Public Foresight

Our competences and experience

• Proven methodological expertise in the area of strategic foresight

• Shaping strategic future dialogues in and between politics, public administration, business and society

• Development of joint/shared future perspectives in complex stakeholder constellations

• Accompanying/Guiding transformation projects for a liveable future

Horizon scanning and technology foresight

Which topics and technologies could gain relevance and create (broad) impact in the medium and long term? Which developments should definitely be on your radar? From a variety of sources, we identify and evaluate future trends and technologies, emerging issues and weak signals that have the potential to significantly promote future changes and upheavals.  

Scenario analysis and strategic future dialogues

Where might a specific theme, region or country be heading in the future? Which futures are possible and plausible? Scenarios are the appropriate tool for thinking ahead to the future when it comes to alternative development paths and thinking through future-relevant developments in different contexts. We work with different scenario techniques - and select the most suitable approach for your project. Basically, we understand scenarios as both a planning and a communication tool. They help you to place strategic planning on a broader decision-making basis and thus make it more future-proof. At the same time, scenarios always form tangible images of the future for the strategic discourse on the future.

Foresight studies and Delphi surveys

How might certain sectors or areas of society change? What skills are likely to be needed tomorrow or the day after? When might new technology become mainstream or market-ready? What time horizons are realistic? In order to provide answers to these or similar questions, we conduct scientific foresight studies or (real-time) Delphi surveys with experts. In doing so, we always try to gain a comprehensive picture of possible futures - and thus generate important orientation/strategic knowledge/insights for your organisation or institution.

Mission statement developments and narratives of the future

In which direction should the future develop? Which narratives tell of a desirable tomorrow? The future is an open design space. This makes it all the more important to have a clear idea of where the journey should go. Mission statements and future narratives have an important orientation/guiding function in a world characterised by uncertainty and complexity. This is where we support you with our goal-setting process. Together, we develop ambitious visions, mission statements and narratives that serve as an inner compass on your future course.

Risk foresight: Future crises and wild cards

What potential disruptive variables might we have to reckon with? What surprising crises are on the horizon? In times of increasing complexity, there is also a need for a greater capacity for surprise. Wild cards and risk foresight help in the attempt to anticipate and think through the unexpected. Wild cards are highly improbable events from today's perspective, but potentially very powerful. As real "future quakes" they challenge existing certainties - examples are 9/11 or the Corona pandemic. Together, we develop strategies for dealing with wild cards and help build a systematic wild card database. In addition, we offer a combination of suitable foresight methods in risk foresight, such as linking wild cards with scenario analysis.

Contact

Get in touch with us if you are planning a Public Foresight project. Dr. Christian Grünwald, Foresight Director, will be happy to advise you.