foresight |Michal Habrman, Government Office of the Slovak Republic
    Finland: Finnish national foresight ecosystem | Juha Kaskinen, FFRC University of Turku Finland
    Sweden: Leading from the Future in Sweden | Joakim Skog, Vinnova Sweden
    Austria: R&I foresight | Christian Naczinsky, Austrian Ministry of Education
  • Discussions in four participant groups on emerging functions and approaches of R&I foresight. Overall, the group discussions touched on the dynamics of R&I foresight demand and supply and on the diversification of tools and methods for establishing dialogue with policy-making.

    This video created by the event host, Výskumná a inovačná autorita (VAIA), offers a glimpse into the spirit of both the MLE and the R&I foresight masterclass that preceded it.

Find out more on the MLE event page on futures4europe.eu

Eye of Europe – The Research and Innovation foresight community

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As a Coordination and Support Action funded by the EU, project “Eye of Europe” aims to enhance the integration of foresight practices into Research and Innovation (R&I) policy making across Europe. Ultimately, the project envisions a more cohesive and influential R&I foresight community that contributes significantly, as a collective intelligence, to shaping and guiding policy decisions.

To this end, Eye of Europe builds on existing initiatives and experiences to foster knowledge-sharing between foresight practitioners and policy makers, attract domain experts in foresight endeavours, and engage a broader audience in futures thinking. Nurturing futures4europe.eu as the online home for the community and running various face-to-face events with different stakeholders will underpin these ambitions.

The project runs between November 2023 – October 2026 and relies, methodologically, on the following building blocks:

  • Futures4Europe.eu as the online hub for the R&I foresight community in Europe:
    The existing platform will be upgraded to better accommodate the interests of various stakeholders such as foresight experts, beneficiaries, domain experts, and an active audience. It will operate on multiple integration levels, from mapping organizations and experts to sharing foresight results and capabilities. Moreover, it will act as the communication gateway for ongoing foresight activities, events, educational and inspirational materials. More on the platform here.
  • Sharing of practices:
    This entails mapping institutions engaged in R&I foresight activities, promoting mutual learning through interactive formats, developing shared visions for the future of foresight in R&I policy within the European Research Area (ERA), fostering exchanges among the foresight in R&I policy community through conferences, encouraging dialogues between futurist/expert communities, academics and policy practitioners.
  • Running foresight pilots:
    Conducting a series of pilot workshops and online consultations with diverse formats, methodologies, and participants. This involves identifying topics of common interest within the European Research Area (ERA), where foresight perspectives offer added value, designing and implementing tailored pilot foresight activities involving various stakeholders, harnessing lessons learnt and feeding them into the platform and other dissemination channels.
  • Boosting futures literacy: 
    The project encourages meaningful engagement with diverse audiences, from foresight professionals, researchers, policy-makers to various futures sensitive profiles (e.g. entrepreneurs, journalists, artists) and the wider civil society. The project will provide guides, methodology toolboxes, and training modules for R&I foresight and futures literacy. Prospectiva will help create diverse content for futures literacy, such as conversational podcasts and multimedia materials on foresight methods and outcomes.
  • Fueling the public discourse around futures: 
    Fostering the foresight community via the online platform Futures4Europe, social media and a dedicated newsletter. In addition to highlighting the project’s own initiatives, Eye of Europe will also promote foresight content developed in other projects, showcasing a diverse range of perspectives and insights within the foresight field. The quarterly newsletter will feature various content types like interviews, project updates, and foresight-related articles. Social media, particularly futures4europe’s LinkedIn page, will be used to engage professional communities and wider audiences.

Eye of Europe leverages the experience of 18 partners across Europe coming from all walks of foresight expertise and practice:

Futures Garden – creating fictional artifacts through speculative design

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Futures Garden aims at creating inspiring alternative future scenarios through the use of fictional future artifacts that invite to reflection and debate. The pilot project coordinated by Institutul de Prospectiva was carried out in 2024 and addressed two themes:

“Dealing with future selves” explores new ways of being, individually and collectively, examines new practices and technologies that enhance self-reflection and sharing of emotions, which help shape our choices in life and nurture a renewed sense of togetherness.

“Extending human perception to new scales” explores the richness of non-human intelligences, expanding our attention and appreciation for their unique sensory worlds, their “umwelt” – what they “feel” and how they “think”. In doing so it departs from the human-centric worldview towards a deeper understanding and celebration of life on Earth.

The project unfolded along several phases, depicted in the figure below and then further described:

  • Horizon scanning:

Identifying and curating cutting-edge concepts, theories, practices and technologies that may reshape our notion of futures selves and of extended human perception, by diving into literature from various fields (e.g. psychology, biology, epigenetics, biotechnology, neuroscience, cultural theory, spirituality). These content items were then used as a selection or in combination, depending on the concept design ideas in the speculative design phase.
The full results of the horizon scanning are available in the report Foresight literature review brief

  • Speculative Design:

Transforming selected briefs, together with design agencies NORMALS and Modem, into thought-provoking future artifacts in the form of short movies – Inwards and Symbiotic – which render the imagined future scenarios more tangible, immersive and engaging.

The full movies will become available for the wider public in June 2024.
The teasers below give a glimpse into this creative work:
Inwards teaser: https://vimeo.com/887304151
Symbiotic teaser: https://vimeo.com/887303461

  • Citizen and Policy Engagement:

Reflecting on the various societal implications of the speculative scenarios, gathering diverse perspectives and insights from EU citizens and policymakers. This phase involved a series of eight workshops, conducted between late November and early December 2023.

  • Sharing with the wider public:

Presenting on dedicated website futuresgarden.eu the project journey and outcomes, so that audiences from all around Europe and the world can engage with this inspiring work

The final report of the project showcases the work carried out in Futures Garden, describing each step and associated outcomes.

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Futures Garden initiated by the EU Policy Lab
Commissioned by the DG for Research & Innovation through the Foresight on Demand framework contract
Supported by the European Commission

Partners:
Austrian Institute of Technology
Fraunhofer ISI
Futures2all
Futurlab
Institutul de Prospectiva (Lead of pilot project)
Modem
Normals

Eye of Europe sets sail

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November 2023 saw the official launch of the EU-funded project Eye of Europe – The research and innovation foresight community. For the next three years, this project will nurture the European R&I foresight community, bringing together practitioners, experts, policymakers and foresight enthusiasts alike.

Leveraging the experience of 18 partners across Europe coming from all walks of foresight expertise and practice, the project will integrate mutual learning and sharing of practices among foresight practitioners and R&I policy-makers, mobilise diverse stakeholders in joint pilot activities, and engage an active, broad audience in deliberating and shaping future imaginaries.

Eye of Europe will continue the work undertaken by its predecessor, ‘FOD European R&I Foresight and public engagement for Horizon Europe’. More specifically, the online platform futures4europe launched in early 2023 will carry on its function as the heart of the foresight community, undergoing further upgrades towards mapping organisations and experts and sharing foresight results and capabilities, as well as an amplifier for current foresight activities and events.

Read more about the project.

Dealing with future selves & Extending human perception to new scales – join the online workshop

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When foresight meets speculative design, the result is not only cinematic and poetic, but also more tangible and potent in the way it paints potential futures. Project Futures Garden is warmly inviting you to engage with two fictional artifacts that showcase thought provoking future scenarios regarding “Dealing with future selves” and “Extending human perception to new scales”.

Join us for an immersive and interactive experience!

Registration link: https://futures-garden-human-perception-identity.eventbrite.de

Date and time: Dec 7th 2023, 14:00 – 16:30 CET

The Artifacts:

INWARDS

The film Inwards invites us to explore new practices and technologies that enhance self-reflection and sharing of emotions, thus helping shape our choices in life and nurture a renewed sense of togetherness.

>> Watch the teaser: https://vimeo.com/887304151

SYMBIOTIC

The film Symbiotic invites us to explore new ways of inhabiting the perception of other intelligent beings, to embody their experience, their sensory world, their “umwelt” – what they “feel” and how they “think”.

>> Watch the teaser: https://vimeo.com/887303461

Stories, including those about potential futures, can bind and bond us in communion. They renew us, because when we imagine the future we invariably transform our present, our current thoughts and emotions. Give yourself this treat on Thursday, December 7th 2023.

Who Should Attend?

  • EU citizens interested in reflecting on and discussing future fictional artifacts, thus fostering new ideas and attitudes that may reshape their present lives and their future
  • Policymakers looking for fresh perspectives derived from future scenarios
  • Futurists, designers, and behavioral scientists exploring the power of citizen engagement in molding future imaginaries

Our report published by the European Commission: Science, technology and innovation for ecosystem performance: accelerating sustainability transitions

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This report presents the results of a study on S&T&I for 2050: science, technology and innovation for ecosystem performance – accelerating sustainability transitions. The aim was to identify, map and assess future scientific and technological developments that can radically improve or threaten ecosystem performance.

Based on literature review, the project team developed three perspectives on future relations between humans and nature and humans’ role in the flourishing of planetary ecosystems. Drawing in addition on a two-round Dynamic Argumentative Delphi survey on the most dynamic scientific and technological developments, six cased studies on core sustainability issues explored the three perspectives. Reflections on implications for R&I policies in the context of the European Green Deal conclude each case study.

The report can be downloaded in our Resources section.

The project team was composed by: 

The project “S&T&I FOR 2050. Science, Technology and Innovation for Ecosystem Performance – Accelerating Sustainability Transitions” was conducted on behalf of the European Commission. 

Check out our webinar – Foresight for entrepreneurial minds

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In a nutshell, foresight is a structured conversation about potential futures. Foresight tools and concepts can be employed in different future-sensitive settings, and entrepreneurial discovery and business innovation can certainly benefit from this practice.

This webinar addresses students with entrepreneurial ambitions and facilitators who may guide them in the process of generating ideas that take into account future opportunities and challenges, whether they are already emerging or are barely discernable in the present.

The webinar is available here.

It is part of our work in project FOReSiGHT – Flexibility and Resilience in Digital Transformation and Intelligent Automation – Advanced Skills and Tools for Academia and Entrepreneurs.

Enjoy!