Informest’s commitment to promoting and disseminating Strategic Foresight continues consistently at both the European level and within the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia, as part of the activities of the Interreg Europe SFP – Strategic Foresight Partnership project.

In short, Strategic Foresight is a structured approach that explores possible futures to support better decision-making in the present, helping organisations and territories prepare proactively for change. The goal is to strengthen the capacity of regional institutions to orient themselves toward the future with innovative and participatory approaches, through the promotion of exchanges, skills, and collaborative networks.

Informest at the ESPAS Foresight Practitioners Day in Brussels

An important moment of international exchange took place on Wednesday, 12 November 2025 in Brussels, at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), during the “ESPAS Foresight Practitioners Day: A foresight practitioners gathering,” organised alongside the annual ESPAS conference, a European interinstitutional initiative promoting the use of foresight in policy-making and regulatory processes. Informest participated as a partner of the SFP project, whose Advisory Board also includes two ESPAS representatives: the CoR and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

The event gathered around 100 foresight practitioners from national and regional EU institutions and agencies, as well as from national and subnational levels, focusing on methodologies, tools, and approaches supporting effective anticipatory practices.

The day alternated plenary sessions, round tables, and methodological demonstrations, including the presentation by the JRC of the Polycrisis exploration tool, along with networking moments and exchanges of experiences among European professionals.

Strategic Foresight serving the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia: conference in Udine

Promotion activities continued also at the regional level with the conference “Anticipating the future to guide change: strategic foresight for territorial development”, held in Udine on 17 November 2025 and organised by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Informest and ComPA FVG, with the support of ANCI FVG.

The event was attended by Barbara Zilli – Councillor for Finance of the FVG Region – and Pierpaolo Roberti – Councillor for Local Authorities, Public Administration, Security and Immigration of the FVG Region – who highlighted the need for adopting new tools to address future challenges in territorial development, calling on ComPA FVG and Informest to further support local administrations.

The initiative represented an important opportunity to strengthen the regional community of practice on Strategic Foresight and connect it with European dynamics. The practical application of foresight was the focus of the conference thanks to the presentation of four relevant experiences for local administrations:

1. “Future City: the experience of Pordenone” – Chiara Cristini, IRES FVG
2. “The Vision of the Prealps and Dolomites 2040” – Matteo Aguanno, GAL Prealpi e Dolomiti
3. Youth foresight path: “The province that will make us stay (or return)” – Elena Bottasso, Fondazione CRC Cuneo
4. “Strategic foresight for cities and coastal areas” – Aurore Sorin, Region Hauts-de-France (Lead Partner of SFP), online

At the subsequent Round Table on the integration of Strategic Foresight in Public Administration, a representative of the Committee of the Regions, Jelena Drenjanin, rapporteur on Strategic Foresight, took part. She highlighted the growing attention of European institutions toward the anticipatory approach in territorial development processes. Also participating were Cinzia Battistella from the University of Udine and Roberto Poli, former UNESCO Chair in Anticipatory Systems and founding member of the Italian Association for Future Studies.

The contribution of the SFP project took shape through the participation of the Hauts-de-France Region, Lead Partner of the SFP project, and of the European Committee of the Regions as a member of the partnership’s advisory board.

Alongside the international guests, the role of organisations and entities belonging to the regional SFP stakeholder group should also be highlighted, including ComPA FVG, co-organiser of the conference, the University of Udine represented by Professor Cinzia Battistella, and IRES FVG with Chiara Cristini.