Participatory Foresight for Smarter Futures – From Design to Impact

September 16-19, 2013, ZHAW, Winterthur / Zurich, Switzerland

Call for Abstracts

Extended Abstract submission deadline: May 16, 2013

Foresight contributes to policy framing, design and implementation. It does so by providing an environment that enables a shared understanding of the present and ways in which it might evolve into possible futures, including disruptive ones. By doing so it empowers decision makers to shape a joint direction to follow that considers different stakeholders’ points of view and is adaptable over time.

Participatory formats which contribute to policy priority-setting take various forms in different countries. Foresight is one format among them. Foresight activities vary with regard to their functions in political priority-setting and strategy formulation of modern democracies. Many foresight practitioners value the possibility granted by foresight exercises to bring topics on the political agenda that need to be discussed not behind closed doors but with broad public involvement. The added value of foresight is seen in the shared goals and visions among a group of participating actors from different sectors, the development of networks, and the combination of relevant insights into current trends and likely future developments based both on evidence and on collective intelligence.

The role of foresight as a means of policy priority-setting and democratic participation has been changing over the last years as we witness a number of recent changes in the democratic systems of many countries. In some regions, foresight has emerged as a process favouring participatory governance, networking and interactive approaches through joint open reflection, consultation and discussion. Such approaches have led to the joint refinement of future visions and the ownership of common strategies.

The recently set up International Foresight Academy (IFA) aims to bring together foresight activities, experiences and initiatives from contrasting cultural and political contexts around the globe. IFA wants to explore and compare if foresight has the potential to function as a means to support societies to better face and influence politics, especially on critical issues that may determine and influence our future. IFA research will investigate if foresight can in fact provide some room for articulation to address even complicated and technologically sophisticated issues, overcoming public muteness and obliviousness. The identification of best practice models from empirical evidence in different countries and contexts will support other foresight practitioners to contribute to more transparency and participation in the debate of critical future issues. The interaction of technology with the social, behavioural and environmental aspects in integrative planning becomes more and more important.

The European IFA Academic Seminar will cover several topics related to participatory and democratic foresight in support of decision making. It shall thus address the inclusive and engaging nature of foresight through stakeholder involvement.
Members of the Swiss Academic Society for Environmental Research and Ecology SAGUF working group on energy future will co-organise a respective session and actively interact with the international IFA community to advance knowledge generation in this field.

In this context, this Academic Seminar will explore the development and use of foresight approaches aimed at enabling a smarter, more participatory and sustainable future through cross-cultural comparisons. The organisers invite authors to submit
contributions which either elaborate on the underpinning theoretical basis or present a practical national / regional perspective or an individual approach to participatory foresight, relating technological innovation(s) to social impacts. The focus shall lie on the following themes to make comparative studies possible:

• Foresight’s role in supporting democracy targeted impacts:
  This theme will focus on the contributions foresight has had and can have to empower citizens to engage in decision making processes and thus shape participatory governance systems and democratic societies. Both theoretical and practical papers on topics such as stakeholder engagement; the shaping and use of networks to enable citizen participation; application of foresight in democratic decision making processes leading to social or technological innovations; transparency and democratisation of information; among others, are welcome.
• Foresight and stakeholder engagement in addressing grand challenges:
  This theme will focus on the contributions that participation and democracy enabled through foresight approaches can have in designing and implementing sustainable solutions to challenges societies face today and may face in the future. Both theoretical and practical papers on topics such as the use of trends, emerging signals and collective intelligence for sustainable futures; participation in addressing societal challenges and democratic decision-making on future technology choices, for instance in the context of so-called smart cities or of the future of energy generation, distribution and use; among others, are welcome.

Plenary keynotes, parallel sessions as well as workshop will enable attractive room for discussion and knowledge development among IFA partners and interested scientists, practitioners and decision makers.
Workshops with innovative, future-oriented companies, policy-makers, NGOs and the interested public will add value to the Academic Seminar.

Submission procedure
The paper abstract (between 300 and 500 words) should be submitted via email to the address: cahu@zhaw.ch. Please send it as an attached MS Word document saved as “first author surname.doc”.
Abstracts should include: i) title, ii) purpose of the paper, iii) methodology or description, iv) expected or achieved results and impacts, v) major conclusions.
Contributions should address one of the themes listed above or at least be in the scope of participatory and democratic foresight in support of decision-making.
All submissions will be reviewed anonymously by at least two independent reviewers. The reviewers will consider the paper’s novelty, academic quality and its relevance for the themes of the Academic Seminar. Authors will be notified about acceptance in May.

Publication of papers
Beyond advancing the theoretical and practical knowledge on the links between foresight, participation and democracy, the IFA Academic Seminar aims to jointly discuss and refine articles for joint publication.
Selected papers will be either published in a book or a special issue of one of the following journals: Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Futures.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change journal is particularly interested on papers with a technological focus and that relate technological innovation(s) to social impacts, whereas Futures journal is interested on papers that address the challenges revealed by studies dealing with effective and participatory foresight practices in democratic policy making to improving citizens’ relationships with their futures.

Important dates
Start of Abstract submission: March 15, 2013
Abstract submission deadline: May 16, 2013
Notification of acceptance: May 31, 2013
Author registration deadline: July 1, 2013
Full manuscript submission deadline: August 2, 2013
European IFA Academic Seminar: September 16-19, 2013

Foresight experts from all over the world, e.g. from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America as well as from Russia, are expected to participate.
Thanks for circulating this Call for Abstracts to interested colleagues!
(Apologies for cross postings).

Scientific Committee

Members:

• Cristiano Cagnin (CGEE Centro de Gestão e Estudos Estratégicos, Brazil)
• Vicente Carabias (ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland)
• Jennifer Cassingena Harper (Malta Council for Science and Technology, Malta)
• Susanne Giesecke (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria)
• Ron Johnston (University of Sydney, Australia)
• Andreas König (ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland)
• Miguel Lengyel (FLACSO Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Argentina)
• Ruben Nelson (Foresight Canada)
• Blanca Pesado (FLACSO Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Argentina)
• Fabiana Scapolo (Joint Research Centre, European Commission)
• Matthias Weber (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria)

In line with DEF’s overall objectives, the event aims at informed, challenging and yet open dialogue, seeking to understand how business, institutions and governments can become more effective and fit-to-purpose through relationships with digitally empowered individuals. The focus is on finding game-changing solutions that stimulate innovation and sustainable evolution, and are therefore beneficial to all. We welcome all persons from science, technology, law, industry and policy who are interested and can contribute to the debate and policy developments on Personal Data and Citizenship in the Digital Society.

The FORUM will stimulate broad participation of all participants through group discussion sessions in Day 1 and Day 3 in particular, and sufficient time for involvement of the audience during in the Panel discussions on day 2. There will also be ample opportunity for socializing, e.g. a cocktail on 18 Sep, a lunch with additional invitees from the EU institutions on 19 Sep, a gala dinner on 19 Sep and coffee breaks during the days.

Detailed and updated information can be found on www.digitalenlightenment.org
Registration: www.def2013.eventbrite.com

More Information: http://www.institutfutur.de/nachrichtenseite/1836/0

Where: Institut français Berlin
Maison de France
Kurfürstendamm 211
10719 Berlin

This international Conference will bring together futures researchers, policy-makers, administrators and students who recognize the increasing importance of social innovation to global, regional and local futures. The Conference Program will include a variety of keynote, plenary and parallel sessions, panel discussions, open networking space and shared meals. You are invited to participate and present your research or creative ideas about the crucial role of social innovation in transforming futures. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed and you will be notified of acceptance within two weeks of the submission deadline. Some papers will be selected for publication in a special issue of Futures; some may be published in other peer-reviewed journals and/or online Conference Proceedings. This process (peer-review of abstracts and the prospect of publication) should enable you to get funding from your universities or sponsors. If you want to present a paper or poster, or run a workshop at the Conference, please submit an abstract (max. 250 words) by 1st April to the Scientific Committee Chair for Conference Papers, Rakesh Kapoor: director.wfsf@gmail.com

More information: http://www.wfsfconference.org/

Despite these dynamics in cultural heritage, thinking about the future of cultural heritage is not wide-spread. Maybe it is because of the contradiction between the retrospective nature of cultural heritage and the prospective nature of foresight and future studies. Nevertheless, future perspectives on relevant trends and drivers of change that may impact upon cultural heritage in Europe in the coming decades can support strategic thinking in cultural heritage
management including preservation, promotion and use of cultural heritage sources.

The European Foresight Platform organized a workshop to contribute to applying a future perspective on cultural heritage. In this workshop trends and drivers of change that may impact upon cultural heritage have been identified, using the STEEP structure (Society, Technology, Economy, Ecology and Policy). In addition, the type of impact these trends and drivers may have on the development, managemen, preservation, promotion, use, and funding of cultural heritage have been discussed. Moreover, the discussion has focused on the challenges, needs, options and questions for research following from these impacts. The outcomes of this workshop will be offered to stakeholders dealing with cultural heritage, including European and national policy makers, programming initiatives, agencies, institutes and research councils as inspiration to their strategic research agendas.

Documents and presentations:

Welcome slides.

Presentation by Domenico Rossetti, DG RTD.

Presentation by Dirk van Delft,  Museum Boerhaave.

Presentation by Riel Miller, UNESCO Foresight Unit.

Presentation on STEEP approach.

EFP Workshop_Future of Cultural Heritage paper.

EFP Cultural Heritage Background Paper.

Transport and logistics are fundamental for economic development, growth and prosperity
of regions and urban environments worldwide. For Europe, efficient and
sustainable freight transport and logistics action are essential for participating competitively in the world economy and further maintaining a high
quality of provision for European industries and end-consumers. As stated by
the European Commission in the Transport 2050 White-paper (Roadmap to a Single
European Transport Area)  the European transport sector is facing a number
of challenges:

-  CO2 emissions from transport are still growing, despite cleaner vehicles,

-  transport is extremely dependent upon oil, while oil will becomes scarcer and
more expensive,

-  rising levels of congestion, while demand for mobility particularly for freight
transport is growing,

-  the European transport sector faces  a growing competition from other world
regions,

-  the European transport sector has to tranform into a ressource-efficient and
sustainable area of provision for achieving the CO2 reduction targets commited by the European Community.

Most of the road maps, action plans and research priorities  focus on realizing future
technological solutions and service innovations for challenges recognized
today. These solutions have a strong todays technological and innovation focus and do in our opinion not sufficiently envison potential trends and developments in a farer distant
perspective. Todays visions on smart and intelligent, green and ressource efficent and safe and secure freight transport and logistics would benefit from a thorough discussion on potential alternative futures, which are not easily to recognize from a present perspective. In this EFP futures workshop we will discuss from a systemic point of view potential futures for urban freight transport and logistics against the background of maybe different socio-economic futures. The discussion is structured by the use of provocative sketches of potential socio-economic futures framing transport and logistics in 2050.

The goals of this futures workshop are:

•   to specify a range of future visions on urban freight transport and logistics
based on the latest insights from forward-looking activities in general
and in the transport  domain;

•   to explore new views on developments in urban freight transport and logistics
against the background of different farhorizon future visions bringing in
alternative perspectives;

•   to discuss credibility, feasibility as well as the main drivers and barriers
towards these futures and the uptake of potential technological and service
innovations in these context;

•   and to suggest implications and requirements for policy action and measures
taking into account a long term perspective and with that a range of
alternative and visionary scenarios.

You are kindly invited to participate in this workshop and to bring your expertise and
experience into the discussion. A detailed agenda for this one day workshop
will follow Monday next week.

You can notify interest and register for the urban freight futures workshop by sending
name and contact details to Ms. Beatrice Rath beatrice.rath@ait.ac.at