Kick-off – EU project on strategic foresight in the Balkans
14th April 2022 — The kick-off for the European Union project POLICY ANSWERS takes place on the 14th April. The project aims to support the Western Balkans on its way into the European Research Area and includes Strategic Foresight to actively shape possible future trends for the region. DLR Projektträger (DLR-PT) is organising appropriate training seminars on site.
Training seminars on strategic foresight on behalf of the EU Commission
The project is being implemented by DLR-PT with other partners on behalf of the EU Commission and will run for a period of four years. The foresight process reached its preliminary climax last year, when DLR-PT brought together more than 700 experts from research and innovation from the region to discuss possible futures for the Western Balkans with the help of strategic foresight. The jointly developed scenarios appeared in the EU Commission report "Strategic Foresight in the Western Balkans: Recovery on the Horizon", which was coordinated and co-authored by DLR-PT. Following on from this, DLR-PT is now organising training seminars where representatives from higher education and civil society can learn about the benefits of strategic foresight approaches – for example trend and environmental analyses or backcasting.
In addition, DLR-PT's close Foresight network partners – key actors from EU institutions that have been implementing Strategic Foresight measures for many years – will discuss their lessons learnt and best practices with the participants. During the workshops, participants will also apply different foresight methods to continue the exchange on the possible and desirable futures of the Western Balkans and jointly develop options for action. Following the workshops, DLR-PT provides a "Policy Brief" in which the options for action are summarised and prepared so that they can be perceived by political decision-makers and have their full impact.
Our involvement in European and international foresight networks
DLR-PT is currently working on a handbook that will give political decision-makers and interested stakeholders an overview of the methods of strategic foresight. This handbook is continuously enriched by the influence of the various foresight networks in which DLR-PT is actively involved. In addition to its activities in the Association of Professional Futurists and the German-language network "Zukünftebildung", DLR-PT has been able to contribute its expertise to the EU Ministerial Meeting on the Western Balkans, the European Economic and Social Committee, the EU's Horizon Europe Foresight Network and the EUREKA network.
Together with the EU Commission and the versatile Foresight partner organisations, DLR-PT wants to make a contribution through the training seminars, networking with European actors and the handbook so that significantly more experts can integrate these multifaceted methods into their everyday work. With the aid of these tools, they can help shape the possible futures for their organisation and region.