Imagining transformative futures: participatory foresight for food systems change

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Transformations inherently involve systems change and because of the political nature of change, are subject to contestation. A potentially effective strategy to further transformative change that builds on interdisciplinary, multiactor, and multiscalepractices and values is the use of foresight. Foresight covers a wide range of methods to systematically investigate the future. Foresight exercises offer collaborative spaces and have the potential to conceptualize and even initiate transformative change. But there is no clear understanding of the possibilities and limitations of foresight in this regard. This explorative paper builds on foresight and sociology and interrogates the role of foresight in transformative change, building on four cases. These cases are embedded in different contexts and characterized by different organizational approaches and constellations of actors. Nevertheless, they share the common goal of transformative food systems change. By reflecting on the processes that play a role in foresight workshops, we analyze what created conditions for transformative change in these four empirical cases. We have operationalized these conditions by distinguishing layers in the structuring processes that influence the impact of the foresight process. Based on this analysis, we conclude that there are three roles, ranging from modest to more ambitious, that foresight can play in transformative change: preconceptualization of change; offering an avenue for the creation of new actor networks; and creation of concrete strategies with a high chance of implementation. Furthermore, contributing to future design of foresight processes for transformative change, we offer some crucial points to consider before designing foresight processes. These include the role of leading change makers (including researchers), the risk of co-option by more regime-driven actors, and the ability to attract stakeholders to participate.

Transformative spaces in the making: key lessons from nine cases in the Global South

“…However, they are also bound by their own rhythms of work and institutional commitments. In retrospect, this can pose barriers towards realising their full potential as transformative space-makers (Hebinck et al 2018;). The limited time available in projects and the results-driven frameworks sometimes mean that they have less time to spend in the transformative space or cannot meet expanding and ongoing expectations.…”

“…However, through this synthesis we have aimed to engage in a different way of working together to integrate perspectives from all parts of the world, without one dominating over the other. (Hebinck et al 2018) Eindhoven (Netherlands), Tuscany (Italy), Burkina Faso, Tanzania Good anthropocenes (Pereira et al 2018a) Southern Africa Stories for co-creation (Galafassi et al 2018) Mombasa (Southern coast of Kenya), Cabo Delgado (Northern coast of Mozambique) Transdisciplinary research Peri-urban South Asia Southern Africa Food lab (Drimie et al 2018) South Africa, particularly Mopani District in Limpopo and the site of the agro-ecology and leadership training facility in Soweto Global fellowship (Moore et al 2018) Global, with strong emphasis on Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America Gender meetings (Dyer 2018) Western Province, Solomon Islands Each of the nine case studies are published in a special issue on Designing Transformative Spaces (Table 1). The Special Issue aimed to collect examples of cutting-edge, actionoriented research on transformations from the Global South.…”

New pathways for governing food system transformations: a pluralistic practice-based futures approach using visioning, back-casting, and serious gaming

“…In this change process, futures methods can https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art2/ assist actors from all sections of the food system in both the conceptualization and initiation of transformations to sustainability. In a futures process, the various actors can shape the futures they desire and collectively think through the pathways and plans to realize them (Hebinck et al 2018). By mobilizing cities as laboratories (Wigginton et al 2016), we hypothesize that this paper can highlight existing good practices that, when combined, can show outlines of sustainable food futures.…”

Assessing Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security of the EU Food System—An Integrated Approach

“…To achieve a food system assessment that can be an aid for decision making, it is essential to create a participatory space [45,46], ideally involving the decision makers in the discussions. This includes building on the knowledge, experiences and values of the many actors embedded in the system.…”

“…The food systems lens is particularly useful in "making of a transformative space" [58]. As argued elsewhere [45,46,58], transdisciplinary research is increasingly becoming a bridge between the worlds of science and practice, while being highly problem-oriented. The use of an inherently transdisciplinary perspective such as food systems, allows for the convening of people that would otherwise be less likely to enter into discussions about the future of food.…”