Participatory foresight and reflexive innovation: setting policy goals and developing strategies in a bottom-up, mission-oriented, sustainable way

Abstract

The urgency of current social challenges is driving new approaches to framing and funding research, development, and innovation. The “mission-oriented” approach framing the EU’s New Horizons funding program is the latest institutional response to the pressing needs of large system transformations we are facing. We view the likely targets of mission-oriented programs as dynamic entities requiring both adaptive, inclusive responses, and anticipatory exploration. We demonstrate how participatory foresight methods provide an essential forum and process for the expression of plural, socio-technological imaginaries. As citizens and other stakeholder groups have demonstrated their myriad capacities to contribute to research and innovation agenda-setting processes in future-oriented citizen dialogs, we argue that such methods are the essential compliment to the mission-oriented framework coming into play. Participatory foresight engages citizens in critical thinking and creative activities to articulate the evolution of socio-technological issues over an extended time horizon, seeking diverse perspectives on what goals and priorities will come to define “missions.” Utilizing outputs from two recent projects, we argue that participatory foresight methods can play an essential role in bridging citizen needs with policy requirements, and will increase the reflexivity of innovation systems that invest the needed time and resources into exploring the depth of multi-actor interests and intersections. Finally, we outline possible impact pathways demonstrating how these “bottom-up” contributions could be integrated into the development of challenge-led innovation priorities.

Limits and benefits of participatory agenda setting for research and innovation

“…Here, Schroth et al [82] find that facilitating the adaptation and translation of issues and concepts for specific target audiences is a key step that should receive greater attention in multi-stage processes. Rosa et al [80] support this and go further by stating that this adaptation of issues through "translation, comparison, categorisation, and combination" should be subject to close scrutiny, especially where different actor groups such as laypeople and experts are concerned. This shows that expert takeovers in citizen involvement processes can contribute to a loss of authenticity [89].…”

“…Rosa et al [80] scrutinise two recent participatory foresight activities within the framework of reflexive innovation as forums for contextualising alternative futures. They discuss the activities' capability to advise on mission-oriented innovation policy-making and their potential in strengthening citizens' role in providing strategic input for the European Commission's framework programme for research and innovation that has recently been issued.…”

“…Whilst all the abovementioned factors contribute to ineffectiveness, translation of PASE results into the policy realm remains a central challenge [80], for instance when aiming at inspiring a change in national funding schemes [85]. Here, the initial positioning and rationality of participatory agenda setting activities within STI governance often only allows for a limited-if not marginal-influence on policy-making [74].…”

“…Balázs et al [85] conclude that the examined PASE exercise created "reflection on and momentum for pressing research needs". Diversifying stakeholder dialogues and enabling citizens to demonstrate greater agency enhances reflexive capacities [80]. Stakeholders previously unknown to each other get the opportunity to interact on topics which affect them directly, discussing contradicting or competing viewpoints to explicitly highlight differences, and even partially overcome those [81].…”

“…Balázs et al [85], too, observed mutual learning between "experts, practitioners and lay audiences on substantive research topics". Several authors report that the use of boundary objects-data-driven or design-based-in terms of models, scenarios or artefacts as tools for facilitating dialogue was successful in establishing a common understanding of issues and partially shared meaning [80][81][82].…”