About us

Goals

The overarching goals of the CCFOR are:  

• Generating anticipatory knowledge through continuous information-gathering and analysis, contributing to the JRC's anticipatory culture through carrying out, in a structured and continuous manner, identification and monitoring of emerging issues, weak signals of change and events that might have significant future implications for the EU, but are not yet on the policy radar or addressed adequately (early warning).  

• Shaping and running in-depth foresight processes & on-demand short future-oriented policy support formats for policy DGs. These studies are tailored to the needs of policy DGs and usually carried out in close collaboration with other JRC units, and, if appropriate, external organisations. Foresight processes use different approaches, such as development of foresight scenarios, vision building, and Delphi surveys. The future-oriented policy support formats can be also short engagements based on the tools developed by the CCFOR (e.g. horizon scanning exercises, megatrends analysis sessions, reference foresight scenarios, adapted scenario exploration system).   

• Contributing to the European Commission’s Strategic Foresight activities such as contributing to the Commission’s Strategic Foresight report, providing input to the strategic foresight networks organized by the Secretariat General (the EU-wide Foresight Network, the Commission’s Strategic Foresight Network), and participating in the activities of the inter-institutional ESPAS network.  

• Establishing and animating communities of practice on foresight to foster the advancement and use of foresight for EU policy making, share knowledge on and experience with foresight approaches and reflect and build on best practices for foresight for policy making.

• Increasing futures literacy, which is one of the cross-cutting competencies for innovative policymaking. The CCFOR offers foresight trainings, engagement tools and practices to develop skills and competences that foster futures literacy. We also conduct a variety of participative foresight projects to engage policymakers and citizens in futures thinking.   

Our  Foresight Menu showcases the various goals and approaches of foresight in policy contexts, featuring tools and processes CCFOR uses in its foresight projects. The extended version of the Foresight Menu includes also case examples on different foresight project. 

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