Process

In the following we split the process in seven different phases. You should always keep in mind that these are logical, rather than chronological steps and feedback loops are present across all of them. It is also only one way of looking at a Foresight Process.

Feasibility: in this phase the organisers evaluate whether a foresight exercise is appropriate given the context and whether it will be able to yield valuable impacts on the system addressed.

Parameters: once the formal decisions to proceed has been taken, this is -broadly speaking- the design phase of the process, where the main structural decisions are discussed and taken.

Scoping: after the basic decisions are taken, the further development of a coherent and more detailed design is necessary. Two aspects define the scope of a Foresight exercise: the choice of the topics to be dealt with and the perspective to be adopted to investigate these topics.

Organization: managing time, people, participants, communications and most importantly the learning process itself is at the core of the foresight exercise itself.

Methodology: devising the methodology is effectively an element of the broader scoping phase. As methodological choices are crucial and complex they deserve deeper focus and a dedicated section.

Management: Managing a Foresight project means to apply the same rules of good project management as for any other project. Similarly, manage time, people, participants, communications and most importantly the learning process itself are key aspects.

Evaluation: Once the main tasks of the Foresight exercise have been completed, follow-up activities are required to ensure that the results are used effectively and all the knowledge acquired is shared.