The paper presents recent insights from the ongoing FORLEARN project 1 , which aims to develop Foresight theory and practise by supporting the sharing of experience ("mutual learning") in Europe. Six functions of Foresight for policy-making are elaborated on:1. Informing policy: generating insights regarding the dynamics of change, future challenges and options, along with new ideas, and transmitting them to policy-makers as an input to policy conceptualisation and design.2. Facilitating policy implementation: enhancing the capacity for change within a given policy field by building a common awareness of the current situation and future challenges, as well as new networks and visions amongst stakeholders.3. Embedding participation in policy-making: facilitating the participation of civil society in the policy-making process, thereby improving its transparency and legitimacy.4. Supporting policy definition: jointly translating outcomes from the collective process into specific options for policy definition and implementation.5. Reconfiguring the policy system: in a way that makes it more apt to address long-term challenges.6. Symbolic function: indicating to the public that policy is based on rational information.The relationship between these functions and the tensions that can arise when a Foresight exercise attempts to address more than one function are discussed. Possible approaches for Foresight practice to better achieve the targeted impact on policy-making are outlined and emerging guidelines for improving Foresight practice are presented.

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