Launch of EU project to promote futures literacy and sustainable innovation

The Strategic Foresight for Sustainability (SF4S) project creates new management methods and educational materials to mainstream futures skills and sustainable innovation. HMWK partners with universities, vocational training institutions, innovation networks and companies from the agriculture and food, health and mobility sectors to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable European economy.

New skills and competences of sustainability foresight and futures literacy (UNESCO 2021) are required to meet upcoming challenges in business and society. However, they do not yet exist even in large corporations, and are taught only within a handful of specialized study programs. Moreover, while specialized consultancies and rare inhouse experts offer sustainability management and corporate foresight, both domains lack widespread adoption and they are rarely well-connected. The SF4S project addresses these challenges with an international consortium.

On behalf of HMKW, the project was initiated and will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Henning Breuer from the Department of Psychology. It generates insights from the three industries through 130 interviews, four large-scale joint development projects with industry partners, and delivers learning and training materials for universities, vocational training institutions, and the corporate sector.

In addition to HMKW, other European universities such as Design School Kolding, Tallinn University of Technology, EDHEC Business School and Finland Futures Research Centre Turku School of Economics are participating in the EU project. Furthermore, corporate partners (Airbus, Lufthansa Help Alliance) as well as the innovation network ISPIM, among others, participate in the project with their expertise and help to take measures that support the long-term green transition that Europe needs.