VERA Final report available now (Forward Visions on the European Research Area)

VERA scenarios illustrate different political and societal contexts for the European research and innovation landscape in 2030. Our analyses of the scenarios show that policy choices of today can affect the availability of alternatives in the future. So, the current European Research Area (ERA) policy process is not of a purely technical nature. Instead, policy actions of today to ensure a fully operational ERA, can at the same time open and close doors for the future. We need to be aware of these consequences in order to avoid unintended trajectories of today’s choices. Moreover, the future of ERA is not only depending on wise policy action geared towards the desired futures for ERA. Any discourse on desired futures needs to take into account the strategic reactions of stakeholders and what these mean for systems over time. VERA suggests that vision-building for the ERA must build on a reflective process engaging stakeholders in a meaningful and constructive manner. With the VERA strategic debate, we aimed at piloting such a process using an adaptive foresight approach.

The full Report can be downloaded here. More...