The introduction of a new technology is never an isolated event and never concerns only one market or one domain. There are invariably socio-cultural, political, economic, and environmental implications, as well as impacts, influences, “cross-pollination”, and correlations among different technologies.

The very broad definition of technology itself betrays its intrinsic complexity: a vast field of research involving various technical and scientific disciplines, which examines the application and use of everything that can serve to solve problems. The term “technology” also refers to the aggregate of knowledge, skills, and tools used to design, create, and utilise objects, processes, systems, or services to meet human needs.

An emerging technology, in particular, is one that is radically new and relatively fast-growing technology [it is not necessarily exponential, as the common dialectics of recent years have conditioned us to expect, yet this has little to do with the mathematical concepts of exponentiality; rapid growth does not imply exponentiality]. It is characterised by a certain degree of coherence (or consistency) that persists over time and has the potential to have a substantial impact on the socio-economic-political domains (understood as the players, institutions, and models of interactions between them, as well as all the processes of knowledge production associated with these domains).

Its most significant impact lies in the future and thus in the emergency phase: an emerging technology is still quite uncertain and ambiguous. For this reason, it would be prudent to analyse its potential impacts in a timely manner, to avoid getting trapped in Amara’s Law.

WE HAVE A SOCIAL MISSION: TO STIMULATE CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.
We focus on Futures & Foresight (Futures Thinking / Futures Studies & Strategic Foresight), with a specialization in Technology Foresight and ETS, Emerging Technologies Scanning. We are also dedicated to Futures Literacy, which involves the theoretical and practical literacy of Futures Studies and Futures Thinking. Through a Slow Journalism model, we disseminate and promote knowledge of emerging technologies, analyzing their potential impacts on our possible and alternative futures.

Futures thinking is in our DNA. SAMI was created as the St Andrews Management Institute in 1989, as a joint venture between Shell, the pioneers in scenario planning, and St Andrews University. That powerful mix of academic rigour and practical delivery continues in work and with our people today: Experienced practitioners, world-renowned futures authors, and consultants with first-hand experience of the public sector and the challenges facing it.

SAMI was commissioned by the Government Office for Science to overhaul its Futures Toolkit. We have reviewed and re-written many of the core tools, adding new ones and advising on more advanced techniques.

SAMI Consulting Ltd are futures domain specialists. We have 30 years’ experience of working internationally, with the European Commission and with HM Government on futures projects. We understand the specific needs of Government in formulating and reaching decisions at both the policy and delivery levels. We have worked with the Cabinet Office, the Government Office for Science and HMG central departments; agencies; Local Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, NDPBs, police forces and security agencies, universities and charities.

We work with you using a wide range of foresight tools including scenario planning. We identify
major drivers of change impacting your organisation, develop different futures and test alternative
strategies. This participative approach builds capability in your team, enabling them to become
more innovative and more able to react rapidly to unexpected change.

We offer the full range of Futures capability from gathering intelligence, to making sense of it, to
testing and developing your strategy, making decisions and taking action. We use the full range of
Futures and Foresight tools, conduct our own research and maintain our own knowledge acquisition
mechanisms. This means we can deliver a faster, tailored and more sophisticated response to your
needs and avoid ‘reinventing the wheel.’

SAMI’s experienced facilitators are adept at managing the unique challenges of futures workshops.
We enable participants to step outside their present-bias into a futures-mode of thinking

Summary

Core Themes
The book reimagines humanity’s future through planetary foresight, blending historical wisdom with planetary stewardship. It critiques linear Western progress narratives and advocates for a hybrid, cyclical vision of history, emphasizing pluralistic identities and reverence for life.

Structural Framework
Organized into thematic sections, the work begins with “The Mysterious Lord of Time,” challenging linear temporality and introducing non-linear, culturally diverse historical perspectives. “Evolving Belief Systems” contrasts Indo-Iranic, Mesopotamian, and Hellenic thought with Abrahamic traditions, highlighting ancient influences on modern pluralism.

Imagination and Futures
The “Histories of Imagination” section explores myth and storytelling as drivers of civilization, while “Scenarios of Future Worlds” applies foresight methodologies to geopolitical and technological evolution, emphasizing ecological consciousness. The final chapters expand to cosmic intelligence and ethics, framing humanity’s role within universal interconnectedness.

Ethical Vision
Central to the thesis is a call for planetary identity and stewardship, merging forgotten wisdom traditions with modern foresight to navigate ecological and technological uncertainties. The book positions itself as both a philosophical guide and practical framework for ethical transformation in an era of global crises.

Key Argument
Motti asserts that humanity is transitioning from a “Second Nomad Age” (characterized by fragmentation) toward a “Second Settlement Age” marked by planetary consciousness, requiring creative complexity and ethical vigilance.

The study represents the Commission’s commitment, outlined in its 2023 Communication on the functioning of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), to address emerging challenges in the sector. It aligns with the Commission's definition of foresight as “the discipline of exploring, anticipating, and shaping the future to inform today’s decision-making.” This participatory study places fishers at its core, integrating their perspectives into the development of future scenarios and fisher profiles to inform strategic policymaking for a sustainable, competitive and resilient EU fishing sector, as part of the wider blue economy. It does not present policy proposals, which was never the intention, rather it serves to stimulate further the important debate on securing and giving a perspective on the future of EU fishers.

European Commission: European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, F&S, IPSOS, POSEIDON, Tetra Tech, Davies, M., Macfadyen, G., Brugere, C., Chiarelli, N., Dale, F.Caillart, B., Foresight study on fishers of the future – Final report , Publications Office of the European Union, 2024;

Foresight seems to be on everyone’s lips these days – but what is it really and, more importantly, how can you use it in your own work? This “menu” is designed to help policymakers understand and leverage foresight for more effective strategy- building and decision-making.

Foresight is about thinking long-term to make smarter choices now. It is a collective effort to look beyond the present and consider what could happen in the future. Foresight isn’t about gazing into a crystal ball, but a way to methodically broaden our perspective and prepare for different possible futures scenarios.

There are many reasons and ways to engage in long-term thinking for policymaking. This menu showcases the various goals and approaches of foresight in policy contexts, featuring tools and processes that the EU Policy Lab can offer. 

Source: European Commission - Knowledge for policy  

Delivering solutions for a more sustainable future

ISINNOVA provides research services and strategic consultancy to public and private actors pursuing sustainable visions, solutions, and policies.

Five Pillars of Our Approach

1. Anticipate – Apply systems thinking and foresight methodologies to identify emerging challenges, reveal interdependencies, and inform proactive, future-resilient strategies.

2. Integrate – Connect disciplines, sectors, and knowledge systems to foster richer analysis and tackle complex challenges holistically.

3. Align – Ensure research, innovation, and governance processes reflect the values, priorities, and needs of society through ethical, participatory, and responsible approaches.

4. Co-create – Engage diverse stakeholders — researchers, policymakers, citizens, and industry — in collaborative processes to design solutions that are inclusive, relevant, and impactful.

5. Transform – Drive systemic change by translating shared knowledge and co-created solutions into sustainable, scalable actions, supported by continuous assessment to ensure applicability, effectiveness, and long-term value.

Track Record

• 50+ years in the game (and counting).
• Involved in over 130 research projects (ISINNOVA designs, develops, and manages sector-specific & cross-sector EU and global projects)
• 15 staff members with multidisciplinary backgrounds (engineering, statistics, economics, politics, law, social sciences, computer science and media studies)
  

We help people and organisations imagine, work with, and shape their future. 

CIFS is one of the worlds oldest think tanks exclusively focusing on foresight. CIFS teach very popular courses in foresight, gives key notes and launch various initiatives and do research projects. CIFS is a self-owned think tank, completely independent of special interests. 

At Futures4Europe, we had the pleasure of chatting with Petranka Malcheva, Policy Lead for Health, Long Term Thinking and Prevention at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner of Wales. Her mission is to reduce health inequalities in Wales and to shift the focus from treatment to prevention guided by Wales’ pioneering Futures Generations Act. Petranka also leads the work on long-term thinking, supporting Wales’ public sector organisations to increase capabilities, skills and balancing short-term urgent issues without compromising the well-being of people living in the future.

Petranka will address the role of “Collective Intelligence” in Foresight for Research and Innovation Policy at the upcoming Futures4Europe Conference 2025, held in Vienna on the 15-16 May 2025.

Supports the economic growth in South-East Europe by promoting innovative solutions and facilitating the transfer of technologies and know-how. 

The first organization in the South- East region to implement foresight methods to shape public policy.

Transportes, Inovação e Sistemas (TIS) is an independent Portuguese consultancy (SME) with over 30 years of experience in the market. With offices in Lisbon and Porto (Portugal) and Fortaleza and São Paulo (Brazil), TIS provides expertise and decision-making support on policies, planning, economic evaluations, and operations across all transport sectors. This includes transport infrastructure, policies, economics, modeling, and market studies.

TIS has extensive experience working with the European Commission, the European Parliament, EU agencies (e.g., EMSA and EUSPA), and multilateral organisations such as the EIB, UNDP, UNECE, and the World Bank, both as a sole contractor and as the leader of large consortia. Additionally, TIS has in-depth knowledge of TEN-T policy and has coordinated the TEN-T Atlantic corridor since 2014, actively contributing to transport infrastructure and mobility planning at the European level.

The company has significant expertise in conducting fact-finding studies, fitness checks, evaluations and impact assessments for various EC Directorates-General, incorporating foresight methodologies to ensure that EU legislative work remains future-proof. This forward-looking approach to policy objectives and regulatory developments is also applied in research and innovation projects.

As radical innovations are having a profound impact globallyon the macroeconomic environment, the Region of Central Macedonia is monitoringclosely following the developments, trends and variables that favour or affect it or negatively affecting its development.
Institutions and executives from the private and public sector have explored through a participatory and dynamic process (Thematic Participatory Workshop) the variables that will the innovation and entrepreneurship environment of the region with time horizon 2030, identified their dynamics and evaluated their interaction. The findings provided input to the working group for the development of four scenarios that will define the future of innovation in the region of Central Macedonia in the coming decade. These scenarios identified
the development of a proposal of three strategic axes, developing in a stepwise manner in three different periods, which will strengthen the resilience of the region and prepare it to face the conditions in these four futures.

The study is available in Greek.

Megatrends 2040 was a project of Hellenic Republic-Presidency of the Government Special Secretariat of Foresight.

The secondary research conducted, initially revealed about twenty megatrends and trends, often cited in published academic papers, foresight books, reputable strategic studies, in the media, and especially in The Megatrends Hub of the JRC . Seven of these Megatrends, with a significant impact on the European and global economy, society and policies, have been selected.

Many of the megatrends presented here, are found in the European Commission’s Megatrends Hub or other sources of recognised standing in procedures of Horizon Scanning. In addition, the simple method of the Futures Wheel, which can be used by public institutions as a first step in understanding the interconnection of upcoming changes and challenges, is set out in Annex I (Glenn, 2009) . 

The analysis identified global challenges such as climate change, potential financial crises, pandemics and implications of exponential technological developments. These challenges (eg.Covid19) -often not directly dependent on the human factor- will bring about extensive pressure and significant impact on countries and societies. The effects of climate change and environmental degradation are likely to affect food and water availability for poor countries, intensify migration, cause new health challenges and contribute to biodiversity loss. New technologies will emerge and will spread faster, disrupting the economy, the labour market, society itself and the citizen’s position in it. The continuing effects of climate change exacerbate inequalities and intensify the phenomenon of climate migration globally, creating constantly new problems in both the countries of origin and of destination. The above challenges, if combined, will in turn affect other parameters, with implications that are extremely difficult to assess.

The EU Policy Lab is a space for cross-disciplinary exploration and innovation in policymaking. We apply collaborative, systemic and forward-looking approaches to help bringing the scientific knowledge of the Joint Research Centre into EU policymaking.

We experiment with the new, the unprecedented and the unknown. We seek to augment our understanding of the present, challenge and reinvent the way we think about the future.

The EU Policy Lab is also a mindset and a way of working together that combines stories and data, anticipation and analysis, imagination and action. We bring new practical and radical perspectives to tackle complex problems in a collaborative way. Together, we explore, connect and ideate to create better policies.

The Competence Centre on Foresight is part of the EU Policy Lab and supports EU policy making by providing strategic and future-oriented input, developing an anticipatory culture inside the European Commission, and continuously experimenting and developing different methods and tools to make foresight useful for decision making processes. 

The main mission of the project was to create the basis for creating a vision for the development of Prague in the field of innovation and to connect education, research, public space and business in Prague. The purpose of the project was to identify opportunities for research and innovation in relation to the possible future impacts of global megatrends on Prague and the Prague innovation ecosystem. At the same time, it was an effort to strengthen the cooperation of individual actors in the Prague innovation system to formulate a common vision of the innovation strategy of Prague and the directions of future development of research and innovation activities in this region.

Renewing rural generations, via the provision of green jobs and accessible farming enterprises, has powered the EU-sponsored RURALIZATION project looking to promote synergies between agriculture policymakers and local rural communities in painting attractive rural futures.

The following recently published and upcoming reports and books shed light on future-oriented insights with a special focus on Portugal. These materials explore a range of topics, from economic development and technological innovation to environmental sustainability and social trends specific to the region. By delving into these resources, readers can gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Portugal may face in the coming years.