Foresight tackling societal challenges: Impacts and implications on policy-making§T. Ko nno la A f. Scapolo b, 1, P. Desruelle c, 2, R. Mud, 3 a Impetu Solutions
, Calle Vi'ctor Andre's Belaunde, 36,4 C, 28016 Madrid, Spain b European commission Directorate General Joint research Centre (JRC), Programmes and Stakeholders Relations
, Square de Meeu s, 8, Office SDME 10/84, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium c European commission Directorate General Joint research Centre (JRC), Institute
While foresight is used commonly in connection with the public-Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 A r T I C L E I N F O Article history:
Available online 19 november 2010 A b s T R A c T Foresight activities are conducted often to anticipate major societal future challenges
and society and (ii) its respective impacts and implications on policy. 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.§
www. elsevier. com/locate/futures 0016-3287/$ see front matter 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:
and dedicated methods to improve the awareness and understanding of present and future challenges of the innovation system and its parts.
and have more accurate forecasts on the time-horizons of S&t developments. 2. 2. Chosen future perspectives:
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 253 Consensual future perspectives refer to the creation of common understanding on priorities, relevant collaborative networks and future actions.
Fixed management can be characterised as centralised approach in which co-ordinators fix the scope and methods of the project at the outset and control the process,
and threats and consequently to put in place preparedness mechanisms to act on time. Anticipation of intelligence (or knowledge) is a contribution to improve the knowledge base for the designing of policies.
and extensive elements are present. 3. Empirical findings on foresight projects addressing societal challenges 3. 1. Introduction Major societal challenges have been addressed by the foresight community for already several decades.
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 254 Table 1 Selected foresight projects addressing societal challenges. Project Outcomes Future perspectives Management Stakeholder engagement Nordic ICT Foresighta 17 Informative Evaluations of key ICT applications, Nordic scenario set in context of ICT development, scenario
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 255 Table 1 (Continued) Project Outcomes Future perspectives Management Stakeholder engagement UK DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme
Informative Identification of cross-dimensional analysis of the future context of defence in the next 30 years.
It applies trend analysis with a time-horizon of 30 years. Autonomous Expert group work.
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 256 Table 1 (Continued) Project Outcomes Future perspectives Management Stakeholder engagement FISTERA:
Future Impact of ICTS on Environmental Sustainabilityh 22 Informative Explore how ICTS will influence future environmental sustainability (time horizon:
2020) and develop policy recommendations. Results were discussed with both DG Information society and DG Transport and Energy of the European commission.
Consensual‘‘Innovation 25''has set 5 scenarios of Japan society in 2025 and it includes‘‘Long Health Society'',Safe and Secure Society'',Society with Multiple Career Path,
''Fixed The methodology was fixed at the beginning. The Cabinet Office established the Innovation 25 Strategy Council and the Innovation 25 Special Mission,
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 257 Table 1 (Continued) Project Outcomes Future perspectives Management Stakeholder engagement National Technology roadmap in Korea Informative Learning about the technology
Fixed The methodology was fixed at the beginning. Extensive There are broad engagement of diversified stakeholders from government, academia and industry.
NTFC aims to provide also necessary information for making five-year plan of science & technology development.
Fixed The methodology was fixed at the beginning. Extensive Very diversified stakeholders from government academia and industry have participated in NTFC.
Technology foresight towards 2020 in China Informative TF2020 aims to provide necessary information for making long term strategy for science and technology development in China,
Consensual TF2020 has set up 6 pictures of China development in 2020, and identified 734 key technologies in 8 research fields based on the Delphi survey.
Fixed The methodology was fixed at the beginning. Extensive Diversified stakeholders from government, academia and industry are very active in the process of TF2020. a Commissioned by the Nordic council. b Commissioned and conducted by VTT Technical research Centre. c Commissioned
f Commissioned by the Finnish Government. g A FP5 IST Thematic Network (2002 2005) coordinated by JRC-IPTS and managed in collaboration with DG Information society. h Commissioned by JRC-IPTS.
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 258 Sustainability: since the Brundlandt Commission 13, many alternative definitions of sustainability have been proposed
and transmission time-space compression, post-Fordism, flexible accumulation, and the advance of finance capital, which is characterized by networking, globalization,
They are expected to improve the understanding of present 4 In 1997 the European commission published a"Green Paper"pointing at the development of a new Information society
1998 2002) a specific programme for research on a"User-friendly information society"."Today, with the i2010 policy framework, the EU aims to"promote the positive contribution that information
2007 2013. T. Ko nno la et al.//Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 259 and future challenges of the innovation system and its parts.
However, specific short-term actions are expected not necessarily after the projects. This setting relieves the participants partly from claiming value
and hence may enable also otherwise adversary parties to learn together and search for common ground for long-term agendas.
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 260 considered extremely challenging due to high uncertainties related to the issue.
National Technology foresight in China and Technology foresight towards 2020 in China as well as National Technology roadmap in Korea were all strongly informative processes that were initiated to capture experts'views on future S&t challenges Hence,
Foresight on Information society Technologies in the European research area (2002 2005) was an FP5 IST Thematic Network coordinated by JRC-IPTS
and has completed 8 times technology foresight activities since 1970.6 FTA projects in China in broad sense can be traced to‘‘The 12 Years Science Development Planning''made in 1956,
when over one thousand top scientists participated in the work ranging from technology selection, priority setting, subject arrangement, resource distribution,
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 261 Information society. FISTERA highlighted priority application areas where R&d investments should be intensified in the future,
The Foresight project conducted in Canada through a series of collaborative projects aimed at emerging and frontier technology domains that could be important to national policy development process for the next ten years.
China is planning to make the 12th five years plan for science and technology development by using the knowledge generated from roadmap activity.
2007 2036''.''The trend-analysis is supported by a wide external consultation of experts in order to make the information included in the report both comprehensive and independent.
and to assess (quantitatively) the ways in which ICTS would influence future environmental sustainability (time horizon:
2020). ) The findings of the project showed that a large degree of uncertainty existed on impact of ICTS on the environment,
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 262 3. 5. Innovations foresight (diverse perspectives and instrumental outcomes) Innovations foresight can be characterised as instrumental processes with diverse
4. Conclusions In the past years, increasing attention has been paid to the relevance of foresight for policy-making by coming up with different characterisation and typology of different foresight projects (for instance, 7, 12,26, 27.
The exploration of alternative forms of participation for decision-makers and other participants with serious time constrains can
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 263 foresight is ever more important to position foresight as one of the key supporting tools for policy-making to anticipate how major societal challenges ahead can be addressed such as those tackled in this paper, e g. security, sustainability and information society challenges.
The 2008 FTA International Seville Conference, 2009, available at: http://forera. jrc. ec. europa. eu/fta 2008/intro. html. 2009-11-10). 2 R. Smits, S. Kuhlmann, The Rise of systemic instruments
in innovation policy, International Journal of Foresight and Innovation policy 1 (1)( 2004) 4 32.3 T. Ko nno la, G. C. Unruh, J. Carrillo-Hermosilla
, Toward prospective voluntary agreements: reflections from a hydrogen foresight project, Journal of Cleaner Production 15 (2007) 259 265.4 L. Georghiou, The UK technology foresight programme, Futures 28 (4)( 1996) 359
377.5 L. Georghiou, M. Keenan, Evaluation of national foresight activities, assessing rationale, process and impact. technological forecasting and social change, Technological forecasting and Social Change 73 (7)( 2005) 761 777.6 O. Da Costa, P. Warnke, C. Cagnin, F. Scapolo
, The impact of foresight on policy-making: insights from the FORLEARN mutual learning process, Technology analysis & Strategic management 20 (3)( 2008) 369 387.7 T. Ko nno la, T. Ahlqvist, A. Eerola, S. Kivisaari
, R. Koivisto, Management of foresight portfolio: analysis of modular foresight projects at contract research organisation, Technological Analysis & Strategic management 21 (3)( 2009) 381 405.8 M. Cariola, R. Secondo, Evolution in the rationales of foresight
in Europe, Futures 36 (10)( 2004) 1063 1075.9 T. Ko nno la, V. Brummer, A. Salo, Diversity in foresight insights from the fostering of innovation ideas
, Technological forecasting and Social Change 74 (2007) 608 626.10 A. Salo, T. Ko nno la, M. Hjelt, Responsiveness in foresight management:
reflections from the Finnish food and drink industry, International Journal of Foresight and Innovation policy 1 (1 2)( 2004) 70 88.11 O. Helmer, Looking Forward:
A Guide to Futures research, Sage, Beverly hills, 1983.12 R. Barre',Synthesis of technology foresight, in Strategic policy Intelligence:
Current Trends, the State of Play and Perspectives S&t Intelligence for Policy-making processes, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), Technical Report EUR-20137-EN, Seville, 2001
a co-evolutionary view Futures 20 (6)( 1988) 606 620.15 M. Castells, The Rise of the network society.
and the implications for regulation towards an approach for the information society, COM/97/623, December 1997.17 Nordic ICT foresight, available at:
http://www. vtt. fi/inf/pdf/publications/2007/P653. pdf (2009-11-10). 18 Nordic H2 Energy Foresight for the Nordic Council
http://www. h2foresight. info (2009-11-10). 19 The EU Integrated Project IRRIIS Integrated Risk Reduction of Information-based Infrastructure Systems, available at:
lang=2&oiid=8661&pid=572 (2009-11-10). 20 Finnish Foresight Forum (in Finnish), available at:
www. rpm. tkk. fi/explorer/html/index ennakointifoorumi. html (2009-11-10). 21 FISTERA: Foresight on Information society Technologies in the European research area, available at:
http://fistera. jrc. ec. europa. eu/(2009-11-10). 22 Future impacts of ICTS on Environmental sustainability Project, available at:
id=1208 (2009-11-10). 23 R. Compan o',C. Pascu, J.-C. Burgelman, M. Rader, R. Saracco, G. Spinelli
I. Miles, 2006, in: Foresight on Information society Technologies in the European research area (FISTERA) Key Findings, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), Technical Report EUR-22319-EN, Seville, 2009, available at:
http://ipts. jrc. ec. europa. eu/publications/pub. cfm? id=1431 (2009-11-10). 24 A. Fujii, Foresight on information society technologies in Europe, in:
NISTEP Science & Technology trends Quarterly Review, no. 18,january 2006, pp. 24 34.25 F. Abadie, I. Maghiros, C. Pascu (Eds.),
The EPIS Annual Monitoring Synthesis Report, The Role of ICTS as Enabler for Energy efficiency, the European Perspectives on Information society (EPIS) project, 11/2008, EUR Number:
id=1919 (2009-11-10). 26 L. Georghiou, Third generation foresight: integrating the socioeconomic dimension, available at http://www. nistep. go. jp/achiev/ftx/eng/mat077e/html/mat077oe. html (2009/11/10), in:
Terminology and Methodology for Benchmarking Foresight programmes, For Society Transnational Foresight ERA NET, 2006. T. Ko nno la et al./
/Futures 43 (2011) 252 264 264
Methods and tools contributing to FTA: A knowledge-based perspective A. Eerola A i. Miles b a VTT Technical research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland b Manchester Institute of Innovation research, Manchester united Kingdom 1
In the last decade, FTA ACTIVITIES and in particular national and Regional foresight programmes have often been oriented to supporting the functioning and development of innovation systems.
Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 A r T I C L E I N F O Article history:
Available online 19 november 2010 A b s T R A c T Future oriented technology analysis (FTA) applied to innovation policy and practice often goes well beyond the narrow domain of technology forecasting.
The challenges of participatory knowledge management are seen to be particularly important ones to tackle. 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.*
www. elsevier. com/locate/futures 0016-3287/$ see front matter 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:
We may not be able to know what the world population will be in 2050. There are reputable estimates,
there are always factors that lie outside of these models that may intervene. In the case in question
when invoking conventional economic models for short-term analysis and forecasting, at least in less turbulent times.
but also differences from, the ways in which we create knowledge about the past and present.‘
Posits are based on knowledge of (or assumptions about) past and present, and analysis of posits
whose knowledge of the future may well be far less than omniscient, and whose acts of creation are undertaken for the purpose of learning.
For a more conventional far-future vision Last and First Men (1930) is a good introduction to this great author.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 266 beyond organising exchanges among (more or less closely associated) experts.
which they have been familiar for many years, with little acquisition of new approaches and little awareness of the costs, benefits and broader implications of alternative methods.
Matters have improved over recent years with more journals, more conferences and symposia providing opportunities for mutual learning
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 267 As with other practices, FTA ACTIVITIES involve several phases,
Most trivially theyhave a beginning, middle, and end! Several authors have suggested ways of understanding these phases in a little more depth.
but the postponement becomes indefinite.)For selection to be successful, this step results in a model of
Saritas (2007) provides a rathermore detailed account of five stages in FTA expanding the first and third of the sensemaking steps
examination of what the relationships would be between the present and the key future or futures that have been posited (and possibly some other possibilities).
creation of plans to inform decisions in the present day and near future concerning actions to shape the future.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 268 Many of the individual methods may be associated with more than one of the five steps,
while a large-scale FTA ACTIVITY may well encompass a sequence of steps that move around in Popper's diamond.
Despite the phenomenal complexity of the contemporary world, there are possibilities for such individuals and groups to make really significant contributions.
or Coates'2025 11.7 This is not to endorse all of the specific conclusions or forecasts of either study.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 269 programmes and projects (discussed, for example, in the literatures on complex product systems,
Perhaps the least important but quite possibly a factor whose importance will grow in coming years is the rise of public concerns and associated social movements around many S&t issues.
The second important factor is the‘‘crisis of science policy''more generally as pressures to restrict burgeoning public expenditure collided with demands from Big science
and advanced IT in the early 1980s). Policymakers thus sought more transparency in decision-making, with foresight, technology assessment,
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 270 Whatever mixture of the three goals is being pursued,
and communication (these may use communications media as well as face-to-face meetings), and wider networking activities. Discussions of knowledge management,
Several influential approaches to KM and organisational learning have emerged in recent years and we turn briefly to these. 9 5. Methods
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 271 understanding themselves and their worlds, or whatever.
or may simply imply such an account (which an observer equipped with relevant knowledge will be able to reconstruct).
The agents in question may well make use of technological aids and texts notably whiteboards and flip-charts on which diagrams
and extensive activities such as scenario workshops where a number of activities are organised into a sequence in
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 272 management in a scenario workshop are discussed in the next section,
in order to illustrate the relevance of thekmapproach even in the context of individual/specific FTA METHODS. 6. Scenario workshops as knowledge processes Scenario workshops typically feature a sequence of activities.
This kind of scenario workshop usually extends over at least one day, and may involve several dozen participants.
Larger workshops employ‘‘break out groups''of say 6 12 people exploring different subscenarios or aspects of scenarios in detail.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 273 forecasts, even background scenarios (e g.‘‘‘‘starter scenarios''to be elaborated) prepared by an expert team or in earlier studies.
A common starting point in scenario workshops is to examine‘‘drivers and shapers''factors that could be critical to influencing the course of events,
and shapers, there are liable to be moments of‘‘internalisation''as participants become more familiar with working with the background material and fitting it into their own conceptual frameworks and constellations of interests and also, perhaps,
''Major‘‘combination''moments come in the scenario construction sessions that constitute the heart of the workshop.
identifying turning points and indicators of change, developing narratives of future histories and accounts of affairs at a future point in time in a way enabling comparison across break out groups, and so on.
and other tangible outputs that may enter into the processes of the sponsor and other stakeholders,
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 274 making. This is most likely to be accomplished by those who have participated in
Miles et al. 23 discuss numerous ways in which new IT is liable to be employed in FTA in coming years.
though this may require careful design and careful management of IT system designers who may lean more toward TKM frameworks.
The use of new media at present usually means less time allocated to purely social interaction
and even enhancing time and opportunity for such encounters. There are probably lessons to be drawn from online gaming and other virtual communities in this respect.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 275 One of the biggestkmchallenges that confront FTA,
(and time) to examine the underpinning assumptions of models (not to mention intellectual familiarity with the conceptual underpinnings of social and economic models).
In the UK, there had been major scenario work on strategies for developing a competitive edge in nanotechnology and literature/expert surveying of social issues associated with this field, in the early years of the present century.
the earlier studies mentioned in the text are the‘‘Taylor Report''(Advisory Group On Nanotechnology, 2002) 25 and (40 see also 41.
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 276 safeguards and privacy-enhancing mechanisms...thereby encouraging people to accept
FTA may be expected to be transformed in the coming years. Existing methods will be rendered‘‘democratised more transparent and user-friendly while new tools that support collaborative working will be introduced.‘‘
problems and possibilities of prediction, Futures 21 (2)( 1999) 115 135.3 A l. Porter, et al. Technology Futures analysis Methods Working group, Technology futures analysis:
toward integration of the field & new methods, Technological forecasting and Social Change 71 (3)( 2004) 287 303.4 R. Johnston, Historical review of the development of future-oriented technology analysis, in:
1 (1)( 1999) 5 9. 10 R. Popper, Foresight methodology, in: L. Georghiou, J. Cassingena Harper, M. Keenan,
The Handbook of Technology foresight, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 2008.11 J. F. Coates, J. B. Mahaffie, A. Hines, 2025:
1997 (available at http://www. josephcoates. com/2025 pdf. html (accessed 29/07/2009)).12 D. Loveridge, O. Saritas, Reducing the democratic deficit in institutional foresight programmes:
a case for critical systems thinking in nanotechnology, Technological forecasting and Social Change 76 (9)( 2009) 1208 1221.13 I. Miles, UK Foresight:
three cycles on a highway, International Journal of Foresight and Innovation policy 2 (1)( 2005) 1 34.14 T. Ko nno la, T. Ahlqvist, A. Eerola, S
. Kivisaari, R. Koivisto, Management of foresight portfolio analysis of modular foresight projects at contract research organisation, Technological Analysis & Strategic management 21 (3)( 2009) 381 405.15 E. Eriksson
Navigating the complex landscape of policy strategies, Technological forecasting and Social Change 75 (4)( 2008) 462 482.16 M. Jaspers, H. Banthien, J. Mayer-Ries, New forms
the case of‘Future',Seville, First International EU US Seville Seminar on Future-oriented technology analysis, 2004 (available at http://forera. jrc. ec. europa. eu/fta/papers
2002 http://www. risoe. dk/rispubl/SYS/ris-r-1362. htm (accessed 09/02/10). 22 A. Eerola, B. H. Jørgensen, Foresight in Nordic
and much more content of the study can be located by use of search engines including the presentation made at the FTA conference in 2006 43.14 We refer to Cole et al. 44,
I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 277 23 I. Miles, J. Cassingena Harper, L. Georghiou, M. Keenan, R. Popper, New Frontiers:
, Integrating FTA and risk assessment methodologies, Technological forecasting & Social Change 76 (2009) 1163 1176.25 Advisory Group on Nanotechnology, New dimensions for manufacturing:
a UK strategy for nanotechnology, London, Department of Trade and Industry, 2002 while the original webpage for this text widely cited as‘‘The Taylor Report''has been removed,
http://www. innovateuk. org/assets/pdf/taylor%20report. pdf (accessed 29/07/09). 26 ISTAG, Scenarios for Ambient Intelligence in 2010, in:
Opportunities and Uncertainties, Royal Society, London, 2005 (available at: http://www. nanotec. org. uk/finalreport. htm (accessed 29/07/09)).28 O. Stapledon, Last and First Men:
A Fantasy of Love and Discord, Secker and Warburg, London, 1944.31 C. Warden, An application of some knowledge management concepts in foresight, Technology foresight for Organizers, 2007, Module 1:
Training Programme on Technology foresight, UNIDO Regional Initiative on Technology foresight for Central and Eastern europe and the Newly Independent States, Gebze, Turkey, 19 23 november 2007.32 K. E. Weick, Sensemaking in Organizations
a comparison of two methods, Technological forecasting and Social Change 73 (6)( 2006) 679 704.34 H. Linstone, M. Turoff (Eds.
Management Information systems 25 (1)( 2001) 107 136.39 T. Rogers-Hayden, N. Pidgeon, Moving engagement‘‘upstream''?
''Nanotechnologies and the royal society and royal academy of engineering's inquiry, Public Understanding of Science 16 (3)( 2007) 345 364.40 S. J. Wood, R. Jones
, A. Geldart, The social and economic challenges of nanotechnology, Swindon Economic and Social science Research council, 2003 (available at:
from the Science to the Social the social, ethical and economic aspects of the debate, Swindon, Economic and Social research Council, 2007 (available at http://www. esrc. ac. uk/ESRCINFOCENTRE/Images
safeguards in a world of ambient intelligence (SWAMI), Second International Seville Seminar on Future-oriented technology analysis, Seville, September 28 29,2006 (available at:
VUB Brussels University Press, Brussels, 2005. A. Eerola, I. Miles/Futures 43 (2011) 265 278 278
FTA and equity: New approaches to governance Cristiano Cagnin a,,*Denis Loveridge b, Ozcan Saritas b adg Joint research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Calle Inca Garcilaso 3, 41092 Seville, Spain
Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 A r T I C L E I N F O Article history:
Available online 26 november 2010 A b s T R A c T FTA and equity addresses the need for multiple stakeholders'participation in public policy and corporate decision making thus leading to more democratic societies.
as well as those it still ought to consider. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.**Corresponding author. E-mail addresses:
www. elsevier. com/locate/futures 0016-3287/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:
10.1016/j. futures. 2010.11.006 A short overview of the development of the present situation regarding governance sets the scene for the more detailed analysis of the relationship between governance
Ulrich Beck 2 coined the term‘the risk society'in 1986, but this was some time after the UK's Royal Society embarked, in 1981, on a series of conferences on the assessment and perception of risk.
Risk and perceptions of it are closely related to fear making the proper understanding of the real physical nature of risk of prime importance to framing regulations where the politics of fear may intrude irrationally.
The history of governance is concerned mostly with how the public's perception of technological innovation has grown over time.
It has become more tenuous over time despite strenuous efforts to the contrary that include Adam smith's theses,
long-wave (Kondratieff)‘ theory,'Schumpeterian‘gales of creative destruction',Nelson and Winter's evolutionary economics and much else besides.
It has been only since the middle of the Twentieth Century, that a long, slow running unease with the assumption that all science and technology were‘good things
Soddy 3, 4, in the 1920s, provided a particular form of scientific criticism of the conventional mantra.
By the early 1970s, the clamour for governance of S&t resulted in the formation of the PAU in the UK and the OTA in the USA;
New fora for involving the public in the governance of S&t came in many forms from the 1970s onwards,
All these procedures highlighted the breadth of the cascade of situations as they have evolved over the last 40 years.
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 280 both been disbanded under changing political regimes. Most recently, foresight studies have stormed onto the scene to become a global phenomenon.
Globalisation and its offspring glocalisation have moved centre stage and now present three pillars corporate industrial activity,
Both of these fields have been evolving since the 1960s. Similarly, the continuing pressure for the public participation in science and technology decision-making processes, elsewhere called a‘democratic deficit'and coming from Greenpeace, the Friends of the Earth, the ETC Group,
in ways that are responsive to the present and future needs of society. Sheng 9 claims that there are eight major characteristics to good governance:
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 281 As a counter-argument, Olsen 11 suggests that the process of governance may not always produce a precise and stable policy outcome.
The concept means development that is able to meet the necessities of the present generation and does not compromise the rights,
sustainable development can be seen as a proposal with an ethical modernity in its horizon and not only a technical one;
or continuity in the horizon of a transforming intervention of the‘world of needs'22.1 Cf.
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 282 To achieve this goal, a base of knowledge and abilities that are technically feasible
The concept should be understood as the possibility of building a new era of economic development, enabled with policies 22 that keep
and Development in 1992 23 by representatives of 179 countries) and is at the heart of the quest for new forms of global governance. 5. Corporate industrial activity
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 283 CSR proponents have used four arguments to make their case 29:
Salzmann et al. 30 point out that these differ in terms of the hypothesized causal sequence and the direction of the relationship.
The issue of the causal sequence between financial and social environmental performance remains unresolved. Descriptive research suggests that managers focus on the economic dimension of CSR revealing two shortcomings on firms'approach CSR
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 284 CSR strategies may work under certain conditions 24, but they are highly vulnerable to market failures.
and the UN Global Compact Initiative (UNGCI) in the GRI G3 guidelines. 3 The UNGCI, launched by the United nations in 2000 in partnership with business,
since 1999 when the Dow jones Sustainability Indexes were created, closely followed by the FTSE4GOOD 24. Socially responsible investment is about investors taking ethical,
Indexes such as FTSE4GOOD Index, 4 Domini 400 Social Index and Dow jones Sustainability Index played a crucial role in the commercial breakthrough that SRI has seen over the last decades due to the fact that they allow benchmarking between the performance
Nevertheless, the number of voluntary standards has risen in the last decades and put companies in difficult situations in abiding by their principles.
was calculated first worldwide in 1985 and FTSE was established as an independent company in 1995 http://www. ftse. com/about ftse/About ftse. jsp.
C. Cagnin et al.//Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 285 Corporate governance is then about strategic CSR,
which integrates value chain social impacts and investments in competitive context; it is developed the means by a firm to build a proper dialogue with stakeholders
The headline message from the 2006 World Economic Forum at Davos was that we are shifting from a world characterised increasingly by resource constraints to one which
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 286 beyond addressing global inequalities and cultural and religious divides.
Dignity, equity and peace together with globalisation, world trade, Africa and climate change were the highlights in the 2007 Annual Meeting.
On the same theme The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 opened with calls from the Co-Chairs to exercise‘‘The Power of Collaborative Innovation''to meet the top challenges of economic instability, climate change and equitable growth.
One may argue that citizens who are given the opportunity to be informed effectively; to understand and to have a say on new technological choices in appropriate settings,
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 287 business and society if consistently invested in social initiatives
Doing these things requires a new approach to both CSR and philanthropy than the one prevalent nowadays.
The conventional economic mantra has persisted far beyond its‘sell by'date, a point made forcefully at least as early as 1972 in the publication of the‘‘Limits to Growth''38.
at least, the Second International Seville Conference on Future-oriented technology analysis (September 2006. The greater acknowledgement of the co-evolution of technology and society,
In the 2006 FTA Conference, the FTA COMMUNITY realised the need to address the imperative of improving the two-way linkage between knowledge and the building of a‘common world'.
/Futures 43 (2011) 279 291 288 community's readiness to address global issues and to building governance at a global level.
It does so by indicating that the time has come for the FTA COMMUNITY to go beyond the current major focus of identifying
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The Bearing of Physical science on State Stewardship, Hendersons, 1922.4 F. Soddy, Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt, George Allen and Unwin, 1926.5 H Kahn, W. Brown
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What is good governance? United nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (2008.
10 COM, European Governance: A White paper, Commission of the European communities, 2001.11 J. P. Olsen, Reforming European institutions of governance, Journal of Common market studies 40 (2002) 581 602.12 W. Ulrich, Critical systems
heuristics, in: H. G. Daellenbach, R. L. Flood (Eds. The Informed Student Guide to Management Science, Thomson Learning, London, 2002,,
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