The Emerging Fellows Programme

This week we completed the third of the Emerging Fellows programmes. We are now set to start on the fourth. The change over between programmes gives us an opportunity to reflect upon what we are doing and to consider what it is that we seek to achieve with the programme. 

Starting from the beginning, the current version of the programme - there was a previous version of the programme before we became involved - aims to provide an element of practice based work experience for early stage futurists. We do this through a sequence of curated writing that grows into a catalogue of work over the course of the year. The European Futures Observatory operates the programme in conjunction with the Association of Professional Futurists. The APF has the digital publication rights for the work produced - which is published on the APF web site - and EUFO has the print publication rights, which it exercises in an annual publication of the work in book form.

This arrangement has worked well over the past three years. However, as we enter the fourth year of operation, it is time to place the programme in a wider context. This wider context will help us with one of the problems arising from the programme. Each year, the Emerging Fellows who successfully complete the programme are left with the question of what to do next. Over the years, some of the cohorts have stayed in touch with each other and the issue of what comes next remains in abeyance. If we step back to take a wider view, perhaps that might help us answer this question?

In thinking about this, we have found the APF Foresight Competency Model to be quite useful. The development of competency in foresight speaks to what we are looking to achieve in the programme. The model establishes three foundational areas of competency - personal effectiveness, academic knowledge, and workplace experience - before considering the foresight technical competencies. In a roundabout way, we have also found that place.

Admission to the programme is now through a competitive entrance. This is simply because we don't have enough places available for all applicants. The entrance asks for a written submission to accompany a CV. In the written submission, we are looking for evidence of the three foundational competencies and make our decisions accordingly. We are not an academic institution, so we tend to downplay the academic competencies and highlight the workplace competencies. The scheme of curated writing within the programme aims at delivering a practical application of the foresight technical competencies. We aim to keep the technical workings concealed because our intended readership aren't interested in these nuts and bolts. They just want to receive the end product.

So far, so good. But what next? In the competency model there is a fifth stage - foresight sector competencies. This has three branches - the academic world, the organisational world, and the world of practice. It is this latter category that interests us. There is scope to develop the programme further in the world of consulting through a joint branding and a joint operations exercise. We have stumbled along this route already, but we need to give it a more defined shape and purpose.

The Emerging Fellows in the 2020 programme, along with some of the Emerging Fellows from the 2018 and 2019 programmes, have taken to gaming as a means to unlock the future. We have reported fully on two previous games - one examining the future of the Arctic and one examining the future of Central Asia - and this seems a rich vein to mine a bit further. We can do this in a number of ways - different subject areas, different gaming formats, and introducing different players. We plan to formalise a programme around this in the near future.

There is also a desire amongst some former Emerging Fellows to continue writing. Some want to continue their topics from their programme of study. Some want to examine the roads not taken during their programme of study. And some want to examine topics completely unrelated to their programme of study. All of them see further writing as a means to enhance their professional reputations. It is our intention to harness this desire by launching a new foresight magazine in 2021. The magazine will accept submissions from other than Emerging Fellows, but this ought to be seen as an expansion of the programme.

Now that we can see the direction of travel - deeper into the fifth competency - we can also see the destination ahead. In the fullness of time, there would be scope for the group to bid for and deliver joint projects together. We haven't reached that point just yet, but we can see the time when we will.

Stephen Aguilar-Millan

© The European Futures Observatory 2020