Title: Consensus building in participative foresight: empirical cases of UK, Sweden and Germany

Authors: Benjamin J.C. Yuan, Chien-Ching Chang, Chih-Hung Hsieh

Addresses: Institute of Management of Technology, National Chiao Tung University, 7F, Assembly Building 1, No.1001, Ta-Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 300 Taiwan, ROC. ' Institute of Management of Technology, National Chiao Tung University, 7F, Assembly Building 1, No.1001, Ta-Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 300 Taiwan, ROC. ' Institute of Management of Technology, National Chiao Tung University, 7F, Assembly Building 1, No.1001, Ta-Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 300 Taiwan, ROC; Institutes of Management, Yuan Tze University, 60806, Building 6, 135, Yuan-Tung Road, Chungli City, Tauyuan, 32003 Taiwan, ROC

Abstract: Participative foresight has become a popular tool in planning science and technology policy. This work systematically reviews three participative foresight cases based on three preconditions of consensus building, and attempts to draw some implications based on the comparison of these cases. This work conducts an analysis based on three dimensions of consensus building, including definition of problem, structure of negotiation, and motivation to participate, using three national foresights, including UK technology foresight in 1994-1998, Swedish foresight in 1998-2000, and German FUTUR in 2001-2004. The analysis reveals some significant factors of consensus building in participative foresight.

Keywords: participative foresight; consensus building; policy planning; S&T policy; science policy; technology policy; future studies; Germany; Sweden; UK; United Kingdom; technology foresight.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIP.2010.032665

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2010 Vol.6 No.1/2/3, pp.46 - 65

Published online: 11 Apr 2010 *

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