How can EU policymakers ensure that their efforts today are futureproof and adapted to the constantly changing realities of our world?

What does the future hold for farmers and rural communities? What will agriculture look like in 2040? More importantly, how can we ensure that rural communities reap the benefits of digital technologies, while staying true to their values and needs?

Discover the foresight process the EU Policy Lab undertakes every year to inform the European Commission’s Strategic Foresight report. Join us as we take you behind the scenes and unveil the innovative methodologies we have used in the process.

In our fast-paced world, every day, policymakers face the critical challenge of making informed decisions that will shape the future. To meet this challenge head-on, the cultivation of foresight and anticipation skills are essential.

Technologies are not the future. However, the future is shaped by our capacity to anticipate them.

#OurFutures collects EU citizen’s images through a narrative inquiry method. In Greece we did this in close collaboration with the Foresight Unit - Presidency of the Government. We reached out to Greek citizens and gained insights about how people in this part of Europe imagine the future.

A portrait of how EU citizens imagine their futures; analysis of stories collected by #OurFutures

The role and form of government are changing. Identifying requirements for future governments allows us to rethink their structures and processes and explore what they might look like in the future.

The aim of the study is to identify possible future professional roles of farmers in 2040 and to explore potential implications for relevant EU policies. The study will combine different methodological approaches and is exploratory in nature