EUSPRI 2024 CONFERENCE

18: Anticipatory practices at the intersections of innovation, policy and society (Kornelia Konrad, Andreas Lösch, Sergio Urueña López) 

The need for sociotechnical transformations of contemporary societies is widely accepted, and anticipatory practices are proliferating as enablers of such transformations in different settings and for different goals (e.g., related to new and emerging technologies, energy transition, digital transformation, urban sustainability, climate change, and many more). A burgeoning variety of methods and tools, as well as less formalized practices, support such anticipatory processes. While many of these anticipatory practices take place at the intersections of innovation, policy and society, it remains often a challenge whether and to what extent they are attuned to the diverse values, interests, reasoning and communication styles, frames, decision-making procedures, timelines, etc. of the various societal actors and contexts involved.

While some methods and practices find support and materiality in institutions and/or regulatory structures (e.g., forms of modelling in risk governance, energy or climate policy), others are of a more localized and temporary nature (e.g., foresight projects, events or interventions). Even if not formally institutionalized, certain anticipatory practices such as scenario and assessment methods are more common and legitimate in some societal domains and communities than others. Thus, they are typically not equally attuned to the diverse set of values, interests, reasoning and communication styles, frames, decision-making procedures, timelines, etc. of the various societal actors and contexts involved. Choosing for one or the other method or practice thus may also imply the in- or exclusion of certain societal actors.

This track aims to make visible and discuss how specific practices of anticipation take place at the intersections of innovation, policy and society, and to what extent they align or do not align with the practices and processes of these different spheres. It invites contributions, either empirical or conceptual, that contribute to a better understanding of the roles and (mis)matches of anticipatory practices at these crossroads, the related conceptual and practical challenges they pose, as well as exploring potential approaches to cope with them. 

In particular, contributors may address the following or related questions: 

The organisers briefly introduce the aim and scope of the panel, and then each accepted contributor presents their work. Each presentation is followed by a Q&A session and discussion with other participants and the audience. 

Keywords: anticipatory practices, governance, innovation, futures