FUTURREG Futures for Regional Development

1. FUTURREGFutures for Regional Development Kick-off meeting 19 September 2005 Cardiff Finance by INTERREG IIIC West Zone

2. Background • Futures/Foresight activities carried out, including • Innovative Actions (Wales, BMW Reg) • Meta-Foresight • Mobilising Regional Foresight – Expert Group

3. Guiding principles • Direct involvement of public regional authorities • Inter-regionality of activities • Strict application of project timetable – activities and reporting

4. Aims • To develop a common futures toolkit, including scenarios, visioning and futures forecasting that can be used in all EU regions. This will be done by pooling the knowledge and resources of the partners through inter-regional exchange. A sub-objective will be to identify tools and processes that are appropriate for different regional uses; • To increase the use of futures tools in association with other foresight approaches within the regional policy-making system. A sub-objective will be to strengthen the futures capacity of the regions, using an inter-regional network approach. A further sub-objective will be to facilitate stronger linkages between different actors within the regional policy system (through regional networking), especially between public authorities and futures experts. Inter-regional futures workshops will be used to meet the objective. • To apply the futures toolkit to regional development issues and problems. There will be real time applications of the futures toolkit within foresight exercises.

5. Outputs • Regional futures toolkit • Regional baselines and benchmarks. • 2 inter-regional futures workshops with 30 Futures Champions • 14 applications of the Futures toolkit. • Inter-regional website • On-going and ex-post evaluation reports • Conference, with 100 participants

6. Methodology • Combine regional futures approaches in one ‘toolkit’ • Appraisal of futures in regional policy • Up-skilling workshops • Application of futures toolkit

7. Structure of activities - Components • Component 1: Management and co-ordination • Component 2: Benchmarking and evaluation • Component 3: Defining futures processes • Component 4: Putting futures into practice • Component 5: Dissemination

8. Component 1 – Management and coordination Activities & Outputs • Subsidy Contract • 6 Partnership contracts • 5 activity and financial reports • 6 Steering Committee meetings -with minutes • 6 contracts with local auditors

9. Component 2: Benchmarking and evaluation Activities & Outputs • 5 reports on futures tools • 7 regional appraisal and benchmarking reports • Opportunity matrix for applications of regional futures toolkit • Baseline and evaluation criteria for applications/implementation projects • On-going evaluation report • Ex-post evaluation report

10. Component 3: Defining Futures processes Activities & Outputs • regional futures toolkit with guide; • 2 sets of Inter-regional workshop up-skilling materials; • 2 inter-regional workshops with 30 participants in each ; • 14 Plans for the regional applications - to real issues and problems; • Inter-regional matrix, comparing application themes and issues

11. Component 4: Putting Futures into Practice Activities & Outputs • Application of the futures toolkit to regional development policies/issues • 2 per region • 1 of the 2 should involve inter-regional cooperation • Embedding futures approaches in regional development framework

12. Component 5: Dissemination Activities & Outputs • Project brochure • Meetings with (105) stakeholders to disseminate toolkit and project (15 per region) • Inter-regional conference with 100 participants • Main website, featuring the regional futures toolkit and other project-related information

13. Budget (EURO)