Brussels, 16 December 2023

Participation is at the centre of the questioning of contemporary governance, as a condition for the effectiveness of collective policies aimed at the common development and metamorphosis of society, in particular by relying on R&I. It is here that foresight takes on its full meaning through its vocation to articulate the past, present and future in a process of stakeholder involvement. This raises the question of the relationship with representative democracy and the risk of conflict with decision makers, in particular elected officials, that these approaches entail.

You can find here the report on Citizens’ engagement approaches and methods in R&I foresight written as part of the work of the Mutual Learning Exercise carried out by the European Commission’s DG Research in 2022 and 2023 under the leadership of my German colleague, the futurist Cornelia Daheim.

I would like to thank the Commission officials, Idea Consult for their support, and all the colleagues who contributed to this work at our workshops organised in Brussels, Lisbon, Bucharest and Prague along 2022 and 2023.

Philippe-Destatte_Citizens-Engagement_R&I-Foresight_EC_2023

Enjoy!

Philippe Destatte

@PhD2050