Launch of the European Millennium Project Nodes Initiative (EuMPI)
Philippe Destatte, Director of The Destree Institute (Namur, Wallonia, BE) and Pascale Van Doren, Adviser, Head of the Futures Unit, The Destree Institute (Namur, Wallonia, BE) attended the July 2003 Millennium Planning Committee meeting in San Francisco, CA. They expressed the definit interest of the Destree Institute to become the Brussels and EU and EC liaison node for the Millennium Project. They also launched and offered to coordinate the initiative of a European Millennium Project Node (EuMPI). See below the text written by the Nodes present in July 2003 Millennium Project Planning Committee. After connecting with the French Node (Saphia Richou) and the Italian Node (Eleonora Masini), the European Nodes organized three meetings to realize their program:
1. EuMPI Kick-off meeting, at the European Parliament in Brussels, November
21, 2003 (organized by Philippe Destatte, Brussels-Area
Node Chair)
2. Meeting at the German Office of Science Organizations in Brussels, April
16, 2004 (organized by Cornelia Daheim, German
Node Chair)
3. Meeting at Charles University in Prague, September 18, 2004 (organized by
Pavel Novacek, Central
European Node Chair)
European Millennium Project Nodes Initiative
Millennium Project Planning Committee
San Francisco, CA, July 18, 2003
1. Rationale of the proposal
Argumentation to structure networking between European Future Knowledge
Centres participating as Nodes of the Millennium Project :
1.1. the specificities of European profile in futures studies and practices
to be tackled within worldwide initiatives i.e. the Millennium Project;
1.2. the lack of European dedicated "home" to exchange and capitalize
about futures studies and applications;
1.3. the demands coming from European Union institutions – and especially
from the European Commission – to associate existing and structured networks
of competences to support European visions and policies,
- to better reflect European coveradge in global issues and
develop a European view complementary to national position;
- to act as a repository for exchange at European level for national
and regional policy makers;
- to diffuse methods and tools for foresight and futures visioning
to European policymakers and industry, large, small and medium;
- to host the Planning Committee of the Millennium Project in 2005.
2. European Millennium Project Nodes Initiative
The existing European Union Millennium Project Nodes, present in the Millennium Project Planning Committee in San Francisco on the 17 & 18July 2003 – Central European Node (Prague), Finland Node (Helsinski, Turku), German Node (Berlin, Essen), Russian Node (Moscow), United Kingdom Node (London) and the new Brussels Area -Europe Node (Brussels, Wallonia), in constitution – decided upon the following actions :
2.1. to stimulate a network of the European Nodes, with a strong partnership, to learn together within the culture and spirit of the Millennium Project, and to prepare proposals and partnerships for the European Commission;
2.2. to participate to the renewal of the European Futures thinking, in parallel with the European Commission convergence process between technological foresight and normative prospective. The need of creating a European Futures Studies Society, gathering wide membership including scientific and professional actors, was underlined;
2.3. to organise a European Planning Committee Meeting in autumn 2003
in Brussels, with all the European Millennium Project Nodes :
– Central European Node (Prague),
– Finland Node (Helsinski, Turku),
– French Node (Paris),
– German Node (Berlin, Essen),
– Italian Node (Roma),
– Russian Node (Moscow),
– United Kingdom Node (London),
– Brussels Area -Europe Node (Brussels, Wallonia),
with the target to make an action plan for the next years, with precise
objectives (i.e. organising futures studies courses, realise a Euro State
of the Futures Index) ;
2.4. to prepare a European Futures Studies Conference to be organised in the European Parliament in Brussels in 2004 or 2005. The Destree Institute (Wallonia, Belgium) and the Finland Futures Academy (Finland) are responsible for organising this conference,
2.5. to develop a website and an internet discussion list dedicated to that European Millennium Project Initiative.
Done in San Francisco, CA, July 18 2003,
Nadezhda Gaponenko
Institute of Economy Policy and Law, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences,
Department of Forecasting Moscow, Russian Node,
ngaponenko@mtu-net.ru
Sari Söderlund
Finland Future Academy, Turku, Finland Node,
sari.soderlund@tukkk.fi
Pascale Van Doren
The Destree Institute, Wallonia, Brussels-Area Europe Node,
vandoren.pascale@destree.org
Peter Mettler
Future Management Group, Wiesbaden, German Node,
mettler@suk.fg-wiesbaden.de
Ivan Klinec
Institute for Forecasting, Bratislava, Central European Node,
ivan.klinec@savba.sk
Bruce Lloyd
South Bank University, London, United Kingdom Node,
brucelloydg@aol.com
Pavel Novácek
Center for Social and Economic Strategies, Charles University Prague,
Central European Node,
nov@aix.upol.cz
Philippe Destatte
The Destree Institute, Wallonia, Brussels-Area Europe Node,
destatte.ph@destree.org
