Scenario Planning and Foresight 2023


In 2023, the third conference on Scenario Planning and Foresight: Advancing Theory and Improving Practice was held. This conference was a collaborative event organized by the UK Operational Research Society, the British Academy of Management, and WBS. Following the success of the previous conferences in 2015 and 2018, the scope of the event was broadened to include contributions from the broader field of Foresight.

The two-day event featured keynote addresses from renowned academics and seasoned practitioners, along with discussions on the latest developments in both academic research and practical applications of scenario analysis. The conference was conducted in-person to facilitate valuable networking opportunities among colleagues outside of the formal sessions.

Plenary Speakers:

Kerstin Cuhls is a scientific project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) since 1992. She studied Japanology, Chinese Studies and Economics/Business Administration. She finished her Dr. phil. at the University of Hamburg in Japanology about Technology Foresight in Japan and now combines this knowledge with methods from Futures Research. She is also Professor for Japanology at the University of Heidelberg, Center for East Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS). She combines East Asian studies with Futures concepts, Futures Research/ Foresight and time research. She started with Delphi surveys in international comparison but broadened the methodological toolbox to scenarios, roadmapping, workshop concepts and Horizon Scanning at Fraunhofer ISI.

Kerstin was member of the European Forum for Forward-Looking Activities (EFFLA) of the European Commission, the High Level Expert Group RISE and the expert group “Strategic Foresight”. She was member of the SCAR Foresight expert group that conducted the 5th SCAR Foresight for the European Commission. Kerstin Cuhls is in the International Editorial and Advisory Boards of different Journals (e.g. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Journal of European Futures Research, Futures & Foresight Science) and was co-editor of the German Zeitschrift für Zukunftsforschung until 2022.

Michael Bradshaw is a professor of Global Energy at Warwick Business School. His academic background is in human geography. He works at the interface between economic and political geography, business and management and international relations. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (and past Vice President) and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is the academic lead for the University's Global Research Priority on Energy.

He is currently involved in a 5-year programme of research on the UK's energy transition in global context for the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC 4) and is monitoring and assessing the UK shale gas landscape as part of a 4-year NERC/ESRC research programme on Unconventional Hydrocarbons in the UK Energy System.