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1. Introduction
Through the very history of its creation from 1860 to 1864, the
brainchild of the Duc de Morny (1811-1865), and through its
astounding development, Deauville has placed building and faith in
the future at the heart of its regional vision. This experience has
instilled in Deauville's elected officials a keen curiosity for and
sharp interest in foresight. It is fitting that this kingdom of
elegance gave birth to the "Pôle des Futurs de Deauville –
Deauville’s Futures Poles ". In
its aim to enhance knowledge of foresight the City Council of
Deauville in 2008 organized a conference on the state of foresight
practices in organisations together with the magazine Management
et avenir. In 2009 the Deauville International Centre
will host the first European Conference on Regional Foresight,
organised jointly by the City Council of Deauville (Deauville’s
Futures Poles) and The Destree Institute, with the sponsorship
of major associations of regional elected officials of France and
Europe, and logistical support from the Groupe Futuribles and the
Ecole de Management de Normandie.
2. The conference objectives
At a time when decision-makers throughout Europe are discussing the
relevance of regions, the first objective of this European
conference on regional foresight focuses on regional stakeholders –
and first and foremost the regional elected officials and
authorities; to make them aware of the need to adopt a foresight
approach to build sound and sustainable policies in their cities,
départements and regions.
Over the past decade foresight has experienced a new awakening in
the regions. Since the late 1990s, a true convergence has developed
between two methods: Anglo-American foresight and prospective à
la française. This process has been driven by bodies such as the
European Commission's DG Research, the Seville Institute for
Technological Foresight Studies, and the European College of
Regional Foresight. Practitioners and theorists – thus their methods
as well – have entered into a dialogue. Researchers, elected
officials, regional agents and consultants have exchanged
experiences and learned from each others' successes and failures.
They have approached and melded their points of view. Regional
foresight now sees the result of this convergence of various
European practices: foresight and prospective are now
equivalent and have made great strides in energy and efficiency.
At the same time, in the field, the demand for regional foresight
applications has become more diversified: it is now more sectorial,
it analyses networks and channels, or supports the implementation or
development of competitive clusters, and so on. All these reasons
justify a call for us to come together to review the ongoing
initiatives. The European Conference on Regional Foresight has been
organised with the prime concern to provide a meeting point between
practitioners who wish to evaluate their methods, know-how and
experiences and learn from this process.
A Scientific Committee will be formed, whose members include Günter
Clar (Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Stuttgart), Bernard de Montmorillon
(Paris Dauphine), Elie Faroult (EC DG Research, Brussels), Luke
Georghiou (Manchester Business School), Peter Heydebreck (Örebro
Business Administration University, Sweden, Hugues de Jouvenel (Futuribles,
Paris), Pierre-Jean Lorens (Conseil régional du Nord-Pas-de-Calais,
Lille), Ute-Hélène Von Reibnitz (Scenario + Vision, Trier & Vence),
Philippe Destatte (The Destree Institute, Namur).
3. The dynamics and contents
The conference will be cadenced by four forums, where participants –
together with four major experts and a moderator, will be able to
reflect, discuss and produce contents. The notion underlying the
reflection is to examine four specific issues at stake for each
theme: foresight to build a shared vision for the region; foresight
and regional innovation; foresight as a tool in territorial
planning, and lastly regional foresight aiming for application in
one or several particular sectors. Each expert will present an issue
at stake, to be illustrated by a concrete case which will serve to
draw lessons that can be applicable in a broader scope. The
moderator's job will be to analyse the issue (problematise), and to
organise the discussion. He/she will do this by sectioning the
presentations to enable each speaker to intervene at least twice,
before opening the discussion to 3-4 speakers in the audience. This
means that the floor must pass quickly from one person to the next.
The seating arrangement - chairs in concentric circles, with the
speakers on high stools and the moderator standing in the centre –
will inspire an original and creative dynamics. PowerPoint
presentations will not be allowed in the forums. The texts and
summaries will be prepared beforehand and uploaded on the event's
web site.
3.1. Foresight and a shared vision for the region
The shared regional vision is the focal point of the foresight
process and its culmination. It is the prelude for concrete action;
without this vision foresight would be meaningless. It is firmly
citizen-based and gets the inhabitants involved; as such it can
prove to be a significant tool for deliberative democracy. When the
foresight process is followed the full circle, it leads to a
coherent strategy, laid out in precise actions, and an
implementation process that meets the long-term issues at stake,
attaining a vision of a desired future that is built collectively.
The elected official maintains his/her role – acting both as a
timekeeper and the stakeholders' main interlocutor. The
official's legitimacy in public decision is wholly preserved.
3.2. Foresight and innovation in the territories
Regional foresight is a powerful tool to imagine, build and
implement regional systems for innovation which meet the needs of
the enterprises and research centres. Technological foresight is
deployed throughout the region itself, the ideal setting for
interaction among the actors. It takes on a variety of forms,
ranging from analysis of key technologies which is similar to the
evaluation of technology choices, to more elaborate projects in the
aim to establish development tools or else to activate business or
competitive poles, etc. in a long term perspective,
3.3. Foresight and territorial planning in the
regions
Foresight and spatial planning are intrinsically linked in France, a
longstanding couple. But this is a rare case in Europe. Ever since
the work to draft the 1999 European Spatial Development Perspective
(ESDP), prospective and foresight, aménagement and
planning have joined forces at the European level. This composite
view is being generalised and perfected. Henceforth, regional
foresight can be applied at all levels, from the neighbourhood all
the way to vast regional or cross-border areas.
3.4. Foresight and development sectors
Foresight, increasingly, must respond to specific needs in the
regions: anticipate the issues at stake and needs of a specific
sector, build the strategy for a sphere of activities, lay the
groundwork for development agencies, launch an incentive fund, etc.
In all cases, foresight places these issues in a long term context,
activates cross-cutting approaches and attempts to provide specific
responses.
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