European Foresight Platform

3rd Annual International Conference on Foresight
2017-06-19 - 2017-06-22
The 3rd Annual International Conference on Foresight will be held on 19-22 June 2017, in Athens, Greece. The conference is organised by the Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) and sponsored by the Athens Journal of Technology & Engineering.
The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars, researchers and students from all areas of Futures Studies and other related disciplines. Following topics will be included:

Culture, Civilization and Humanity, Transhumanity
Science – Technology and Economy
Science – Technology and Society
Economics and Politics
Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability
Political Economy, Policy, Economy and Society (Individual and Common, Globalization and Regionalism, Autonomy and Interdependence)
Foresight Methodology, Tools and Techniques

For more information on the conference follow this link: http://www.atiner.gr/foresight

WFSF World Conference 2017
2017-06-07 08:00 - 2017-06-10 17:00 UTC | Hardanger Academy for Peace Development Environment, Jondal, Norway
The World Futures Studies Federation invites to the 22nd WFSF World Conference on 7-10 June, 2017 in Jondal, Norway. „HUMANKIND 2050: Peace, Development, Environment“ is the title of this years conference, inspired by the Mankind 2000 Meeting held by Robert Jungk, Johan Galtung and friends in Oslo in 1967. One of the outcomes was the founding of the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) in Paris, 1973.
WFSF and conference host Hardanger Academy for Peace Development Environment invite everyone committed to carrying human history into wiser futures in economic, educational, political, scientific and socio-cultural areas – from global, national and local perspectives. Individuals and organisations working in future studies and related themes are all welcome.
For more information on the WFSF World Conference 2017 follow this link: https://www.wfsf.org/our-activities/wfsf-conferences/22nd-wfsf-world-conference-june-7-10-2017

Eu-SPRI Annual Conference 2017
2017-06-07 - 2017-06-09
The Eu-SPRI Annual Conference 2017 with the title “The Future of STI – The Future of STI Policy” takes place on 7-9 June 2017, in Vienna, Austria. The conference is organised by the Center for Innovation Systems & Policy of AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. Special attention is payed on changing practices and patterns of science, technology development and innovation (STI).
ICT-enabled novel methods, new ways of doing research and innovation have been established over the past years, and will continue to do so in the next years. They will change the relationship between citizens and science, decision-makers and stakeholders and redraw the landscape of research and innovation actors. The value networks of existing industries will be transformed and the industrial landscape changed, with emerging economies expected to play a much more significant role than today. Furthermore, research will address questions of global significance, and multi-disciplinary communities are increasingly driven by the need to find solutions to such global issues and challenges. For STI policy research, these upcoming changes will undoubtedly bring about new requirements and challenges. Therefore, the conference aims to trigger a debate about the future of the discipline(s) of STI policy research.
Follow this link for more information on the Eu-SPRI Annual Conference: http://euspri-vienna2017.org/

SRA Policy Forum: Risk Governance for Key Enabling Technologies
2017-03-01 - 2017-03-03 | Cultural Center Don Orione Artigianelli, Venice, Venice , Italy
The SRA Policy Forum will be held on 1-3 March 2017 at the Cultural Center Don Orione Artigianelli in Venice, Italy. It will provide discussion of current initiatives that are centered on refining the risk governance of emerging technologies through the integration of traditional risk analytic tools. The Forum will develop summaries of current activities of multiple efforts in the United States, European Union, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere, and will indicate opportunities for future meetings and research.
The event is targeted for professionals from research and academic institutions as well as from industry, governmental agencies, and other relevant organizations. Researchers from different fields are welcome to participate, such as nanotechnology, industrial and medical biotechnology, synthetic biology, advanced materials, and advanced manufacturing technologies.
For more information on the SRA Forum follow this link: http://www.sra.org/riskgovernanceforum2017

Intelligent Transport Systems: a Tool or a Toy?
2016-11-22 - 2016-11-23 | University of Žilina, Budova AS, Univerzitná, Žilina, 01026 , Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
The conference “Intelligent Transport Systems: a Tool or a Toy?” will be held at the University of Žilina, Slovakia on November 22-23, 2016. The aim of this event is to bring special attention to the role of research organisations in providing evidence to the policy makers for shaping the right ecosystem in ITS, and to the role of the industry, and in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in delivering innovative, sustainable and interoperable solutions. Particular attention will be given to two important pillars of future mobility: Autonomous driving and Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
The two-day conference is co-organised between the COST Association and the University of Žilina, the latter as European Research Area (ERA) Chair (ERAdiate project) on International Transport Systems (ITS), and is held under the auspices of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It will take place in the context of a new legal framework (Directive 2010/40/EU) that was adopted by the European Union on 07 July 2010, to accelerate the deployment of the ITS across Europe.
Follow this link for more information on the event: http://www.cost.eu/events/itstooltoy

JRC Annual Conference - Human Capital for Territorial Growth
2016-10-11 | Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, Brussels, 1000, Belgium
The JRC Annual Conference 2016 will take place on October 11th, at the Bozar in Brussels, within the framework of the European Week of Regions and Cities, and with a focus on the importance of human capital for the prosperity of regions and cities. Around 400 participants representing different academic fields, regions, cities, business and international organisations will participate.
Globalisation, digital economy, and demographic dynamics, including migration, represent a major challenge for today society and they increasingly push for new approaches to ensure competitiveness, fairness and resilience. The influx of refugees, the increasing elderly population, the networked and multicultural society, the management of knowledge globally, the need for different skills, the need for a resilient society, are only a few examples of the challenges that regions and cities have to face and that have an influence on the development of their human capital. Within this context, scientists are urged to contribute to the better understanding of the evolving challenges and its impact on the people and places they live.
The objective of this year’s Annual DG JRC Conference is to discuss with scientists and policy makers how member states, regions and cities can harness the potential of their human capital under the current socio-economic and environmental challenges to make their territories more dynamic, creative and resilient to external shocks. The conference will therefore focus on understanding human capital and its significant interest to policymakers as a key determinant for territorial growth. It will identify major challenges for human capital development, including demographic change, migration, fairness, attractiveness and propose recommendations for scientific evidence and policy action and the corresponding scientific world needed to underpin these actions.
Find further information on the conference via this link: http://ec-jrc2016annualconference.com

Future Engineering 2016: Technical and Organizational Innovations for Industry
2016-09-29 - 2016-09-30 | “Europa” Hotel, Radomska 76, Starachowice, Poland
The Future Engineering 2016 Technical and Organizational Innovations for Industry conference will be held on 29 – 30 September 2016, at the “Europa” Hotel, Starachowice, Poland. The conference is organisad by the Institute for Sustainable Technologies – National Research Institute in Radom in cooperation with the Radom branch of Business Centre Club, and it is particularly directed to young researchers and entrepreneurs willing to exchange their ideas, know-how and promote their innovations.
The organisers welcome practice-based contributions to the Future Engineering 2016 Conference on the following two topics:

Foresight as a key enabler of innovation in the economy (this session will be featured by the Foresight Europe Network)
Innovative mechatronic technologies and engineered materials – advanced applications.

Key topics within the Foresight session include for example:

What is the interdependence between foresight and the ability to create innovations in companies?
How to increase foresight awareness among companies?
What factors affect foresight ability in companies?
How qualitative foresight information could be (effectively) included in decision-making processes in companies? What are the main qualities of “good” future-oriented information?
To what extent do companies rely on future-oriented information (i.e. trends, weak signals) in shaping their innovation strategies?
How is foresight process organized (aims, methods, results, results distribution, target groups, which internal depts. or external actors are involved etc.). What foresight methods and tools are preferred in companies?
What are key requirements for foresight success and what are the reasons for foresight failure in corporate environments?
What are the differences in corporate foresight design and use among SMEs and large companies?
How can regional authorities benefit from foresight?
What’s the contribution of foresight into smart specialization strategies and entrepreneurial discovery process?

The registration and payment for the conference begins on July 10 and ends on September 5, 2016. For further Information follow this link: https://futureengineering.itee.radom.pl/

Macro-Regional Innovation Week
2016-09-26 - 2016-09-30 | AREA Science Park, Padriciano, 99, Trieste, 34149, Italy
The Macro-Regional Innovation Week takes place in Trieste, Italy on September 26-30, 2016, and follows the theme “At the crossroads of three European Macro-Regions: Danube, Adriatic-Ionian and Alpine Regions”. The event focus on the exchange of best practices and knowledge among local and international policy and decision makers, academics, financial actors and various types of innovation and technology transfer practitioners. The week is intended to facilitate the exchange of views and knowledge among this plethora of stakeholders with a focus on supporting the development of a competitive innovation ecosystem across the macro-regions. The seminars and workshops will target contiguous regions that are relevant because of significant historical and economic ties and because of their inclusion in overlapping macro-regional strategies (e.g. Danube Strategy, Adriatic-Ionian Strategy or Alpine Region Strategy).
Places for this programme are limited and the participation is free of charge. The targeted training is intended for technology transfer and intellectual property (IP) commercialisation professionals from universities, research centres or investors. Professionals from the Danube region and the Western Balkan countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) will be given a priority. Successful applicants are expected to demonstrate experience in the areas of IP management and commercialisation.
For more information on the event and the application process follow this link: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/20160926-30-marco-regional-innovation-week-call_en.pdf

EFI 2016 Annual Conference
2016-09-22 - 2016-09-24 | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Feistmantelstraße 4, Vienna, 1180, Austria
The European Forest Instiute (EFI) 2016 Annual Conference will take place on September 22-24, 2016 in Vienna, Austria. The event will be organised in cooperation with University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences and Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape.
On 23 September there will be a Seminar on “Forest-based innovations: a key for Europe’s bioeconomy”. The scientific seminar will focus on the role of innovation in the forest-based sector and implications towards a European bioeconomy. Topics addressed will elaborate on a wide array of cutting-edge ideas and range from silviculture to forest products and services. The field trip on September 24 looks into the role of forests in providing drinking water.
For more details on the programme and registration visit the EFI website: http://www.efi.int/portal/members/annual_conferences/2016/

1st INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON RESILIENCE
2016-09-20 - 2016-09-22 | Castello del Valentino, Viale Pier Andrea Mattioli, 39, Torino, 10126, Italy
The 1st International Workshop on Resilience will be held on September 20-22, 2016 in Torino, Italy. To address the fundamental issues of the Workshop, both senior researchers who have a broad view of the field and young researchers who will lead the activities in the decades to come, are invited to the workshop. First the state of knowledge will be examined in light of the lessons learned from recent major earthquakes about disaster Resilience. Hereafter the views form Japan, Asia, Europe, South and North America on the new directions for Resilience-Based Design (RBD) will be presented.
In these path-forward sessions, the group coordinator and six or seven speakers from each region will present their vision of where seismic engineering needs to be to better steward the build environment and make our society more resilient to natural disasters, and what needs to be done to get there. Small-group discussion will foster on design and improvement of new and existing structures and infrastructure, implementation in engineering practice to immediately affect the resilience of our communities, and new research to develop and adopt new civil/structural technologies and modeling tools. Different approaches in the world and their eventual synergetic effects on future development will be examined and discussed, as well as ideas how to coordinate efforts among the world-leading engineering communities. Finally, the written contributions for the workshop shall be merged together with the conclusions and resolutions and published in a special issue in the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems.
For more information about the workshop visit: http://www.workshop-torino2016.resiltronics.org/

OECD Blue Sky 2016
2016-09-19 - 2016-09-21 | Het Pand, Onderbergen 1, Gent, 9000, Belgium
The OECD Blue Sky Forum 2016 will be held in Ghent, Belgium on 19-21 September 2016. This major OECD event, which takes place every ten years, will gather science, technology and innovation practitioners around a discussion on evidence gaps and data needs. Examples of data and indicator development with the potential for international adoption will be showcased, as well as examples of ground-breaking application of existing or new sources addressing questions and providing evidence on the state of science and innovation systems and the role of STI policies worldwide.
The European Commission has established through DG Research & Innovation intense cooperation with the OECD’s Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate. This cooperation has resulted in the launch of the STI Policy Survey 2016, which this year and for the first time is a joint product by both institutions. In addition, comprehensive work on the incidence and impact of R&D tax incentives has been launched and an observatory for public sector innovation is being set up.
In this context, the upcoming OECD Blue Sky Forum shall take the form of an unconstrained discussion on evidence gaps in science and innovation and on initiatives the international community can take to address data needs in this area. It will engage the policy community, data users and providers into an open dialogue to review and develop a long-term agenda on science, technology and innovation data and indicators.
Follow this link to find all background information: http://www.oecd.org/science/blue-sky.htm.

EcoSummit 2016 – Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change
2016-08-29 - 2016-09-01 | The Corum Convention Centre, Boulevard Charles Warnery, Montpellier, 34000, France
The 5th International EcoSummit Congress, EcoSummit 2016 – Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change, will take place at The Corum Convention Centre, Montpellier from August 29th to September 1st 2016. It will focus on the ecology of terrestrial ecosystems and all habitats that are integrated within those ecosystems, including river networks, wetlands and coastlines. Special attention will be given to fragile ecosystems that are more likely to suffer the consequences of climate change and anthropogenic pressure.
In the current context of an increasing world population, changes in social habit (increasing world consumerism) and climate change, it is evident that agriculture is being intensified but with a growing awareness of the need to preserve and use sustainably world resources. Therefore, the Summit will also address how terrestrial restoration can be carried out when the massive demand for food results in fragile ecosystems, forests and marginal lands being turned over to agriculture. Some of the central and fundamental topics of EcoSummit 2016 are for example biodiversity and biological conservation, ecosystem creation and restoration, and integrating socio-economics and ecology.
The EcoSummit conference series was founded in 1996 in Copenhagen, as a forum to meet the demands of scientists working in several new ecological disciplines, and who required a better understanding of the concepts and methods for a holistic use of ecology in environmental management. Since 1996, EcoSummit has been taken around the world (Canada and China), with EcoSummit 2012 hosting 1600 participants from 75 countries in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
For more information on EcoSummit 2016 follow this link: http://www.ecosummit2016.org/

World Future 2016
2016-07-22 - 2016-07-24 | Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington DC, United States
The next World Future Summit will be held on July 22 to 24, 2016 in Washington DC under the theme „Frameworks: Fit the world to your vision“. According to the organizers the event is all about building new frameworks for a future of new opportunities and big challenges. The summit should offer an immersive experience where speakers, panelists, and participants alike challenge the parameters that restrict decision-making.
World Future is the annual conference of the World Future Society (WFS) bringing together futurists, leaders, and creators in the world to explore the impact of current and future trends in society, business, government and technology. Also, the World Future Society turns fifty years old in 2016, so it is time to celebrate at World Future 2016.
More information on speakers, panels, master classes and other activities coming soon on this website: http://www.worldfuture2016.org/

World Future 2016
Washington Hilton
1919 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington DC

Foresight Filmfestival: Science Meets Vision
2016-06-30 | Universität Halle, Halle an der Saale, Germany
On June 30, 2016, the Foresight Filmfestival will take place in Halle, Germany. Researchers, scientists, makers and project developers are welcome to advertise for what they are working on and what excites them. Film and media professionals expand their ideas from their perspective. In four minute long short films creatives will present their vision of how technological development can influence our lives in ten to twenty years – all of this based on scientific foundation.
The Foresight Film Festival takes selected topics of the BMBF-Foresight process (Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany) and is the first Science-Vision Festival, which invites visionaries from research, film, media, society, to come together during this week, to take the look into the future both from a technological and social point of view, and to manifest visions in words and moving images for a common future. The focus is always on one question: How do we want, how will we live?
Visionaries from all disciplines – research, media, film, culture – who would like to get in a dialogue with each other or with society, can take part and submit their visions of the future in short films for the festival. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2016.
Follow this link for more information (in German): http://foresight-filmfestival.de/

Adaption Futures 2016
2016-05-10 09:00 - 2016-05-13 18:00 | Postillion Convention Centre WTC Rotterdam, Beursplein 37, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Adaptation Futures, the biennial conference of the Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA), will be held in Rotterdam from 10 to 13 May 2016. The fourth PROVIA worldwide adaptation conference highlights adaptation practices and solutions for people, governments and businesses, and aims to move climate change adaptation forward by promoting solutions across sectors, borders and communities. Scholars, practitioners, policymakers and business people from all around the world will meet and get the chance to exchange new and practical ideas, experiences and insights for climate change adaptation. Participants are invited to share their research findings, public and commercial solutions, and policy issues. They are asked to demonstrate how their findings might be applicable to other communities, countries or sectors.
Three types of sessions are offered: science sessions, practice sessions (including policy practice) and combined science-practice sessions. Proposals are invited for full sessions that fit one of the three categories, as well as abstracts for individual presentations in the science sessions. The organizers are particularly interested in combined science-practice sessions. Many companies and public authorities contribute to scientific research, or conduct research themselves. Science sessions are therefore open to those wishing to present scientific findings and solutions relevant to climate change adaptation. Businesses, practitioners, policymakers, designers, investors and decision makers can also interact with scientists to explore and discuss solutions to the adaptation challenge in practice sessions, or propose solution-oriented science-practice sessions.
Follow this link for more information on the session and submission guidelines!

Adaption Futures 2016
May 10 – 13, 2016
Postillion Convention Centre WTC Rotterdam
Beursplein 37
Rotterdam, Netherlands

URBAN FUTURE Global Conference 2016
2016-03-02 09:00 - 2016-03-03 18:00
On March 2 and 3, 2016 the URBAN FUTURE Global Conference, one of the world’s largest events for sustainable city development, will happen in Graz. Austrian’s second biggest city will become an international hot spot for concepts about cities of the future. Around 1,500 participants will be able to hear about the newest developments in urban mobility, climate protection, resource preservation and communication in large cities. City changers from four continents like for example former Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit, Israeli city development expert Hila Oren and Danish-Canadian mobility expert Mikael Colville-Andersen will be present their ideas and engagement at the conference.
At the centre of the conference will be an open, critical exchange of experiences and learning in the area of sustainable city development. In 40 sessions about the four core themes mobility, city planning, communication and resource preservation, the participants get the chance to exchange their thoughts on such varied subjects as bicycle friendliness, regulations for sustainable buildings and digitalisation in cities. Furthermore The this years “Smart Cities Days”, the most important Austrian event of its kind, will take place within URBAN FUTURE for the first time. Key partners of the URBAN FUTURE Global Conference 2016 include the World Bank Group, the European Commission, the Committee of Regions and the city of Graz. In addition, the conference enjoys the support of around 75 global organisations and companies.

Have a look into the program here: http://www.urbanfuture.at/en/program/
Registrations can be made via this link: http://www.urbanfuture.at/en/register/

URBAN FUTURE Global Conference
Date: 2 – 3 March 2016
Venue: Messecongress Graz, Austria

Go4 Joint Final Conference
2016-01-14 09:00 - 2016-01-15 17:00 | EESC Brussels, Belliardstraat 99, Etterbeek, 1040, Belgium
If you would like to start the year with new insights in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) you should not miss this event: The Go4 Joint Final Conference on RRI hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on January 14 and 15, 2016 in Brussels. The conference with the leading theme “Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe and across the World: Shaping new Horizons” is a collaboration between Res-AGorA (www.res-agora.eu) and three other EU funded RRI projects: GREAT, Responsibility and ProGReSS (Go4).

The EU seeks to become a genuine Innovation Union by 2020, striving for excellent science, competitive industry, and a better society without compromising on sustainability, ethical acceptability or societal desirability. Responsible Research and Innovation, RRI, is a governance approach that supports the Innovation Union. There is an active debate on how best to translate the broad aims of the Innovation Union into principles and concrete actions for RRI. While the discourse on RRI
is far from being settled, an impressive number of RRI activities have unfolded over the past few years. The European Union’s funding of dedicated RRI research projects and coordination activities has significantly contributed to this development.
The first wave of these projects, the Go4, will be ready to present their findings, conceptual developments, concrete messages and policy recommendations on 14-15 January 2016.

Have a look into the programme here: http://res-agora.eu/assets/RRI-Programme-V-12.pdf
Registrations for this event should be done until December 31 2015 via this link: http://res-agora.eu/news/go4-joint-final-conference/

2nd Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies 2015
2015-11-16 09:00 - 2015-11-17 19:00
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission’s in-house science service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy. Shortly after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and just ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Paris (COP21), the JRC organises a joint conference together with the Global Young Academy (GYA) and the Young Academy of Sweden (YAS) to discuss the role of science and scientific evidence in sustainable development.
On 16 November there will be a lecture by Hans Rosling, professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institutet on global trends in health and economics. On 17 November representatives from the JRC, research institutions, young academies, international institutions and Swedish government representatives will discuss the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and more particularly how science can support policy making in sustainable development.
The aim of the conference is to find best practices at international level in channelling scientific evidence in support to the implementation, evaluation and monitoring of policies and actions towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Young academics will be asked to support the work after the UN Summit of September 2015 and the COP21 in December into their future role as scientists. In order to share experiences and expectations from the work ahead young academics are very welcome to engage in this debate.
