News about the Uk Foresight Programme
Issue 13 - July 2006
New Foresight Project
We will be undertaking a Foresight project on sustainable energy management and the built environment as a result of the Government's Energy Review (see the report here in Adobe PDF ).
The project will consider the potential future role and relationship of centralised and decentralised energy generation in delivering the UK 's long-term energy goals. In order to do this it will look at scientific, technical and economic issues including: future systems for generating heat and power that are low carbon and distributed; transmission and distribution networks; and demand management. Demand management would range from reducing use of energy in buildings through materials and intelligence, to exploring behavioural, attitudinal and information barriers to changes in behaviour. We expect the project to report its findings in autumn 2008.
We expect to be able to announce, and start, another new project later in the year.
Project News
Successful independent evaluation of Foresight projects
In 2005, we commissioned PREST at the University of Manchester to evaluate the programme of Foresight projects between 2002 and 2005. Their report is now available here in PDF. There are some very positive messages to note:
- The Programme has achieved its objectives of identifying ways in which future science and technology could address future challenges for society and identifying potential opportunities.
- It has succeeded in being regarded as a neutral interdisciplinary space in which forward thinking on science-based issues can take place.
- All projects have been successful in mobilising diverse groups of high-calibre specialists to work in a multidisciplinary framework and have demonstrated the scope for collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.
- It is doubtful whether such mobilisation could have been achieved by conventional ministerial or Research Council programmes.
- Key stakeholders have been unanimously positive about its success and the necessity for the Programme.
We will publish a response to the evaluation in autumn 2006
Tackling Obesities: Future Choices
The Obesity project is making good progress with over 30 short science reviews nearing their completion. The reviews will be published early next year and cover a variety of fields from Anthropology to Neurology. The science reviews have fed into other parts of the project including a systems map to illustrate the obesity system. Several successful workshops have been held in recent months, and have been attended by some of the most senior experts in their field. The workshops have been very useful for gathering opinion and proved a suitable testing ground for initial ideas.
The project has been given the official title - Tackling Obesities : Future Choices - to reflect the complex nature of obesity with different people gaining weight for different reasons. For more information on the project, see its home page.
Horizon Scanning
The Futures Analysts Network (FAN Club) met on 9 May to consider the role of corporate memory in forward strategy development - " Lessons from the Past - Learning for the Future". Meetings are open to all those in public, private and third sector organisations with an interest in the future. For further information, see here.
Asia Task Force
Foresight has been supporting the work of the Asia Task Force, which has brought together experts from industry, education and government to focus on boosting British exports to, and investment in, Asian countries. We sought the perspectives of key individuals from across Asia on the factors they thought would influence UK trade with Asia over the next 15 years. The resulting report is now available here.
Globalisation
The Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre has been asked by the Government's Coordination of Research and Analysis Group (CRAG) to undertake a major scenarios project on the future of globalisation. Data gathering and research work will take place during the summer, determining the area of focus of the project, which will be decided during September. The analysis and scenario-building phase of the project will then run for six months, followed by a series of events during 2007 to draw out the policy implications of the scenarios generated.
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