Report at the February 2003 Planning Committee Meeting, Washington, DC

Report at the July 2003 Planning Committee Meeting, San Francisco, CA

 

all www millennium-project.org

The Finland Node of the Millennium Project could not send a representative to the February 1003 Planning Committee Meeting but they sent in the report to be presented to the attndees:

Finland Futures Academy (FFA)     FFA/ 29.1.2003
Helsinki Node, Finland
Actions since May, 2002

Node Group

Dr. Osmo Kuusi, chair until the end of 2002
Dr. Sirkka Heinonen, chair since the beginning of 2003
Mika Aaltonen, chair from the beginning of 2004
M. Sc. Sari Söderlund, general secretary

Helsinki Node was formally initiated in May 2002, by the decision of the Finland Futures Academy Board. Yet, the first research questionnaire round was conducted as early as during September 2001 and the organization meeting was held already in April, 2002. The Helsinki Node first appeared in public during the international Scenario Seminar organized in Turku, Finland (11.-12.6.2002). During the seminar a press conference was organized together with the FFA Board and the Node members.

As a network of universities, the Finland Futures Academy provides the auspices for Millennium activities. In addition, there has been need to connect other relevant organizations, university units and scientific societies as part of Millennium activities. From this basis - since its establishment - Helsinki Node has consolidated the organizational basis of activities (see the organization chart, enclosure 1). There is a Node group composed of three researchers, a national planning committee giving expert advice and coordination tasks, and a Millennium Forum organized by the Finnish Future Society for all individual people and actors that are interested in global issues. In order to ensure the availability of relevant research data in different fields of sciences there is need for national co-operation between all the relevant futures parties in Finland.

Node Meetings

28.2.3002 Helsinki Node meeting, Helsinki
10.4.2002 Helsinki Node meeting with Director Reino Hjerppe from the Government Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki
11.6.2002 Press conference in connection to the Scenario Seminar in Turku
15.8.2002 Helsinki Node meeting, Helsinki
15.10.2002 Helsinki Node meeting with Director Vappu Taipale from the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health
21.1.2003 Helsinki Node meeting, Helsinki

Millennium Forums

On the 25th of October, 2002, at 13.00-16.00 the First Finnish Millennium Forum in Helsinki (Tieteiden talo, Kirkkokatu 6) was organised by the Finnish Future Society. In the seminar the establishment of the Helsinki Node was made public and ideas about Northern dimension of the Millennium Project were explored by the Node researchers. Additionally there was a presentation given by Dr. Wendy Schultz: Futures Learning as a Tool for Understanding Global Changes for the Millennium Project. The chair of the Forum was Dr. Mika Aaltonen from the Finland Futures Research Centre.

Delphi Studies

1. Middle East Peace Scenarios - Round 1: A study designed to produce Middle East Peace scenarios. December 2002-January 2003

This first round questionnaire enclosed suggests some conditions that may be necessary for peace in the Middle East, and actions or options to help achieve them. The respondents were asked to judge the importance, the likelihood, and backfire potential (for deleterious unintended consequences) of the items on the list and to suggest other necessary conditions and actions. The second round questionnaire will present the composite list and invite comments on the conditions/actions judged to be most important. The Millennium Project plans to publish the results in the 2003 State of the Future and share the results with the international community.

In Finland we had 10 respondents:

1) Government: four respondents
2) International organisations: two respondents
3) Private sector corporations: -
4) NGOs (including religious organisations): two respondents
5) Universities: two respondents
 

2. International Science and Technology Management Policy: Alternative Scenarios for the year 2025. Round 1. January 2003-February 2003

The second round to follow in two months will be used to produce long-range alternative scenarios on science and technology.  This completes a three-year assessment. The first year explored S&T issues over the next 25 years. The second year explored the implications of these issues for S&T management.  And the third year, is intended to make the policy and management alternatives explicit via scenarios.
 

Other activities

Taking part in the international seminar "Scanning for the Futures"
Helsinki Node took part in the planning process of the international seminar Scanning for the Futures, organized to be held in June, 2003 by the Finland Futures Research Centre together with the Finland Futures Academy. Especially, the Node took responsibility of planning and carrying out the workshop that focuses on global issues. Additionally, Osmo Kuusi is going to present a paper on Millennium Issues and all the Millennium Nodes were invited to take part in the conference and the Node meeting that will be organized during the conference.

Taking part in discussions and requests in the Internet with the following themes:

- overview of some of the human security issues 28.1.02
- international assessment of policies to counter terrorism (MP Counterterrorism Questionnaire) 20.2.02
- review of what uses nodes have made of MP books, reports etc. (comments) 10.3.02
- a two-round international assessment of inspiring new goals for 2050 (MP Questionnaire) 27.03.02
- nominations for the Tech Museum's Technology Benefitting Humanity Awards 28.3, 10.10, 15.10 etc.
- comments for a new flyer of MP 25.4.02
- launch of the 2002 State of the Future Report 18.7.02
- for our information: Poll launched on the environmental and sustainable development in conjunction with the World Summit on Sustainable Development 22.8.02
- draft of the self-assessment of the MP for the UNU 22.8.02
- Fellowship programme applicable for MP activities 4.9.02
- Newsweek article on futures research commenting
- Info on the New European Foresight Academy that MP encourages 10.10.02
- Wider activities 11.10.02
- Business implications of emerging global brain concept 16.10.02
- new publications on the MP
- giving comments on the draft Round 1 of the 2025 Science and Technology Management Scenarios study 8.1.2003

Activities in the Finland Futures Academy

The first international pilot course FUTURES1: How Can We Explore the Future? was run in Spring term 2002 with partner universities coming from Italy (Gregorian Univ.) and Hungary (Budapest Univ. of Economics). In Autumn term 2002 the second FUTURES1-course was run with Spanish Univ. of Alicante joining as one of the partners. In 2003, the aim is to enlargen the scale of accompanying universities with facilities of offering academic futures studies courses.

In June 2002 there was a meeting of IAB (International Advisory Board of the FFA) in connection to the international Scenario Seminar organized in Turku, Finland. As a core administrative body of international affairs of the FFA, the IAB members were involved in a visionary process of envisioning the future of the international FFA, the World Futures Academy. IAB-members agreed with the FFA Board in focusing on academic education and research in the future. There is place for generating connections between the universities in planning and carrying out academic education in the field of futures inquiry. The first Letter of Agreement was signed with the Budapest Univ. of Economics. In Autumn 2003 the FFA Board will appoint members of then IAB for the forthcoming three-years period.
 

Sari Söderlund
Secretary General
Helsinki Node
Finland Futures Research Centre
Finland Futures Research Centre
Turku School of Economics and Business Administration
P.O. Box 110, 20521 Turku
FINLAND
Tel. +358 2 3383 525 or mobile +358 40 820 9801
Fax. +358 2 2330 755
Email sari.soderlund@tukkk.fi
http://www.tukkk.fi/tutu/english.htm

Sari Söderlund, Secretary General of the Helsinki Node represented the node at the Millennium Project Planning Committee Meeting in July 17-18, San Francisco, CA and the "Futures from Around the World" session of the World Future Society annual Conference.

Sari handed out several analysis papers on the work of the Millennium Project done by members of the Finland Node and presented new developmens in the work of the Finland Futures Research Centre. The papers will be available soon on this page.