This workshop is organised by the Austrian National Public Health Institute GÖG and Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM.

Date and time:

Monday 19 September 2022, 9:00 – 11:30 CET

Objectives:

• To better understand which (national) policies have been implemented in relation to Foresighting to improve direct a/o indirect health impacts – also relating to COVID-19
• To identify good and bad practices - which good practices in Europe can we highlight? Which gaps can we pinpoint?

Structure and agenda:

After a keynote introduction to the topic and a brief showcase of PHIRI Foresighting activities, there will be a moderated roundtable debate among decision-makers and addressees of forecasting from five European countries.

Agenda:

• Welcome by the Chair (Claudia Habl, Austrian National Public Health Institue, GÖG)
• Key Input by the Strategic Foresight and Capabilities Unit of the European Parliament (Lieve Van Woensel, Senior Foresight Adviser and Virginia Mahieu, Policy Analyst)
• Overview of PHIRI Foresighting activities (Henk Hilderink, Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM)
• Public Health Foresight in Portugal (Professor Dr. Luís Lapão, Universidade Nova de Lisboa UNL, Portugal)
• Roundtable discussion with policy-makers (see discussants below)

Questions for discussion:

• For which questions is Forecasting a suitable instrument?
• Did any public health related foresight study recently take place in your country? If yes, what was the focus?
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, were any Foresight Studies conducted to help in the implementation of measures?
• What kind of information would you like from Foresight? Or broader: What type of information do policy makers need to implement measures and set policy?
• Think of Foresighting or scenario building processes in your country – what went well and what should be avoided in the future?
• What are the necessary frameworks/settings to ensure that Foresighting is accepted well by policymakers?
  • Who has a mandate to do it “officially”?
  • What is the translation method that policymakers understand best and accept the most?
  • How we can ensure that priorities derived from Foresighting are sustainable over time?
• Process related questions (e.g., whom to involve, timelines, qualitative or quantitative approaches, how important is the role of indicators/data?)

Roundtable discussants:

• Spain:  Diego Rubio, Director, Spanish National Office of Foresight & Strategy
• Professor Dr. Neville Calleja, Head of Directorate for Health Information and Statistics, Ministry of Health, Malta
• Judith delle Grazie, Head of Department for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Austria
• Diego Rubio, Director of Spanish National Office of Foresight & Strategy, Spain
• Hungary: (name tbc by OKFO)
• N.N., Directorate-General of Health (DGS), Ministry of Health, Portugal

Material

• Towards foresight informed policy making: Introduction - Lieve Van Woensel & Virginia Mahieu
• Foresight in PHIRI - Henk Hilderink

Who should attend:

Policy makers, researchers, knowledge brokers working on Foresighting or interested in results of Foresighting