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European Conference on Regional Foresight

Introduction

Through the very history of its creation from 1860 to 1864, the brainchild of the Duc de Morny (1811-1865), and through its astounding development, Deauville has placed building and faith in the future at the heart of its regional vision. This experience has instilled in Deauville's elected officials a keen curiosity for and sharp interest in foresight. It is fitting that this kingdom of elegance gave birth to the "Pôle des Futurs de Deauville – Deauville’s Futures Poles ". In its aim to enhance knowledge of foresight the City Council of Deauville in 2008 organized a conference on the state of foresight practices in organisations together with the magazine Management et avenir. In 2009 the Deauville International Centre will host the first European Conference on Regional Foresight, organised jointly by the City Council of Deauville (Deauville’s Futures Poles) and The Destree Institute, with the sponsorship of major associations of regional elected officials of France and Europe, and logistical support from the Groupe Futuribles and the Ecole de Management de Normandie.

The conference objectives

At a time when decision-makers throughout Europe are discussing the relevance of regions, the first objective of this European conference on regional foresight focuses on regional stakeholders – and first and foremost the regional elected officials and authorities; to make them aware of the need to adopt a foresight approach to build sound and sustainable policies in their cities, départements and regions. Over the past decade foresight has experienced a new awakening in the regions.

Since the late 1990s, a true convergence has developed between two methods: Anglo-American foresight and prospective à la française. This process has been driven by bodies such as the European Commission's DG Research, the Seville Institute for Technological Foresight Studies, and the European College of Regional Foresight. Practitioners and theorists – thus their methods as well – have entered into a dialogue. Researchers, elected officials, regional agents and consultants have exchanged experiences and learned from each others' successes and failures. They have approached and melded their points of view. Regional foresight now sees the result of this convergence of various European practices: foresight and prospective are now equivalent and have made great strides in energy and efficiency.

At the same time, in the field, the demand for regional foresight applications has become more diversified: it is now more sectorial, it analyses networks and channels, or supports the implementation or development of competitive clusters, and so on. All these reasons justify a call for us to come together to review the ongoing initiatives. The European Conference on Regional Foresight has been organised with the prime concern to provide a meeting point between practitioners who wish to evaluate their methods, know-how and experiences and learn from this process.

A Scientific Committee will be formed, whose members include Günter Clar (Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Stuttgart), Bernard de Montmorillon (Paris Dauphine), Elie Faroult (EC DG Research, Brussels), Luke Georghiou (PREST, Manchester), Peter Heydebreck (Örebro Business Administration University, Sweden, Hugues de Jouvenel (Futuribles, Paris), Pierre-Jean Lorens (Conseil régional du Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Lille), Ute-Hélène Von Reibnitz (Scenario + Vision, Trier & Vence), Philippe Destatte (The Destree Institute, Namur).

The dynamics and contents

The conference will be cadenced by four forums, where participants – together with four major experts and a moderator, will be able to reflect, discuss and produce contents. The notion underlying the reflection is to examine four specific issues at stake for each theme: foresight to build a shared vision for the region; foresight and regional innovation; foresight as a tool in territorial planning, and lastly regional foresight aiming for application in one or several particular sectors. Each expert will present an issue at stake, to be illustrated by a concrete case which will serve to draw lessons that can be applicable in a broader scope. The moderator's job will be to analyse the issue (problematise), and to organise the discussion. He/she will do this by sectioning the presentations to enable each speaker to intervene at least twice, before opening the discussion to 3-4 speakers in the audience. This means that the floor must pass quickly from one person to the next. The seating arrangement - chairs in concentric circles, with the speakers on high stools and the moderator standing in the centre – will inspire an original and creative dynamics. PowerPoint presentations will not be allowed in the forums. The texts and summaries will be prepared beforehand and uploaded on the event's web site.

Foresight and a shared vision for the region

The shared regional vision is the focal point of the foresight process and its culmination. It is the prelude for concrete action; without this vision foresight would be meaningless. It is firmly citizen-based and gets the inhabitants involved; as such it can prove to be a significant tool for deliberative democracy. When the foresight process is followed the full circle, it leads to a coherent strategy, laid out in precise actions, and an implementation process that meets the long-term issues at stake, attaining a vision of a desired future that is built collectively. The elected official maintains his/her role – acting both as a timekeeper and the stakeholders' main interlocutor. The official's legitimacy in public decision is wholly preserved.

Foresight and regional innovation

Regional foresight is a powerful tool to imagine, build and implement regional systems for innovation which meet the needs of the enterprises and research centres. Technological foresight is deployed throughout the region itself, the ideal setting for interaction among the actors. It takes on a variety of forms, ranging from analysis of key technologies which is similar to the evaluation of technology choices, to more elaborate projects in the aim to establish development tools or else to activate business or competitive poles, etc. in a long term perspective,

Foresight and territorial planning in the regions

Foresight and spatial planning are intrinsically linked in France, a longstanding couple. But this is a rare case in Europe. Ever since the work to draft the 1999 European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), prospective and foresight, aménagement and planning have joined forces at the European level. This composite view is being generalised and perfected. Henceforth, regional foresight can be applied at all levels, from the neighbourhood all the way to vast regional or cross-border areas.

Foresight and development sectors

Foresight, increasingly, must respond to specific needs in the regions: anticipate the issues at stake and needs of a specific sector, build the strategy for a sphere of activities, lay the groundwork for development agencies, launch an incentive fund, etc. In all cases, foresight places these issues in a long term context, activates cross-cutting approaches and attempts to provide specific responses.

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