Global

Foresight and Forward looking activities have
a long tradition in the European Commission.
Today several Directorates-General have
available the competencies or studies that
allow them to better seize the challenges of
the future. The European Union Research 7th
Framework Programme integrates Foresight
and Forward looking activities within the thematic field “Socio-economic Sciences and
Humanities” (SSH).

The World in 2025: How the European Union will need to respond" represents a significant contribution to
the policy-making process of the centre-right in European politics. It is a remarkable piece of work, drawing on the
efforts of a large number of people across the European Ideas Network - the network think-tank sponsored by the
EPP-ED Group to bring together elected political office-holders and advisers, academics, outside experts and
representatives of civil society.

In this paper, we discuss potential developments of the world natural gas industry at the
horizon of 2030. We use the World Gas Model (WGM), a dynamic, strategic representation of
world natural gas production, trade, and consumption between 2005 and 2030. We specify a
“base case” which defines the business-as-usual assumptions based on forecasts of the world
energy markets. We then analyze the sensitivity of the world natural gas system with
scenarios: i) the emergence of large volumes of unconventional North American natural gas

In recent years, an increasing number of non-OECD countries have become sizable exporters of manufactures, in which there is now a flourishing two-way trade with OECD countries; it accounts for a large portion of the growth in commerce. The same trend is observed in capital flows, with an ever-larger share of OECD private foreign investment destined for non-member countries.

Businesses currently grapple with the realities of
skills shortages, managing people through change
and creating an effective workforce. By 2020, the
radical change in business models will mean
companies facing issues such as:
• the boundary between work and home life
disappearing as companies assume greater
responsibility for the social welfare of their
employees

This report identifies 3 global scenarios for 2030 and 2 sets of case studies from China and India. These scenarios are designed to challenge current thinking, create new insights, facilitate the debate between key decision-makers and provide momentum for action. New forms of collaboration between key stakeholders – individuals, financial institutions, healthcare providers, employers and governments – will be critical to finance the ongoing well-being of current and future generations in a sustainable manner.

Three scenarios were developed: Health Incorporated, New Social Contract and Super-empowered Individuals. The scenarios provided a key insight – efficiency gains are necessary to move health systems towards greater sustainability, but are insufficient alone.
In Health Incorporated, the boundaries of the health industry are redefined. Corporations provide new products and services as markets liberalize, governments cut back on public services and a new sense of conditional solidarity emerges.

To apprehend the future money landscape, we can try to identify what could
be called “core alternatives”. These are not full-fledged and internally consistent
scenarios but narrow beams into the future, structured around a simple hypothesis.
Three such alternatives can be identified:
• The private currencies alternative.
• The global currency alternative.
• The market nexus alternative

The chapter presents six scenarios constructed through
the OECD/CERI programme on “Schooling for Tomorrow”.
Their purpose is to sharpen understanding of how schooling
might develop in the years to come and the potential role of
policy to help shape these futures.

This paper presents scenarios for tertiary education twenty years or so from now. On the
basis of these stories about the broad tertiary sector, the paper closes with some
speculation on the possible role(s) of these institutions in the long-run future. The
scenarios are not predictions, nor forecasts of what is likely to happen. Rather they are
stories that evoke a range of possible futures. Exploring a multiplicity of possible futures
opens up a bigger canvas for imagining what kind of future we want and which strategic