Professor Penny Sackett discusses Australia’s foresighting activities at the World Science Forum in Budapest, Hungary (5-7 November 2009).

• 27 November 2009

Abstract

Now more than ever we must support scientific effort that is global, collaborative and innovative to deliver a sustainable and prosperous society. Given the complexity of challenges that we face, achieving this sustainability and prosperity is not to be underestimated. ‘Wicked’ challenges, such as mitigation and adaptation to climate change, mean that if we are to make good decisions, we must gather sufficient scientific evidence from all areas of science to inform future policies and provide effective technological and social solutions. We need to plan today to ensure a sustainable tomorrow.

The Australian Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) has chosen to take on this challenge through the use of foresighting in order to develop new approaches to support knowledge generation, health and wellbeing, sustainability, and economic and social development. A formal model has been adopted to “look over the horizon” in order to examine possible transformational futures (5 to 50 years hence) that Australia may face, and then identify ways in which science and innovation may assist in meeting them wisely. The goal is to support long-term, whole-of-government evidence-based policy development.

To assist in implementing this model, four groups called Thematic Foresighting Clusters (TFCs) have been established to assist PMSEIC in providing this strategic advice to Government. The groups consist of broad thinkers who take a strategic and continuous, longer-term view of the key economic and social challenges facing Australia. The four broad foresighting themes for these new clusters are:

1. Climate Change, Energy, Water and Environment: Impact on Australia;

2. Science as an Engine for Innovation in Commerce, Industry and the Arts;

3. National Health, Wellbeing and Security; and

4. Knowledge Generation, Skills and Perception in a Global World.

These themes lie at the intersection of Government portfolios and across traditional disciplines of research, and in many cases involve social challenges resistant to conventional approaches to solving them. Interdisciplinary collaboration, across scientific boundaries and including the Social Sciences, the Arts and Industry, is a natural route to identifying breakthrough solutions to challenges posed in these themes. Hence a range of expertise is sought in cluster members.

The clusters identify potential opportunities and challenges, mapping out gaps in our knowledge required to meet them to assist with supporting, mitigating or adapting to these. Specific topics generated by the gaps in knowledge identified by the clusters are chosen by PMSEIC for further assessment and complete reports. A larger team of experts then develop and suggest possible pathways to fill the gaps in knowledge, producing a scientific report that is presented to PMSEIC. The reports include recommendations for the near term future that will put Australia on the path to the preferred long-term future(s) articulated in the foresighting process.

The outcome of these efforts is the provision of timely, evidence-based advice to Government, enabling them to make decisions today that will ensure sustainable development tomorrow.

PRESENTATION SLIDES – Australia’s foresighting activities: Planning today for a sustainable tomorrow