Urban Foresight

HSE strengthens its partnership with Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) in the framework of International Foresight Academy. Researchers of HSE Institute of Regional Studies and Urban Planning Evgenij Pliseckij and Galina Kopychenko studied the experience of AIT in the field of regional and urban Foresight and presented the outcomes of the Institute’s work in the area of urban development planning.

Austria has extensive experience in the implementation of Foresight projects involving different stakeholders and a broad community. Austrian Institute of Technology, located in Vienna, plays a leading role in such projects.

The history of AIT, which can be regarded as a successor of Austrian Research Centres in Seibersdorf, represents a remarkable case of how heavily the development of state-of-the-art technologies is influenced by public perception. In 1970-80s, Austrian Reactor Center was established as a structural subdivision of Austrian Scientific and Research Center for conducting research on nuclear power engineering and for preparing a project of the first nuclear power plant to be built in Austria. However, shortly after the nuclear power plant was built, the Austrian authorities were forced to shelve it as a result of broad protests of Austrian citizens. In addition, nuclear research was discontinued, and Austrian Reactor Center was transformed into Austrian Institute of Technology. After this transformation, the Institute focused on research on innovation development; in particular, its specialists were involved in defining priorities of Austria’s S&T and socio-economic development and in creating an infrastructure for futures studies. The history of AIT was presented by Joseph Fr‎öhlich, Head of Innovation Systems Department.

The work of the AIT Innovation Systems Department was presented in more detail by Susanne Giesecke, Head of Research Group “Society and Technology” and Coordinator of International Foresight Academy, who also introduced key staff members of AIT to HSE guests. The meeting with Klaus Kubeczko was dedicated to the application of Foresight technologies in the development of urban environment. Mr. Kubeczko presented the results of a large-scale “City of Vienna Strategy” project. In 2006, the City administration called for the development of a strategy of Vienna’s innovative development aimed at transforming Austria’s capital into one of leading S&T and distribution hubs in Central Europe (CENTROPE). The aim of the project was to develop, through a participatory process, a comprehensive strategic framework as well as concrete proposals for municipal STI policy actions until 2015. By then, Vienna aims to be among Europe’s leading metropolitan areas in research, technology and innovation, as well as a hub for a network of research locations in Central Europe. The goal of this comprehensive research project was to identify scientifically founded observations and analyses to underpin the development of an integrated, future-oriented urban research and innovation policy.

The strategy development process was based on solid grounds. In addition to a number of specific studies, it built specifically on the results of a large-scale research programme “Systems Research in the Urban Area” that provided the analytical groundwork and took first exploratory steps towards identifying future challenges for STI policy of the City of Vienna. Inspired by the findings of preparatory research, four core topics were identified at the beginning of the process, on which expert panels focused their work. Although only short-term (and some limited medium-term) impacts can be discussed on empirical grounds, the study also allowed to make some speculative observations regarding medium- to long-term impacts of foresight process.

The scheme of the project below:

The participatory nature of the strategic process is demonstrated by the fact that over one hundred stakeholders from various areas were involved in the panel work; in addition, three public events were organised to discuss the interim and final outcomes of the project and to gather further input from a broad range of stakeholders. (Fore more information on the “City of Vienna Strategy” project and Urban Foresight technology, please refer to Weber, K. M., Kubeczko, K., Kaufmann, A., Grunewald, B. (2009): Trade-offs between policy impacts of future-oriented analysis: experiences from the innovation policy Foresight and strategy process of the city of Vienna, 5th DRAFT, 15 June 2009.)

Petra Wagner followed up on the topic of innovation systems formation in Vienna based on long-term forecasting. At the beginning of the project on defining the priorities of Vienna’s development, main Foresight approaches were systematized, and best practices of urban development strategies elaboration were studied. In particular, a comparative analysis of planning and development of four European cities (Helsinki, Milan, Barcelona, and Liege) was performed. Another large-scale project was dedicated to the elaboration of a concept of “Smart city” development of the town of Villach up to 2050. A foresight exercise was conducted in three phases. As a result, a strategic view of the city’s development was created and approved by key stakeholders. In addition, a roadmap up to 2020 and an action plan up to 2015 were elaborated.

The scheme of the completed project below:

Thomas Scherngell told HSE guests about the application of mathematical modelling methods for studying regional innovation networks. Mr. Scherngel’s research team assessed the impact of geographical factors on the organization of inter-regional collaboration in S&T. The researchers, in particular, examined the spatial distribution of universities, scientific institutions and innovative industrial enterprises and compared innovation networks and collaborations organized around companies or state research centers. (For more information on the project, please refer to: Scherngell T., Barber, M. J. (2009) Distinct spatial characteristics of industrial and public research collaborations: evidence from the 5th EU Framework Programme, Springer-Verlag.)

J. Peters-Anders, Expert of AIT Department of Energy, presented the project “UrbanAPI project” which had been implemented during three years by a consortium of nine IT, educational, scientific, public institutions, and local authorities. Researchers studied geographical factors of innovation networks development by examining the distribution of population and dynamics of its mobility based on mobile network data of several towns. Data were collected and processed using GIS-technology.

In the course of the visit, the researchers of HSE Institute for Regional Studies and Urban Planning identified prospective directions of further collaboration with AIT experts and obtained certificates of secondment in the framework of International Academy of Foresight.

By Evgenij Pliseckij

Edited by Elena Nasybulina

	More news about International Foresight Academy — IFA
	Foresight is More Prescience than Prognosis (March 2013) Tiina-Maria Seppänen, researcher at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), and Alexander Chulok, head of department at ISSEK, talked to us about their joint research plans. Engaging Foresight  (September 2013) ISSEK Foresight Centre experts Vladimir Mesropyan and Elena Gutaruk told about their visit September 9—20, 2013 to the Summer School at International Foresight Academy and the internship program at the Austrian Institute of Technology. The Past, The Present and The Future (December 2013) Dr Juha Kaskinen, Director of the Finland Futures Research Center (FFRC), University of Turku is visiting the HSE Moscow in the framework of the ‘International Foresight.