Mutual Learning Exercise

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Horizon Futures Watch Newsletter

The Horizon Futures Watch Newsletter series showcases the latest findings from foresight in the EU Framework Programme and the futures4europe.eu platform. It is aimed at a growing community of decision-makers, experts, practicioners and other people interested in foresight, R&I policy and european affairs promoting the wealth of thinking generated in the context of different projects financed through Horizon Europe as well as other foresight-related activities and exercises conducted by the European Commission.

The newsletter is written by the Foresight on Demand Consortium, which provides support to the European Commission of foresight in the area of research and innovation, and is connected to the Horizon Europe Foresight Network – a network of Commission staff connecting all policy departments involved in the Horizon Europe R&I programme.

It is part of the HE-FE project - European R&I foresight and public engagement for Horizon Europe.

Follow this link if you want to subscribe to the Horizon Futures Watch Newsletter and receive information about the FOD Consortium activities.

Mutual Learning Exercise (MLE) on R&I Foresight

The purpose of the MLE is to facilitate the exchange of information, experiences and lessons learnt in the practice of R&I foresight across EU and Associated Countries, and to contribute to the development of an impactful R&I foresight community as an important element of ERA. It promotes improvements in R&I foresight across participating countries through identification and propagation of good practices in institutionalising foresight capability, in carrying out foresight projects and in using foresight for R&I policy purposes.

The MLE also strengthens the European foresight community in R&I policy and the capacity of MS and AC to engage in foresight and R&I policy planning and to co-create future EU Research Framework Programmes.

This MLE constitutes an opportunity to take stock of current or planned policies and good practices at Member State level and beyond and to share experience among policy-makers and national authorities on the use of foresight in the R&I domain as well as the potential of science and research to provide foresight for other policies.

Eye of Europe - The Research and Innovation Foresight Community

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 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.

Key figures: 5 mutual learning events (MLE): 2 online, 3 face-to-face events; 1 vision building event for the Future of R&I Foresight in ERA; 2 conferences

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.

Key figures: 11 Foresight pilot processes: 3 exclusively with citizens, 4 mainly with experts and researchers tackling specific R&I topics, 4 involving a bespoke group of participants. Out of the 11 events, 8 will be face-to-face events, and 3 pilots will take place online

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, incorporating written and multimedia content.

Key figures: 5-10 short training sets for participants in foresight exercises; 1 training module for foresight beneficiaries; 1 foresight training for early career researchers, 1 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on R&I foresight; 12 conversational podcasts; 6-8 Short videos and/or animated materials showcasing foresight processes and outcomes

Fueling the public discourse around futures: Promoting the project and fostering the foresight community via the online platform Futures4Europe and complementary channels such as social media and a dedicated newsletter. In addition to highlighting the project's own initiatives, Eye of Europe will also aim to 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, with a focus on sharing project activities and fostering discussions.

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

Unitatea Executiva Pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior A Cercetarii Dezvoltarii Si Inovarii (UEFISCDI) – coordinator

Austrian Institute Of Technology GmbH (AIT)

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung EV (Fraunhofer)

Turun Yliopisto (UTU)

VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (VDI/VDE IT)

Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft - Und Raumfahrt (DLR)

Fundacao Para A Ciencia E A Tecnologia (FCT)

Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR)

Technologicke Centrum Praha ZSPO (TC Praha)

Agentia Nationala pentru Cercetare si Dezvoltare (ANCD)

Urad Vlady Slovenskej Republiky (UV SR)