Spain
Spain 2050 is a strategic foresight exercise that has a dual goal:
1) To improve the understanding of the social, economic and environmental challenges and opportunities that Spain will face over the coming decades; and
2) To create a multi-stakeholder dialogue that generates a Long-Term National Strategy that will allow us to set priorities, coordinate efforts, and ensure the prosperity and well-being of Spanish citizens in the future.
The National Office of Foresight and Strategy is a unit of the Presidency of the Government of Spain responsible for analysing the challenges and opportunities that Spain will encounter in the coming decades and helping the country prepare for them.
Finland
Finland has a dedicated website for foresight-related activities.
Chapter 8 of this book by ESPAS present the Finnish case of foresight in public policy, citing the following elements:
According to a survey conducted by the CoR, 52% of local and regional authorities say that some form of foresight activity already existed in their respective LRAs.
Based on these results, some desk research on regions and cities with foresight structures was carried out, covering a large number of Member States and languages. This research has shown that comprehensive cross sectoral foresight is taking place in a limited number of sub-national authorities. The comprehensive approach that meats at least some of the criteria to qualify as "foresight" in the ESPAS-sense, include:
On this basis, so far, the German-speaking community in Belgium, the city of Tallinn, Estonia, the region Hauts-de-France, France and the regions of Sardegna and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy were identified as meeting these criteria.
Regional Foresight in France
Hauts-de-France's 2020-2040 foresight strategy comprises three main projects:
1) Coastal area;
2) City centres;
3) Industry.
Regional Foresight in Italy
FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA implemented strategic foresight trainings for Regional Directors and Heads of Unit, as well as training for teachers and professors of territorial high schools. It also implemented the 2020 Foresight Scenarios FVG Report for designing possible models of territorial development, in cooperation with Skopia Agency.
SARDEGNA has two important territorial plans based on foresight techniques: 1) Regional Strategy for adaptation to climate change 2021-2050, and 2) Sardegna2030 - Regional Strategy for Sustainable Development. The Regional Strategy is set up as an overview for the regional sectors, administrations and organisations involved, in order to assess the implications of climate change in the different sectors concerned. Finally, there are Sardegna 2030 and a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for 2050.
In addition, some other regions have conducted projects related to foresight:
LIGURIA: Agenda Liguria 2030
LOMBARDIA: PPT - Lombardia experience of Regional Foresight
PUGLIA: Puglia Foresight; Puglia Foresight – video recording; Puglia's first exercise of technological foresight
SICILIA: Strategic Planning Department
TOSCANA: Toscana 2030
* * *
MASTER ADAPT is a project co-funded by the EC LIFE Programme that intends to develop an operational and integrated methodology for regions, metropolitan cities and consortia of cities to include climate change adaptation as a key element in their plans and programmes.
Regional Foresight in Spain
Direcció General d'Anàlisi i Prospectiva is a horizontal unit at level of the presidency of the government. The last substantive foresight project was a consultation with 30-member independent expert group based on review of other existing foresight documents/ horizon scanning; parallel public consultation process with 2000 "actions" suggested then reviewed/ selected by the experts. Experts then discussed 'actions' with relevant ministers.
Regional Foresight in Belgium
OSTBELGIEN:
- Foresight activities receive support from professional consultancy (HJP-Planungsbüro Aachen).
- Participatory process; involvement of citizens' council.
- Comprehensive; gradual expansion in line with the devolution of powers to the regional level on spatial planning.
FLANDERS:
Flanders in Transition. Priorities in Science, Technology and Innovation towards 2025 (no scenarios, but identification of challenges and opportunities)
Regional Foresight in Finland
HELSINKI-UUSIMAA REGION
An explorative scenario-based framework was applied to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area for strategic land-use planning using different modes of knowing, that is, ‘explanation’, ‘narration’, ‘argumentation’ and ‘instrumentalization’.
Here is the report: Scenarios for alternative future visions: What kind of developments should Helsinki-Uusimaa be prepared for?
* * *
In 2011–2014, KT Local Government Employers (i.e. employers' organisation that promotes the interests of Finnish local and joint municipal authorities in the labour market) coordinated a foresight project to enhance the Finnish Tax Administration. The development work was carried out in four regional projects.
1) The Central Finland pilot developed a regional foresight framework for Central Finland and practices for foresight-based human resource planning for the City of Jyväskylä and the Central Finland Health Care District;
2) The Northern Finland pilot developed competence foresight practices for the identification of new competences required by the support service personnel of educational organisations, and created a rolling competence foresight process;
3) The Päijät-Häme pilot focused on the integration of competence foresight into customer-focused service design in the social and health service sector;
4) In the Capital Region pilot, the City of Helsinki developed competence foresight as part of its strategy work and used future mapping as a foresight tool. The City of Vantaa and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences developed a co-operation framework for deepening co-operation between the city and the university of applied sciences in developing the study programmes of students in social and health care services to better correspond with the needs of working life.
Local Foresight in Estonia
TALLIN (city):
- Evaluation of strategic goals is carried on every 8 years under a city-level legal framework (directive), with a participatory process.
- There is a separate foresight structure being part of the city administration.
-The plan aims at designing a comprehensive, special focus on SDGs, spatial planning/demography, financial planning; KPI- city dashboards (based on 5-year cycle); special structure only for digitalisation (bureau of future city).
Thematic analyses
Geographical analyses