Towards National Systems Level Foresight? Understanding the role and future directions of citizen participation in the production of Finnish national foresight reports

摘要

Finland has implemented a process of governmental foresight, aimed at understanding multidimensional and interdependent future challenges in order to support national decision-making, and to strengthen the national innovation system. This study focuses on three Government Reports on the Future. The Reports are key documents that act as inputs for the parliament in a futures oriented dialogue between the government and the parliament. They represent the government's view on a topic chosen to represent a crucial challenge for the long term futures of Finland. The study describes and analyses the approaches, methods, and aims, as they appear through document analysis of the three latest Reports. In particular, the article examines the role of citizen participation in the production of the Reports. To strengthen the analysis and gain further insights, representatives of key experts from the national foresight system were consulted. The findings are discussed from the perspective of the role of participation in these reports, and the implications for building systems level foresight competences. Conclusions based on the findings are drawn about potential future directions of the reporting processes.