The 4th eForesee International Conference in Malta in November

This is the final conference of the eFORESEE Project, an EU sponsored foresight project under the FP5 STRATA Programme. The Conference is being organised with the technical support of CKA Consulting Ltd, the Coordinator of the eFORESEE Project.

Background

In March 2003 the European Commission launched a Wider Neighbourhood Policy acknowledging the importance of relations between EU member states and their immediate neighbours. The Policy is, backed up by measures for financing cross-border initiatives known as 'The Neighbourhood Programs'. In the period 2004-2006, funds will come from existing EU funding instruments such MEDA, TACIS and PHARE. New instruments will be made available thereafter.

The Wider Neighbourhood Policy provides a challenge for decision makers at national and regional levels as well as at the level of individual organizations. Long-term value will only be created where initiatives are aligned with the goals and strategies of organizations as well as with policy at national and regional level. Major policy adjustments must therefore be made at all levels of governance, if lasting benefits are to accrue from the Wider Neighbourhood Policy and its implementing measures. In operational terms the challenge is not simply to formulate eligible proposals to participate in Neighbourhood Programs, the challenge is to ensure that these proposals contribute to the long-term strategies of the organizations and networks involved. For organizations to do otherwise is to participate in ad-hoc initiatives that are unlikely to grow into durable and meaningful collaborations that out-live their initial period of public financing.

Foresight is a policy tool that can help organizations and networks develop visions-of-the-future that will guide their decision-making and help them exploit programs for their long-term benefit. It focuses on what should be done now to achieve long-term objectives. It makes intelligence about the future available at a systemic level. It has a structuring effect on diffuse entities such as RTD networks and Systems of Innovation by encouraging inter-organisational cooperation and knowledge sharing. In particular it has a role to play in structuring of RTD and Innovation activity at the level of the ERA and its Wider Neighbourhood extensions.

The Wider Neighbourhood Policy has made provision for at least two Neighbourhood Programs in the Mediterranean region. These complement the existing MEDA program by focusing on the cross-border dimension with Europe. They provide a basis for initiatives that could help to structure activities in a Euro-Mediterranean Research and Innovation Area that exploit natural proximity and existing links. Two of the e-Foresee partners - the MCST of Malta and ARI of Cyprus come from new member states that have been both long-time MEDA partners and are now targets of the Neighbourhood Programs. In the context of the e-Foresee project they have implemented foresight pilots in domains that include 'learning futures', theatre, tourism, 'human resource and youth development', marine sciences, biotechnology and 'agriculture as a knowledge industry'. Malta and Cyprus are not the only countries in the Mediterranean neighbourhood to have acquired a capability in the implementation of foresight actions. Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey and Greece are currently carrying out foresight activities at a national level. A strong platform of Mediterranean know-how and competence thus already exists for the design and implementation of foresight activities.

This final e-Foresee conference is an opportunity to gather lessons learned and explore the practical dimension of how regional and thematic foresight exercises could add value to the MEDA and Wider Neighbourhood programs by starting processes that will structure and orient RTD and Innovation activities in Mediterranean extensions of the ERA. The Conference is aimed at:

• Policy-makers from government, academia and industry,
• RTD planners, strategists and RTD network coordinators,
• Intermediaries and other organizations in Mediterranean systems of innovation,
• Foresight practitioners in Mediterranean countries,
• Contact Points of MEDA and Wider Neighbourhood Programs.