22 Dec 2016

How can global trends be used in foresight?

On 18th November we organised a one-day workshop to pilot a foresight policy-engagement tool based on a set of global megatrends. The workshop was also used to gather the experience and good practice of foresight practitioners in engaging policy-makers and other stakeholders in long-term and systems-thinking processes. Piloting the ForKnow tool The purpose of the workshop was twofold: to pilot the policy – engagement tool based on global megatrends and to gather experience and good

By antalmo | | In Lab sessions, videogallery | Read moreLeave a comment
19 Dec 2016

Technology and refugee integration: great potential and many challenges

How could we effectively use technology and social media in order to support the integration of refugees in the labour market? This was the main question addressed during the EU Policy Lab expert workshop on Technology and refugee integration on 13th December in Brussels. Technology is not a silver bullet to solve integration challenges and its potential is yet to be realised. The multiple tech responses to refugees' needs that emerged in the past two

By Alice Szczepanikova | | In Lab sessions | Read moreLeave a comment
19 Dec 2016

New foresight study: The future of the EU collaborative economy

What if…political power in the EU largely moved to the regions and empowered citizens worked together at local and regional level in a spirit of openness and fairness, towards a more sustainable world? This "collaborative economy" could be a place where, in 2030, relatively small digital platforms, often cooperatives or community-owned, are tools to enable everybody to participate in the economy as well as in the community. Sharing, renting and product servitisation (creating value by

By bockann | | In Publications | Read moreLeave a comment
29 Nov 2016

The future of food security – New report focused on food safety and nutrition

The report of the foresight study "Delivering on EU food safety and nutrition 2050 – future challenges and policy preparedness", carried out by DG JRC, including the EU Policy Lab, and the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, is now available. The study adds another perspective to already existing foresight studies which focus rather on the sufficiency aspects of food for a growing world population. However, as today's experience already shows, neither food safety

By bockann | | In Publications | Read moreLeave a comment
24 Nov 2016

Future of textile and clothing industry: impacts of the vision 2025

The future of industry project is approaching its end as we have completed the process on the second case study on non-ferrous metals. With this study, we wanted to develop a process to engage with industry sectors in order to understand the challenges facing European manufacturers, and to develop recommendations in response (you can read more about this project in the related page). One year has already passed since the future vision 2025 for the

By scapofa | | In Notes and thoughts, videogallery | Read moreLeave a comment
18 Nov 2016

Future challenges & policy preparedness: key water management issues for the sustainable development of the Danube River Basin

The EU Policy Lab organized a workshop in partnership with colleagues working in modelling of water and marine resources, as part of the JRC scientific support to the Danube strategy. It was held at the Representation of the European Union in Budapest, Hungary, on 27-28 October 2016. The workshop addressed the challenges faced by the Danube Region from an integrated and cross-cutting perspective, taking into account the interdependencies between various policy priorities. Two sets of expertise

By Sara Rafael Almeida | | In Lab sessions | Read moreLeave a comment
14 Nov 2016

Discussing youth radicalisation and migration with African experts

What drives young people in African countries into the arms of violent extremist organisations and networks? Is there a convergence between reasons for radicalisation and the forces that make young people leave their country in search of a better life elsewhere? What does this mean for policy instruments that aim at increasing the number of African migrants being returned to their countries of origin or not even leaving their homes in the first place? How

By Alice Szczepanikova | | In Reaching out | Read moreLeave a comment
10 Nov 2016

Tomorrow’s cities: innovative approaches to tackling social challenges

On 11th October we organised a roundtable during the JRC Annual Conference (you can read more about it in the related blog post). Nick Dunn from Lancaster University, Pieter van de Glind from ShareNL, Abbas Sbeity from Lebanese Architecture Club and Sanja Sontor from Kiron discussed future perspectives on cities with a focus on social challenges and innovative ways of tackling them. Group discussion We spoke with them about how citizens can be involved in

By Sara Giovannini | | In Reaching out, videogallery | Read moreLeave a comment
27 Oct 2016

Sustainable Food Systems: First workshop and project progress

After a summer reflecting on the current state of the world's food system, a major literature review and the development of a conceptual framework for analysing the future of the food system, the Policy Lab held it's first in a series of workshops under the auspices of the Sustainable Food Systems project. We invited some of the in-house researchers and scientists in the European Commission's Joint Research Centre that are currently working on various aspects

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19 Oct 2016

EU Policy Lab at FOOD2030 Conference: our workshop on Food Visions

The EU Policy Lab made an appearance at the precursor to the FOOD 2030 conference that was held in Brussels from 12-13 October 2016. FOOD 2030 is an initiative launched by the DG Research and Innovation (DG RTD) to establish a single framework for research and innovation in addressing the future of Food and Nutrition Systems. Given the Policy Lab's previous work on food-related topics, as well as our current project on Food Systems, we

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