'foresight' according to proGective

The 'French Prospective' -- derived from the latin word 'prospicere' which means “to look out”-- is a social sciences discipline, dating from 1957 in France. It is based on economics, sociology and political science, and aims to influence temporal dynamics and the subsequent changes that result from them.

It is exploratory and normative:

Exploratory: The French Prospective helps to foresight the possible futures, often through different scenarios.

Normative: The French Prospective takes advantage of the 'collective intelligence' to shape the future in ways consistent with the stated goals of a given organization, firm, State or local authority.

It may be presented in the form of a project for a firm, a territory or a society/community.

proGective undertakes an operational approach that is exploratory, normative and action-oriented (policy design, long-term strategies, innovation implementation, etc).

operational approach

[In an industrial context, ‘prospective' only finds meaning and justification in its concrete outcomes It must therefore continually question if it meets the operational needs of its users, at the risk of losing its purpose. For it is in this fragile exercise between long term and immediate concerns, between futures vision and concrete decision, that lies the art of the futurist.]

Francis GIRAUD, Elf Aquitaine, “Prospective and strategic management of the industrial group Elf Aquitaine”, in Les Cahiers de l'ENSPTT, n°1, June 1996 [translation]

normative approach

[Contrary to almost all the societies of the past and to the majority of those of the present, thinking about the future has become a vital stake for society, because there is no alternative and we cannot leave it, purely and simply, to luck or to the interaction of forces over which we have no control.]

Jean-Pierre WARNIER, ethnologist, professor of anthropology at the University of Paris V - Rene Descartes, 1997 [translation]

collective approach

[A “prospective” approach -going beyond planning aims that are based on forecasts which are sometimes contradicted by reality- aspires to overcome uncertainty, to increase the collective intelligence of the actors and to grant human beings the central place which is theirs.]

“Prospective, debate, public decision”, the opinion of CES on the report presented by J.P. BAILLY in the name of «la Commission Spéciale du Plan - July 1998» [translation]