Portugal’s path forward: Key insights from recent foresight publications

1. "Pelo Sonho É Que Vamos: Chegamos? Não Chegamos? 30 anos de Encontros de Prospetiva da Arrábida" (“Driven by dreams: Have we arrived? Haven't we arrived? 30 years of Arrabida Prospective meetings”) (Portuguese version only)

This book was published by Orient Foundation (co-edited by the Institute for Prospective Studies) and launched in Lisbon on the 4th April 2024. It includes essays and reflections that have resulted from the annual Foresight Meetings of Arrábida, held since 1992 and which aim to analyze their impact on Portugal's development. It is organized in four parts, debating and clarifying the conditions for the development of the Portuguese society (and European societies) as a knowledge-based society and economy, and with the direct involvement of the most relevant actors:

• Introductory Essays,
• Policies – Production, dissemination and transmission of knowledge,
• Reflections – the conditions and the dynamics of social and economic appropriation of knowledge,
• Future Challenges – The prospective and Portugal’s position in the world.

2. "MEGATENDÊNCIAS 2050. O MUNDO EM MUDANÇA: impactos em Portugal – uma breve introdução" / "MEGATRENDS 2050. THE CHANGING WORLD: impacts in Portugal – brief introduction" (2024, RePLAN multisectoral team) (Portuguese version only)

This digital brochure, recently published on March 2024, is a publication by the Planning and Foresight Services Network of the Public Administration (PlanAPP), as part of the activities carried out by the Multisectoral Foresight Team of the Portuguese Network of Public Administration Planning and Foresight Services (RePLAN). This brochure is a brief introduction to the 2050 Megatrends Report for Portugal, to be published by the end of 2024. Both publications are coordinated by the Planning and Foresight Services Network of the Public Administration (PlanAPP), as part of the activities carried out by the Multisectoral Foresight Team of the Portuguese Network of Public Administration Planning and Foresight Services (RePLAN). The brochure presents, in a very brief and preliminary way, the nine global megatrends that are likely to shape the future of Portugal, with a general description and a list of the most relevant potential impacts: Worsening climate change; Growing pressure on natural resources; Diversifying and changing economic models; Diverging demographic trends; A more urban world; A more digital world; Accelerating technological development; A multipolar world and New challenges to democracy.

The identification and description of megatrends for Portugal is a work in progress, based on a collaborative, systematic and open process. During 2024, with the aim of producing a report and supporting the formulation of public policies, this process will be deepened with workshops, expert consultation, and citizen participation. To support the discussion of the megatrends in a multisectorial approach, a series of workshops/webinars were planned:

• Workshop RePLAN: Megatrends for Portugal from the prospective of security and defense (26 – 27 March 2024) was organized by the Portuguese Institute of National Defense and included a discussion about all identified megatrends and its relation to the security and defense sectors.
• Workshop RePLAN: Megatrends with impact for Portugal from the prospective of Territory-Sea-Environment (10th may 2024) This workshop is being organized by the Directorate-General for Sea Policy and the General Secretariat for the Environment, in collaboration with PlanAPP, it is the second of a set of initiatives in a collaborative, systematic and open process that aims to encourage the presentation of ideas and debates able to support the formulation of public policies, within the scope of the attributions of the Public Administration Planning and Foresight Services Network (RePLAN), with the objective of producing a “Report on Megatrends with Impact on Portugal” by the end of this year.