The problem

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy is intended to support continuous improvement in the quality of life through the creation of communities able to manage and use resources in an efficient and sustainable way. Achieving this goal will require accurate forecasting of the effects of existing policies and the ability to design the new policies to deliver specific long-term aims. Improved methods are needed to assess the impact of different policy scenarios, and to analyse the interrelationships among policies in different sectors of the environment and the economy.

Overview:

FORESCENE will develop a framework for analysing the sustainability aspects of environmental scenarios in areas, such as water, soil, biodiversity, waste and natural resources.

The project will:

• Examine and simulate the likely effects of different policy scenarios (forecasting) and consider the policy options most likely to attain selected preferred outcomes (backcasting)
• Recommend policy developments to support the EU Sustainable Development Strategy
• Foster greater co-operation among academic experts, stakeholders and EU officials in the field of sustainable development

Contribution to policy development:

• FORESCENE will provide scientifically sound assistance for analysing the future effects of existing and planned policy options.
• It will enhance understanding of the interrelationships between policies in different environmental areas.
• The project will furnish practical support for implementing the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.

Project deliverables

• Mapping of related projects and policies – January 2006
• Guidance paper for workshops – July 2006
• Workshops for experts, stakeholders and EU officials – September 2006, October 2007, March 2007, March 2008
• Technical report on modelling sustainability scenarios – February 2008
• Final report and recommendations – May 2008

Dissemination

• Project website – from December 2005
• Close interaction with the related TransSust.Scan Project – ongoing
• Publication of results in academic journals – as results become available
• Joint final conference with TransSust.Scan project – May 2008

Technical information

Project acronym: FORESCENE
Project’s official full title: Development of a Forecasting Framework and Scenarios to Support the EU Sustainable Development Strategy
Research priority: Environmental assessment (soil, water, air, noise, including the effects of chemical substances)
CORDIS ref: http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.simpledocument&PJ_RCN=8327736&CFID=1678579&CFTOKEN=14916400
Specific webpage: http://www.forescene.net
Proposal/contract no: 022793
Start date: 01 December 2005
Kick off meeting: December 2005
Completion date: 31 May 2008
European Commission scientific officer: Patrizia Poggi

Coordinator:
Name: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Abbreviated name: WI
Address: Material Flow and Resource Management, PO Box 100480, Doeppersberg 19, Wuppertal
Country: Germany
Tel: +49 202 2492 131
Fax: +49 202 2492 138
Website: http://www.wupperinst.org

Partners

Name: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
Abbreviated name: LUND
Country: Sweden

Name: Centre for Environmental Management University of Nottingham
Abbreviated name: UNOTT
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Regional Environmental Centre for CEE
Abbreviated name: REC
Country: Hungary

Name: Sustainable Europe Research Institute
Abbreviated name: SERI
Country: Austria

Name: Agricultural and Land Economics Department, Universita Firenze
Abbreviated name: DEART
Country: Italy