TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION POLICY CONSORTIUM
NORDIC MEMBERS
BUSINESS FINLAND VINNOVA
THE RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY
TIPC invites Nordic members and partners to join a space for learning and practice on the role of Futures Literacy in delivering transformative change.
Why Futures Literacy?
The coronavirus pandemic, along with the reorientation of research and innovation policy towards societal challenges, has prompted a need for anticipatory thinking and practices in policy development.
Policy makers are struggling to find ways to meet this reorientation with appropriate measures and instruments. Prognoses and forecasting are useful tools, but they are not good at predicting the unpredictable, and do not necessarily give rise to the creativity and innovation required to find new ways of addressing the future.
Together, The Research Council of Norway, The University of Stavanger, The Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education and the company Fremtenkt are experimenting with Futures Literacy, a new type of anticipation practice for STI policy making.
By sharing their learning, they hope to support other TIPC members and partners seeking to use the future to deliver transformative innovation.
The role of Futures Literacy in Transformative Innovation Policy
TIPC is a group of agencies and partner research centres dedicated to policy experimentation, evaluation, capacity building and research. Its members try to give substance to a ‘third frame’ of STI policy, Transformative Innovation Policy, which places social and environmental challenges at the core.
The Futures Literacy philosophy and methodology can enrich this third-generation reorientation of innovation policy learning, leadership and development by encouraging us to question our implicit ideas about what the future will look like and should look like.
Transformative Innovation Policy is about transforming society in a more sustainable and just way, increasing the future quality of life for all citizens. Futures Literacy helps us reflect on what that means, by reframing our ideas about what this future might look like and identifying threats and opportunities that stand in the way.
We start to experience ourselves as part of the problem, implicated in (re)producing unsustainable sociotechnical systems. In this way, Futures Literacy encourages deep learning (or Second-Order Learning), helping us to question our underlying assumptions, critically assess our own preferences and experiment with alternatives.
Nordic Learning Event
Drawing on insights from the Futures Literacy Laboratory learning method, this event provides TIPC members and partners with space to explore collectively how Futures Literacy can be used to help implement TIP.
Over a series of digital workshops, we will take part in immersive group exercises and tasks to develop our understanding of Futures Literacy as a practical tool for those working on transformation.
We will discover:
- What Futures Literacy is and why it is important in TIP
- How Futures Literacy Lab methodologies can help us to make use of the future to interrogate transformative change
- How to use Futures Literacy in TIP and the personal and organisational challenges this presents
Through shared learning and experimentation, we will also strengthen knowledge, networks and vision for TIP in the Nordic context.
Who should attend?
This is a learning space for those leading programmes and/or developing and implementing STI policies at TIPC members in the region: Business Finland, Vinnova and The Research Council of Norway.
We also welcome participants from regional research institutes and other organisations and communities collaborating with Nordic members on transformative policy approaches.
Previous knowledge of TIP thinking/methods or forecasting/futures is not required. The following sites introduce the themes and may be of interest:
- Futures Literacy Norway: https://futuresliteracynorway.blogspot.com/
- TIPC online learning resources: tipconsortium.net/learning/online
- Centre for Digital Life Norway: digitallifenorway.org/about
- AFINO – Responsible research and innovation in Norway – NTNU
Dates and registration
There will be three parts to the learning event, with a separate registration required for each. You do not need to attend each part, but Part I is designed as a pre-requisite for Part II.
Part I: Introduction to Futures Literacy in TIP
1 Sep 2021
Through group discussion, presentations and café conversations, we will introduce the concept of Futures Literacy, the role of the imagination in relation to systemic change and the potential value of anticipatory thinking to transformative policy and practice.
When you attend Part I, you will be invited to sign up for Part II, an optional immersion in the Future Literacy Lab methodology over two days.
Part II: Futures Literacy Laboratory (two days)
01–02 Nov 2021
In Part II, we will take part in a Futures Literacy Laboratory, a learning method developed by UNESCO to apply action-learning, collective intelligence, and creativity heuristics to anticipatory thinking. The Laboratory will consist of two highly participatory engagements, taking place over two days in November. Places for Part II will be limited.
Part III: Using Futures Literacy in TIP
3 Feb 2022
In Part III, we will relate learnings from the Laboratory to Transformative Innovation Policy, and reflect on the personal and organisational challenges to using Futures Literacy in a policy or programme context. You do not need to attend the Laboratory to take part in Part III.
Learning principles
During the programme, we will adhere to TIPC’s learning principles that:
- This is a collaborative process in which researchers and practitioners work as equal partners. The problem owner is the expert on the problem.
- It is a learning process for everyone involved. Transformation requires experimentation, out-of-the ordinary actions and an open mind.
- Learning involves the whole person. Individual values and lived experience play critical roles in understanding and delivering transformative change.
Enquiries
For questions from members regarding this Nordic learning platform, please contact Elisabeth Gulbrandsen, Special Advisor at The Research Council of Norway (egu@forskningsradet.no).
You can also direct enquiries to Victoria Shaw, Programme Director for the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (v.a.shaw@sussex.ac.uk).