“The fabric of society is woven with emotional threads, from empathy to outrage, and it is these feelings that shape both harmony and conflict in the world.” — Dalai Lama

"Emotion ecosystems" refers to the complex, interconnected emotional interactions that emerge within collectives—whether in communities, institutions, or digital environments. These ecosystems continuously evolve in response to technological innovation, political shifts, and cultural transformations.

Why?
The increasing integration of artificial intelligence, affective computing, and digital environments into daily life has fundamentally altered how emotions are expressed and experienced. Social media platforms, for example, not only serve as amplifiers of collective emotions but also act as regulators through algorithmic curation, determining which emotions are validated, reinforced, or suppressed. 

Meanwhile, the rise of brain-machine interfaces and biometric tracking may enable real-time monitoring and even modulation of emotional states, blurring the lines between authentic feelings and technologically mediated responses. As these technologies evolve, they introduce ethical dilemmas regarding emotional autonomy and consent, raising questions about the extent to which emotions should be engineered or optimized for social and economic purposes. This digital transformation extends beyond individuals, reshaping emotional dynamics at a societal level, from political movements fueled by algorithmic outrage to workplace cultures shaped by emotion-sensing AI.

In parallel, breakthroughs in psychology and neuroscience are deepening our understanding of emotional ecosystems. The gut-brain axis, for instance, underscores the role of microbiota in shaping mood and stress responses, suggesting that emotional well-being is as much a biological process as a psychological one. Similarly, research into the brain’s reality threshold highlights how cognitive frameworks filter and construct emotional experiences, emphasizing the malleability of perception.

About the Workshop
This foresight workshop will explore how emotion ecosystems are transforming and what these changes mean for individuals and society. Participants will identify key drivers of change, analyze emerging trends, and engage in a multidisciplinary dialogue to anticipate and shape the future of emotional dynamics. 

As a key outcome, the workshop will produce a set of Delphi statements on the future of emotion ecosystems, providing structured arguments based on probability and desirability assessments. These statements will later serve as the foundation for a broader expert consultation.

Participants & Expertise Areas
The workshop will bring together approximately 40 experts from diverse fields, including:

• Social psychology & neuroscience 
• Affective computing & brain-machine interfaces 
• Anthropology & political science
• Media & communication studies
• Art & creative industries
• Spiritual and contemplative communities
  

By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, this workshop aims to advance scientific debate, inspire new research directions, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolving emotional fabric of society.

The event will be held at Mercure Conacul Cozieni, approximately 20 km from the center of Bucharest, Romania.

The Eye of Europe (EoE) project has reached an important milestone: Using an interactive approach, the members of the consortium came up with eleven exciting topics that will be addressed in Foresight Workshops with experts, citizens, entrepreneurs, scientists, policymakers, journalists and many other stakeholder groups within the coming 16 months. In the workshops, Eye of Europe partners will apply both established and novel Foresight approaches to dive deep into topics of common interest to stakeholders across the European Research Area. These workshops will take place in cities such as Madrid, Prague, Berlin, Bucharest, Paris and Thessaloniki, as well as online.

The final set of topics for EoE pilot workshops is as follows:

• Democracy – a long term Project: This online workshop will gather domain experts to shed light on a large spectrum of future challenges to democracy.
• The Knowledge of our Civilisation(s) in 2040: In this two-day Berlin based workshop participants with diverse domain expertise will explore the future of knowledge in human civilisation in the face of multiple drivers of change.
• European Industrial Decarbonisation: This two-day workshop in Madrid will gather diverse stakeholders to debate alternative pathways of industrial decarbonisation for Europe in the face of different geopolitical scenarios.
• Emotion Ecosystems: This Bucharest based two-day workshop will investigate the impact of technologies like affective computing and brain-machine interface on individuals and collectives with different stakeholder groups.
• Democracy and Technology: In this workshop citizens in Prague will jointly reflect on democratic approaches to risks connected with new technologies and their impacts on various societal groups.
• Aging and Assisted Living Technologies: This workshop in Berlin with international research and policy actors is dedicated to future ways of integrating smart and digital technologies into assisted living and care for older adults.
• Fashion Futures: In two Thessaloniki based workshops citizens and domain experts will explore the future of sustainable fashion in interaction with values and identities both with a regional and international perspective.
• Public Policy and Change of Diets: In this workshop in Paris a diverse group of citizens will reflect on policy inroads into future pathways towards healthy and sustainable diets.
• Science and Conflicts: In this online workshop, experts and actors of the science system will jointly dive into possible implications of growing geopolitical tensions for science.
• Future of Knowledge and Emotions: This futures survey will provide input for the two interrelated topics the future of knowledge and the future of emotion ecosystems that will feed the respective workshops.
  
  
  These Eye of Europe Foresight pilot workshops have a twofold purpose.
  
  First of all, the workshops serve the project’s aspirations expressed by Eye of Europe coordinator, Radu Gheorghiu, namely to nurture the “vibrant community of individuals engaging in a conversation about our collective future” and to fuel the “continuous loop of dialogue, learning and inspiration”.
  
  Secondly, by addressing topics of common interest to R&I actors across ERA and major R&I challenges, they aim to mobilise collective anticipatory intelligence. In particular, we hope to shed light on the evolution of research and innovation and its contribution to a wide range of important future questions.
  
  How did the team arrive at these topics?
  
  The topic generation process involved three major elements:
  
• Analysis of R&I strategy documents from a range of different EU countries
• interviews with R&I actors from different positions in ERA’s research and innovation ecosystem,
• and interactive discourse among EoE partner organisations.
  
  It was important to the topic identification team, led by Pier Francesco Moretti from CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Italy, not to remain at the surface of the challenges that are expressed in key documents but to dive deeper into underlying root causes and dynamics. So when in the document analysis, topics like energy, artificial intelligence, digitalisation, health and security emerged at top positions, we strived to identify crosscutting underlying aspects.