Strategic foresight
Strategic foresight for public authorities, foundations, and associations that want to systematically shape their futures.
Encourage strategic and forward-thinking in your team
Unlike many traditional strategy tools, which are firmly rooted in the present, strategic foresight looks ahead. It systematically incorporates possible futures into decision-making processes, thereby creating a strategic advantage. Strategic foresight analyses connections, interactions and system dynamics – across sectors, levels, and time periods. This allows you to identify opportunities and risks early on, rather than just reacting to acute challenges. We support you introducing and implementing strategic foresight. We tailor our services to your individual needs.
Our services
Analysis of trends and drivers: What will be important?
We identify relevant areas of action and developments at an early stage. Our methods include desk research, expert interviews, (Delphi) surveys, interactive workshops, futures wheels, and trend analyses.
Scenario development: What if?
Based on the identified trends and drivers, we develop various scenarios of the futures for you and with you. Our methods include scenario development through co-creative workshops and creative storytelling approaches that make the potential futures tangible.
Strategy development: Which path leads to success?
We work alongside you to develop tailor-made strategies and roadmaps that prepare you for future challenges. Our methods include backcasting, roadmapping, SWOT analysis, and wind tunnelling. We also offer you tailored training courses such as on strategy implementation and fostering Futures Literacy in your organisation.
Monitoring and evaluation: How does your strategy remain adaptable?
We support you in continuously adapting your strategic plans so that you can remain agile and future-proof, even when conditions change.
Why strategic foresight is indispensable
Strategic foresight enables us to identify developments at an early stage and actively shape them. Technological innovations, geopolitical shifts and social change are fundamentally altering our environment, whether it's Europe's competitiveness, rapid advances in quantum computing technology or the transformation of our working world. Strategic foresight provides clarity about possible developments, helping us to classify trends and signals of change, as well as their long-term effects, in an informed manner. Governments, international organisations and companies have long relied on strategic foresight. The European Commission uses it to anticipate trends such as digitisation and climate change, aligning political strategies accordingly. Innovation agencies and economic actors around the world also use foresight to proactively respond to change rather than merely reacting to it. Would you like to find out how you can benefit from this, too? We would be happy to offer you a bespoke service package.
Customers who use our expertise in strategic foresight
- European Commission
- European Parliament Research Service
- Federal Foreign Office
- Federal Academy for Security Policy
- Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space
- Network "Humanities in the European Research Area"
Networks in which we are involved
- Foresight Europe Network
- Task Force on Foresight Evaluation of the Association of Professional Futurists
- Futures Literacy Network
- Foresight Network of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS)
Facts and figures
- 25% of Fortune 500 companies already rely on strategic foresight
- Networked with partners from 130 countries
- More than 5,000 analyses, position papers and expert reports annually
Why the DLR Projektträger is your reliable partner
- Methodological expertise: We combine robust strategic foresight methods with the in-depth knowledge of our regional and specialist departments to develop a nuanced understanding of global trends and sectoral developments. This approach ensures that every initiative is both scientifically sound and practical.
- Co-creative approach: We involve all relevant stakeholders in the foresight process through interactive processes. This ensures that the results are convincing in terms of both content and practicality, and tailored to your needs.
- AI-based trend analysis: AI-based data analysis efficiently evaluates large amounts of structured and unstructured data in the foresight process, identifying hidden patterns, trends, and weak signals early on. This supports the development of more informed scenarios and strategic options, complementing the co-creative methods meaningfully.
- In-depth experience: We have central framework agreements with European institutions that support political decisions at the highest EU level, including 'Foresight on Demand 2' with the European Commission and 14 other European institutions, and the framework agreement with the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS).
- Global networks: We engage leading expertise and stakeholders worldwide through our global network of over 400 partners in 130 countries. This enables us to provide you with comprehensive, internationally informed insights to help you overcome complex challenges and plan for the long term.
Our services in practice
© ra2 studio – stock.adobe.com
Overview of our previous projects
Anticipating the futures? The DLR Projektträger is approaching this goal with its "strategic foresight" method: we develop future scenarios that provide a sound basis for long-term decisions, thereby helping to overcome pressing challenges.
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© futures4europe / DLR Projektträger
Creating a basis for decision-making: new study on the foresight community
As part of the EU project 'Eye of Europe', the DLR Projektträger has compiled an overview of the European foresight landscape. The aim is to showcase best practices from the European R&I foresight community.
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© Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com
DLR Projektträger advises EU Commission on foresight in R&I
The DLR Projektträger has joined a consortium of leading European foresight organisations to advise EU institutions with the help of foresight.
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About us
As the DLR Projektträger, we form a central pillar of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and complement its scientific orientation. We stand for high procedural and process reliability as well as absolute neutrality. We work for federal and state ministries, the EU Commission, foundations and associations.