What if fashion wasn’t just about what you wear—but about how you live, what you value, and where we’re all headed? That was the guiding question behind Future of Sustainable Fashion, an Eye of Europe pilot workshop hosted by Helenos Consulting on January 20, 2025, at Thessaloniki’s MOMus – Museum of Modern Art. Framed by the evocative Collective Threads exhibition by Anna Andreeva , the event invited participants to see fashion not just as style, but as a lens into the future—one that reflects our social values, ethical priorities, and growing environmental urgency. Through imagination and collaboration, citizens explored what the future of fashion might look like—and what it might reveal about the future of society itself.

From favorite Sweaters & Emotions to Fashion time travel!
The workshop kicked off with something disarmingly simple: “Draw your favourite fashion item”. But the answers ran deep. Whether it was a jacket from a loved one or a vintage find, the stories converged in common values: comfort, connection, ethics, culture, and identity. Clearly, fashion isn't just about looking good—it’s a mirror for our values and our times.
After getting to know each other better, the five participant groups dived into fashion’s evolution by completing a three-horizon timeline—mapping the past, present, and future of the industry. They reflected on the past as an era of craftsmanship and durability, when clothing was high-quality, handmade, and often a marker of social status. The present, they noted, sends mixed signals: while fashion today allows for greater self-expression and accessibility, it also fuels overconsumption, environmental harm, and rising interest in second-hand markets and eco-conscious alternatives. Looking to the future, participants expressed hope in a more sustainable, circular fashion economy, but voiced concerns about affordability of emerging innovations like smart textiles and the safety of personal data increasingly tied to wearable tech.

Imagine your future- design your clothes.
Using a card-based game and group creativity, citizens constructed new worlds. Sometimes dystopias, other timesother times regenerative and closer to nature, groups marched with designing fashion items that would help them adapt (or at specific cases even survive) in these imaginary futures. The results revealed bigger concerns of participants: the environmental crises and their implications on health and on humankind survival, safety, and inclusivity.
Across artefacts, fashion transformed from mere aesthetics into something far more powerful: a survival and adaptability tool, a connector of people and nature. Technology showed up everywhere—smart fabrics, wearable sensors, nanotech—yet always framed by a strong desire to keep things human, ethical, and grounded.

Writing a Future’s Guide
At the heart of the workshop was the Fashion Futuring Wheel—a system-thinking roadmap that connected fashion to education, politics, ESG, design, communication, and more. Citizens called for green transition in manufacturing and distribution and inclusive design. They imagined a world where transparency and safety of personal data is the norm, where AI is integrated in our lives with respect to human rights, and where fashion educates as much as it beautifies.
More Than Fabric—A Force for the Future
This workshop wasn’t just a creative exercise—it was a glimpse of fashion’s potential as a tool for resilience, identity, and systemic change. In a time of climate anxiety and digital overload, citizens showed that they’re not only ready to adapt, but to actively participate in systemic changes —with empathy, ingenuity, and vision.

See the analytical results of the workshop here.
 

This policy brief provides insights into the thematic areas addressed in the first five Eye of Europe workshops. It also informs about the upcoming workshops and the futures4europe platform, the online home of the European foresight community, where visitors can explore a rich collection of foresight projects, showcase their work, and discover foresight-related upcoming events.

The Future of Sustainable Fashion event took place on Monday, January 20, 2025, at the MOMus - Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki, Greece. The workshop was implemented surrounded by the relative with the subject exhibition Collective Threads: Anna Andreeva at the Red Rose Silk Factory. This initiative was implemented by Helenos Consulting, a partner of the Eye of Europe Project, and aimed to engage local citizens.

I. Introduction
Today, our highly complex and uncertain world requires strategic tools that will help us create new sustainable development trajectories. Fashion is more than an industry. It can reveal unique and collective identities, norms, and ethics but is also associated with environmental issues. It is one of the largest pollutant industries, prompting a shift in how we produce and consume fashion items. How might the climate crisis change our attitudes, and how does this impact the fashion industry?
Historically, fashion trends have been reflecting social issues. Characteristics examples are the 50’s full skirts in America, which put the woman in a specific position within the family and society, and the feminine wig hair in Ancient Egypt as a symbol of wisdom and respect revealing the matriarchal regime that was dominating in that period, and many other incidents. Nowadays, the role of the sexes has changed, while fashion consumption can also demonstrate our ethics and norms about social issues such as working conditions and climate change. The main goal of the workshop on the Future of Sustainable Fashion is to explore all these connections among objects, fiction, culture, and systems and to inspire participants to rethink their consumption habits, express themselves, imagine, and co-create alternative futures. It proposes a significant shift in fashion's approach to the future, moving away from short-term trends and predictions based on economic growth and industrial productivity, and instead embracing a more long-term, values-driven, empathetic, collective, humane, and environmentally conscious approach.

II. Results and outcomes
Favorite Fashion Items
The description and explanation of participants' favorite fashion items reveal broader categories for evaluating and preferring these items. The first category focuses on practicality, with comfort and elegance being the most valued aspects. The second category encompasses ethical consumption, including support for local and national small producers and a preference for sustainably made fashion products. The third category addresses the emotions these items evoke, with positive feelings such as love, affection, confidence, simplicity, and self-sufficiency being the most prominent. Additionally, emotions related to femininity, self-expression, and the expression of both collective and personal identities are also significant. Furthermore, the role of culture and tradition in fashion is highlighted as contributing to the support of collective identities.


Fashion Timeline Analysis
Based on the categorization of the results of each group, we created the following Fashion Timeline Analysis, taking into account the three horizons: past, present and future.

Past
The historical fashion industry was characterized by the positive aspects of high-quality, durable garments and a slow fashion approach that allowed for customization and trust in producers. However, there were significant challenges. While garments were crafted with superior materials and provided longevity, the disadvantages that were referred were about complexity and the high costs of the manufacturing process, making clothing less accessible to the general public. Consequently, there was a lack of diversity in fashion, while clothing often reinforced social stereotypes, such as restrictive garments for women, including corsets that symbolized oppression. In addition to that, textiles and designs were often uncomfortable and harmful, and the widespread use of animal-derived materials imposing ecosystemic consequences.

Present
Today’s fashion industry has undergone major transformations. In the positive aspects, clothing is more affordable and diverse. Furthermore, fashion has become a medium for self-expression, reflecting social changes, including gender fluidity and inclusivity. The emergence of eco-friendly and vegan materials, along with the rise of second-hand clothing and circular economy initiatives, has brought sustainability into focus. However, the quality of clothing has declined due to mass production, and the environmental impact of the industry is significant. Fast fashion has led to poor working conditions, harmful materials, and an increase in overconsumption. The global standardization of clothing has reduced cultural uniqueness, and consumerism continues to be driven by brand status rather than necessity.

Future
Looking ahead, the fashion industry holds potential for ethical and sustainable improvements while leveraging technological advancements to enhance efficiency and inclusivity. According to the participants, ethical consumer choices and circular economy principles should be prioritized, promoting recycling and reusing textiles to reduce environmental impact. Transparency in supply chains will become more prevalent, and innovations in smart textiles and wearable technology are expected to revolutionize the industry. Additionally, inclusivity in fashion can ensure that clothing serves the needs of diverse and vulnerable groups. On the negative side, the rising costs of sustainable fashion may create accessibility issues, and despite sustainability efforts, fashion waste may continue to be a problem. The scarcity of raw materials poses another threat, and wearable technology raises concerns regarding privacy and data security. The growing trend of online consumption may also reduce personal human interactions in fashion retail, altering the shopping experience.

What-if Scenarios, Fashion Artefacts, Values and Emotions
Three out of the five scenarios envisioned and described the negative impact of climate change, illustrating how it would affect humanity and our way of life. Two scenarios imagined a return to a rural way of living, where people would cultivate their own food. In one case, climate change led to a scarcity of raw materials, forcing society to revert to ancient practices, including wearing animal leather. In contrast, a more optimistic scenario depicted humanity achieving self-awareness and proactively addressing environmental issues. Another scenario, closely resembling the present, portrayed fast fashion continuing to dominate, fostering monopolistic markets that resulted in homogenized clothing and severe environmental consequences. Lastly, a dystopian scenario envisioned the destruction of Earth, prompting human migration to another planet where they had to coexist with extraterrestrial beings.

Despite the diversity of these scenarios, the core social values associated with life and fashion remained remarkably similar across them. In three of the five cases, artefacts were primarily utilized as tools for survival, safety, and adaptation to new realities. The remaining two scenarios emphasized the detection of emotions through artefacts. Social values such as solidarity, functionality, and consciousness were prevalent throughout the workshop’s results. Additionally, the idea of uniforms replacing diverse clothing was proposed, positioning them as essential tools for survival.

All artefacts incorporated new technologies, with AI sensors and nanotechnology-based materials and textiles being the most prominent. Organic materials were also integrated into one artefact, highlighting the growing emphasis on sustainability and innovation in future fashion. 

Fashion Futuring Wheel

The working groups made suggestions and propositions in the following R&I policy aspects. 

Manufacturing & Distribution
The future of fashion manufacturing and distribution is closely linked to sustainability and ethical production. Fair trade practices, green logistics using renewable energy sources, and robotic automation to eliminate exploitative labor practices were highlighted as key developments. For the last suggestion there should be caution when we integrate robots in the production process, since machines should be seen as tools to assist rather than replace human workers.
Industrial symbiosis is gaining traction, where industries should collaborate to minimize waste. Small producers are called to play a larger role, ensuring localized and more sustainable production models. Affordable raw materials and green manufacturing practices will be essential for our future to be viable, and actions towards ethical working regulations, are required.

Environment, Social Responsibility, and Governance (ESG)
For ESG, emphasis was given on funding initiatives that encourage companies to adopt green practices. In governance, participatory decision-making models could enhance the integration of ESG principles into the industry, while regulations particularly in relation to human and non-human relationships, was also mentioned as a determinant in the shape of the future landscape.

Arts & Philosophy
Art and philosophy should continue to shape fashion by promoting sustainability and respect for nature. Some ideas included artistic fairs focused on planetary well-being, that aim to sensitize citizens about environmental issues and self-expression and decolonization as the main concepts in future art to influence design and fashion. The New European Bauhaus and permaculture principles constitute good practices that could inspire societies to align fashion with natural ecosystems, while philosophical movements should be used to reinforce discipline and balance over consumerism.

Education & Politics
Education and politics are expected to play a crucial role in shaping the fashion industry's future. Actions including public funding for education in sustainability awareness, but also inclusivity being at the center of learning outcomes in the educational system, and re-skilling of workforce to be prepared and adapted to new innovations and technologies, were suggested. Furthermore, participants highlighted the influence of participatory workshops to engage citizens in social and environmental issues, fostering responsibility and ethical consumer behavior.

Consumption & Trends
Consumer habits are expected to evolve towards more ethical and sustainable choices, serving a good cause rather than mere aesthetics. According to the audience, trends should prioritize discipline and simplicity, encouraging consumers to rethink purchases before buying. In this context, the demand for affordable green clothing will rise, reinforcing the circular economy, where people will choose their clothes based on functionality and durability. Another important aspect is the need for transparency in fashion value chain to become a standard practice, which was also proposed during the workshop.

Communication
Communication in the fashion industry will be driven by digitalization, inclusivity and transparency. Platforms should adopt an educational character towards sustainability awareness in fashion, while hologram assistants are expected to become prevalent, guiding consumers through ethical purchasing decisions. The evaluation of information will be necessary to ensure transparency and credibility in fashion-related discussions. At the same time, ethical considerations and inclusivity will be fundamental in communication strategies.

Design Principles
Similarly to the aspect of Communication, in Design Principles, digitization, inclusivity and sustainability were recognized as the main values in future development in Design. Digitalization in design can lead to better results in terms of efficiency, but also in more eco-friendly processes. The integration of new technologies such as AI, is expected to transform the design process and change fundamentally the fashion industry. Furthermore, design should be more inclusive, meaning that it should consider the needs of more diversified and vulnerable target groups, ensuring that fashion serves the needs of all individuals.

Materials, Science & Technology
Innovation in materials, science, and technology will revolutionize fashion. AI and sensor-equipped textiles will enhance functionality and customization. Prototypes and testing are essentials, since they will ensure the safety of emerging technologies. Clothing should become increasingly comfortable while also reflecting personal values. Regarding the environmental impact, recycling of textiles and the development of new materials from landfill waste can help reduce pollution. At the same time natural materials should be prioritized to minimize environmental harm. Finally, the mass production of sustainable textiles is vital for eco-friendly clothing to become widely available, which can be achieved through investments in new technologies.

The project concerns the operation of the One Stop Liaison Office Mechanism of the Regional Authority, the development of digital tools aiming to support the regional ecosystem, while at the same time monitoring and evaluating the Smart Specialization Strategy.

One Stop Liaison Office Operation
Horizon Scanning (Greek)
Innovation 2030 (Greek)
RIS3 Strategy Monitoring
RIS3 Strategy Evaluation
Updating the RIS3 Strategy 2021-2027

The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

The third Mutual Learning Event (MLE) of project Eye of Europe took place online on January 21st, 2025. As a Coordination and Support Action, project Eye of Europe aims to enhance the integration of foresight practices into the Research and Innovation (R&I) policy-making across Europe and to nurture a vibrant, cohesive R&I foresight community that contributes significantly, as a collective intelligence, to shaping and guiding policy decisions.

Over forty participants from diverse stakeholder groups joined the event: Eye of Europe partner organizations, representatives from the European Commission, R&I funding agencies, representatives of governmental bodies. Expert presentations of two European and one national foresight exercises showcased diverse practices for integrating foresight results into the R&I policy cycle and formed the basis for vivid discussions in three interactive sessions.

Presentations:

• Project coordinator Radu Gheorghiu (UEFISCDI, Romania) introduced the Eye of Europe project as a social infrastructure supporting the strenghtening of the European foresight community. To this end, Eye of Europe hosts a series of activities: five mutual learning events, eleven pilot foresight activities and two conferences - highlighting the upcoming Futures4Europe conference to be held in Vienna on May 15-16, 2025. Moreover, the project enabled the upgrade of the platform futures4europe.eu to better serve its role as the online home of a vibrant and inclusive European foresight community. Multiple new improvements of the platform were shared in the closing section of the event.
• Moderator of the event Lenka Hebáková (TC Prague, Czech Republic) followed up with an introduction on the event´s aims and agenda.
• Nikos Kastrinos (former EC) shared about the Foresight on Demand project "Foresight towards the Second Strategic Plan of Horizon Europe”, providing insights into how foresight was employed and linked with the policy cycle in the period of HE strategies setting.
• “Megatrends 2050 in a Changing World and their Impact on Portugal” presented by Monica Isfan (PlanAPP, Portugal) showcased Portugal's experience with embedding foresight in the context of strategic planning.
• Klaus Kubeczko (AIT, Austria) and Jürgen Wengel (former EC) shared about the Foresight on Demand project “S&T&I 2050: Science, technology and innovation for ecosystem performance : accelerating sustainability transitions“ on mapping the relationship between emerging trends in science, technology and innovation and ecosystem performance in the context of the European Green Deal. Moreover, the presentation highlighted the project's engagement of a wide range of STI experts in a Dynamic Argumentative Delphi survey.

This event is the third in a series of five MLEs planned in the project; the following event will be held beginning April 2025 in Budapest. All Eye of Europe MLEs are organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), Eye of Europe partner and key Czech national think tank and academia based NGO with a rich experience with knowledge-based policy making support and (participatory as well as expert based) foresight activities.

As a partner of the Eye of Europe Project, Helenos will implement its second pilot on Fashion Futuring, investigating potential links among objects, fiction, culture, and systems to understand how the values of the systems/societies can shape the future of fashion.

The worskhop was relized on 14th of April, 2025 at MOMus- Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki, Greece

Context
Have you ever wondered why people in Ancient Egypt (3100-30 BCE) wore hair wigs? Or why samurai have been associated with kimonos, while feminine full skirts are linked with the post-war America of the ‘50s? There are numerous examples of fashion items that represent specific periods and places. 

But what does that signify?
In ancient Egypt, men wearing hair wigs was considered an honor and a symbol of equalization to women, as women were regarded as wise and sacred. Similarly, in Tokugawa Japan (1603 – 1868), when samurai lived, clothing indicated one’s rank and role within the highly structured feudal society, while in post-war America, fashion was influenced by the idealized image of the suburban family, emphasizing domesticity and traditional gender roles.
The common space of all three examples is that - throughout the centuries - fashion has served people and societies as a way of self-expression, a sign of social status, also revealing the prevailing social norms and beliefs.

Today, our highly complex and uncertain world requires strategic tools that will help us create new sustainable development trajectories. Fashion not only reveals unique and collective identities, norms, and ethics but is also associated with environmental issues. It is one of the largest pollutant industries, prompting a shift in the way we produce and consume fashion items. How might the climate crisis change our attitudes, and how does this impact the fashion industry?


What is Fashion Futuring?
Fashion Futuring is an innovative approach that investigates potential links among objects, fiction, culture, and systems to understand how the values of the systems/societies can shape the future of fashion. It suggests a significant shift in the future of fashion approach, moving away from short-term trends and financial forecasting as primary factors for fashion production, towards sustainable, more humane means of fashion producing and consuming.


The pilot
The upcoming pilot in April is targeted towards domain experts in fashion & foresight. The workshop consists of a 7-stage methodology based on Garcia (2023), where participants will be encouraged to share their personal experiences and values, co-create a fictional future, and work together to design a fictional fashion item based on this future. The workshop will utilize various foresight methods, primarily core design, what-if scenario development, and strategic thinking.

That will be the second pilot in Fashion Futuring implemented by Helenos. The first pilot was held in January 2025 in Thessaloniki, involving local citizens. This upcoming workshop aims to contribute to a collective knowledge pool, helping to create a comprehensive understanding of the future of fashion and sustainability.

This workshop will be implemented in English.

For more information, please contact the following emails: 

stavros.mantzanakis@helenosconsulting.eu (Stavros Mantzanakis)

eliza.savvopoulou@helenosconsulting.eu (Eliza Savvopoulou)

As a partner of the Eye of Europe Project, Helenos will implement its first pilot on Fashion Futuring, investigating potential links among objects, fiction, culture, and systems to understand how the values of the systems/societies can shape the future of fashion.

The event was realized on 20th of January, 2025 at MOMus- Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Context

Have you ever wondered why people in Ancient Egypt (3100-30 BCE) wore hair wigs? Or why samurai have been associated with kimonos, while feminine full skirts are linked with the post-war America of the ‘50s? There are numerous examples of fashion items that represent specific periods and places. But what does that signify? In ancient Egypt, men wearing hair wigs was considered an honor and a symbol of equalization to women, as women were regarded as wise and sacred.  

Similarly, in Tokugawa Japan (1603 – 1868), when samurai lived, clothing indicated one’s rank and role within the highly structured feudal society, while in post-war America, fashion was influenced by the idealized image of the suburban family, emphasizing domesticity and traditional gender roles. The common space of all three examples is that - throughout the centuries - fashion has served people and societies as a way of self-expression, a sign of social status, also revealing the prevailing social norms and beliefs. 

Today, our highly complex and uncertain world requires strategic tools that will help us create new sustainable development trajectories. Fashion not only reveals unique and collective identities, norms, and ethics but is also associated with environmental issues. It is one of the largest pollutant industries, prompting a shift in the way we produce and consume fashion items. How might the climate crisis change our attitudes, and how does this impact the fashion industry? 

What is Fashion Futuring?

Fashion Futuring is an innovative approach that investigates potential links among objects, fiction, culture, and systems to understand how the values of the systems/societies can shape the future of fashion. It suggests a significant shift in the future of fashion approach, moving away from short-term trends and financial forecasting as primary factors for fashion production, towards sustainable, more humane means of fashion producing and consuming. 

The pilot

The upcoming pilot at the beginning of the next year is targeted towards regional stakeholders in Greece, such as citizens, CCI regional firms, and experts from academia and market and regional policy-makers. The workshop consists of a 7-stage methodology based on Garcia (2023), where participants will be encouraged to share their personal experiences and values, co-create a fictional future, and work together to design a fictional fashion item based on this future. The workshop will utilize various foresight methods, primarily core design, what-if scenario development, and strategic thinking.

In the spring of 2025, Helenos Consulting will organize a second pilot on the same topic, focussing on a different audience of international and national Fashion, Textile, and foresight experts, to grasp a holistic image of the topic. 

This workshop will be implemented in Greek with citizens and other local stakeholders from Thessaloniki.

The first Mutual Learning Event (MLE) took place on May 23, 2024 in Bratislava, Slovakia as part of the Horizon Europe project Eye of Europe, which aims to contribute to the maturing of a vibrant Research and Innovation (R&I) foresight community in Europe and to support the integration of foresight practices into R&I policy-making.

Forty participants from partner organizations and external representatives of ministries, governmental bodies, R&I funding agencies and the European institutions gathered in the premises of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic.

This MLE, organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), focused on the identification of emerging needs and approaches in the practice of foresight for research and innovation. To this end, the MLE in Bratislava was structured along the following phases:

• Eye of Europe’s vision and main building blocks, presented by project coordinator Radu Gheorghiu
• The context and role of this MLE, and a brief overview of other mutual learning events that took place since 2020, presented by Michal Pazour 
• Showcasing preliminary results of the Stocktaking of the organisation of R&I Foresight activities in the European Research Area (ERA), by Simone Weske. The presentation highlighted key benefits of the R&I foresight activities, constraints and bottlenecks, as perceived by the survey respondents.
• Four country studies - Slovakia, Finland, Austria and Sweden - have brought interesting insights and comparisons related to R&I foresight uptake and potential for improvement:
  Slovakia: Research and Innovation System and the potential for R&I Foresight |Michal Habrman, Government Office of the Slovak Republic
  Finland: Finnish national foresight ecosystem | Juha Kaskinen, FFRC University of Turku Finland
  Sweden: Leading from the Future in Sweden | Joakim Skog, Vinnova Sweden
  Austria: R&I foresight | Christian Naczinsky, Austrian Ministry of Education
• Discussions in four participant groups on emerging functions and approaches of R&I foresight. Overall, the group discussions touched on the dynamics of R&I foresight demand and supply and on the diversification of tools and methods for establishing dialogue with policy-making.
  
  This video created by the event host, Výskumná a inovačná autorita (VAIA), offers a glimpse into the spirit of both the MLE and the R&I foresight masterclass that preceded it. The detailed outputs of the MLE will be published in a dedicated report.
  
  
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  Five MLEs are planned in the project, with the following one being held online in September 2024. All Eye of Europe MLEs are organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), Eye of Europe partner and key Czech national think tank and academia based NGO with a rich experience with knowledge-based policy making support and (participatory as well as expert based) foresight activities.
  

The second Mutual Learning Event (MLE) took place online on September 26, 2024, as part of Eye of Europe, a Horizon Europe project  which aims to enhance the integration of foresight practices into Research and Innovation (R&I) policy-making across Europe and to nurture a vibrant, cohesive R&I foresight community that contributes significantly, as a collective intelligence, to shaping and guiding policy decisions.

The online MLE brought together fifty participants from diverse stakeholder groups: Eye of Europe partner organizations, the European Commission, R&I funding agencies, representatives of governmental bodies. The event, organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), focused on the topic of policy oriented communication of foresight results. Group and plenary discussions in three interactive sessions were framed by expert presentations showcasing diverse practices in the application and communication of foresight.

Presentations:

• Michal Pazour (TC Prague, Czech Republic) introduced the Eye of Europe project and the context of this second Mutual Learning Event.
• Moderator of the event Lenka Hebáková (TC Prague, Czech Republic) followed up with an introduction to the event’s aims and agenda.
• Mikko Dufva (SITRA, Finland) – “Communicating foresight. From knowing it all to empowering change”. The presentation included three case studies: SITRA’s decade long experience with megatrends as a platform for dialogue, their work on weak signals as an invitation to broaden futures thinking in a “what if?” spirit and, finally, their efforts to empower others to define futures bottom-up, through small funding to diverse teams across Finland.
• “Communicating foresight in the European Commission” presented by Maia Knutti and Teodora Garbovan (EU Policy Lab, European Commission) brought insights into how, in the European Commission context, foresight is employed and linked with the policy cycle. Examples covered foresight content (e.g. Strategic Foresight Reports) and engagement tools (e.g. megatrends hub, scenario exploration system) that are serving different stakeholder groups across multiple channels.
• Bianca Dragomir (Institutul de Prospectiva, Romania) discussed a case study on embedding foresight into policy making in the context of developing the Strategy for Fishing and Aquaculture 2035 in Romania. Moreover, she shared about embedding foresight into both policy making and societal conversation, discussing two Foresight on Demand projects: Scenarios on “Transhumanist Revolutions” and foresight-meets-speculative-design project “Futures Garden”.
• Totti Könnölä (Insight Foresight Institute, Spain) shared about the Foresight on Demand project "European R&I foresight and public engagement for Horizon Europe" that advanced several objectives: generating foresight intelligence, i.e. through forward-looking policy briefs; monitoring of foresight activities and providing support for exploitation (Horizon Futures Watch); laying the building blocks for a European foresight community supported by an online platform. 
• Marie Ségur (Futuribles, France) presented a case study on “Future of social work in France to 2035-2050” and the methods employed throughout the process: using surveys to motivate engagement with futures thinking, scenario building that may inform strategic choices and guide towards a vision and, finally, communicating outcomes in a synthetic manner, that may contribute to a wider discussion around the topic.
• Eye of Europe project coordinator Radu Gheorghiu (UEFISCDI, Romania) shared previews of the upcoming upgrade of the futures4europe.eu platform, with its new look and extended features.
  
  This event is the second in a series of five MLEs planned in the project; the following event will be held on January 21st 2025 also in an online format. All Eye of Europe MLEs are organized by Technology Centre Prague (TC), Eye of Europe partner and key Czech national think tank and academia based NGO with a rich experience with knowledge-based policy making support and (participatory as well as expert based) foresight activities.

As a Coordination and Support Action, project “Eye of Europe” aims to enhance the integration of foresight practices into Research and Innovation (R&I) policy making across Europe. Ultimately, the project envisions a more cohesive and influential R&I foresight community that contributes significantly, as a collective intelligence, to shaping and guiding policy decisions.

To this end, Eye of Europe builds on existing initiatives and experiences to foster knowledge-sharing between foresight practitioners and policy makers, attract domain experts in foresight endeavours, and engage a broader audience in futures thinking. Nurturing futures4europe.eu as the online home for the community and running various face-to-face events with different stakeholders will underpin these ambitions.
Methodologically, the project relies on the following building blocks:

• futures4europe.eu as the online hub for the R&I foresight community in Europe: The platform accommodates the interests of various stakeholders such as foresight experts, beneficiaries, domain experts, and an active audience. It operates on multiple integration levels, from mapping organizations and experts to sharing foresight results and capabilities. Moreover, it acts as the communication gateway for ongoing foresight activities, events, educational and inspirational materials.
  
  
• Sharing of practices: This entails mapping institutions engaged in R&I foresight activities, promoting mutual learning through interactive formats, developing shared visions for the future of foresight in R&I policy within the European Research Area (ERA), fostering exchanges among the foresight in R&I policy community through conferences, encouraging dialogues between futurist/expert communities, academics and policy practitioners.
  Key figures: 5 mutual learning events (MLE): 2 online, 3 face-to-face events; 1 vision building event for the Future of R&I Foresight in ERA; 2 conferences
  
  
• Running foresight pilots: Conducting a series of pilot workshops and online consultations with diverse formats, methodologies, and participants. This involves identifying topics of common interest within the European Research Area (ERA), where foresight perspectives offer added value, designing and implementing tailored pilot foresight activities involving various stakeholders, harnessing lessons learnt and feeding them into the platform and other dissemination channels.
  Key figures: 11 Foresight pilot processes: 3 exclusively with citizens, 4 mainly with experts and researchers tackling specific R&I topics, 4 involving a bespoke group of participants. Out of the 11 events, 8 will be face-to-face events, and 3 pilots will take place online
  
  
• Boosting futures literacy: The project encourages meaningful engagement with diverse audiences, from foresight professionals, researchers, policy-makers to various futures sensitive profiles (e.g. entrepreneurs, journalists, artists) and the wider civil society. The project will provide guides, methodology toolboxes, and training modules for R&I foresight and futures literacy, incorporating written and multimedia content.
  Key figures: 5-10 short training sets for participants in foresight exercises; 1 training module for foresight beneficiaries; 1 foresight training for early career researchers, 1 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on R&I foresight; 12 conversational podcasts; 6-8 Short videos and/or animated materials showcasing foresight processes and outcomes
  
  
• Fueling the public discourse around futures: Promoting the project and fostering the foresight community via the online platform futures4europe.eu and complementary channels such as social media and a dedicated newsletter. In addition to highlighting the project's own initiatives, Eye of Europe will also aim to promote foresight content developed in other projects, showcasing a diverse range of perspectives and insights within the foresight field. The quarterly newsletter will feature various content types like interviews, project updates, and foresight-related articles. Social media, particularly Futures4Europe's LinkedIn page, will be used to engage professional communities and wider audiences, with a focus on sharing project activities and fostering discussions.