Photo via Flickr @ Salvatore Vastano: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Author’s workshop for the Dahrendorf Special issue `Futures’

On October 20th, contributors to the Dahrendorf special issue of ‘Futures: the Journal of policy, planning and future studies’ met at the Hertie School of Governance for a collaborative workshop to develop their papers. Participants presented their ongoing research on the relations between the European Union and major world regions, drawing up scenarios for the year 2030. The workshop paid special attention to the techniques and strategies on how to write a good foresight paper, with further comments from external reviewers Mathew Burrows (Atlantic Council) and Oliver Gnad (Bureau für Zeitgeschehen).

EU Relations in 2030

The first presentation by Sonja Kaufmann (Hertie School of Governance) focused on the relations between the EU and U.S., followed by Maria Davydchuk (Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations) and Thomas Mehlhausen (Potsdam University) on the EU relations with Russia & Ukraine. The second discussion focused on China, with presentations from Olivia Gippner (LSE), Johannes Gabriel (Foresight Intelligence) and Susanne Schmelcher.

The journal

The participants left the Hertie School after a productive day of discussions and scenario building, preparing their paper to be written in the following weeks. The publication will attempt to challenge common assumptions geared to an audience of policymakers and strategists, social scientists, educators and consultants. The Dahrendorf special issue of ‘Futures: The Journal of policy, planning and future studies’ will be published online in April. A print version will follow in July.