The SF4S (Strategic Foresight for Sustainability) Consortium recently met during the XXXIV ISPIM Innovation Conference in Ljubljana. This year's conference, themed "Innovation and Circular Economy," brought together 550 delegates from 51 different countries. Among the myriad of insightful workshops and discussions, the SF4S consortium organized an academia-industry workshop.
The workshop Futures Benchmark – Towards Strategic Foresight for Sustainability was led by Toni Ahlqvist, Henning Breuer, and Sune Gudiksen. The consortium's vision for this workshop was to facilitate an innovative, collaborative environment where experts and practitioners in foresight, sustainability, and innovation could come together to explore the possibilities of a sustainable future.
The workshop's agenda was structured to ensure a comprehensive and impactful discussion. It commenced with a warm welcome to SF4S, introducing the participants to the consortium's mission and the importance of strategic foresight in sustainability. This set the tone for the insightful discussions that followed.
One of the highlights of the workshop was the presentation of results from interviews with experts in the fields of foresight, sustainability, and innovation. These insights provided a valuable foundation for the subsequent discussions, offering a real-world context to the conversation. The heart of the workshop revolved around the co-development of exploratory and normative future scenarios for sustainable mobility and agri-food-health – critical domains in the pursuit of sustainability. Participants were divided into breakout groups, allowing them to delve deep into two focal areas:
A) Future Mobility Business Models
B) Future Agri-Food-Health
These breakout sessions allowed participants to apply their collective expertise to shape the future scenarios in these sectors. It was a stimulating exercise that encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering innovative ideas and solutions that can steer us towards a more sustainable future.
After the intense brainstorming and discussion in the breakout groups, the workshop culminated in a plenary discussion that brought all the insights and ideas together. This open forum encouraged a cross-pollination of ideas and the emergence of fresh perspectives on the future of sustainability.
