Regional Foresight Workshop - West Asia

UNEP is embarking on the development of a strategic foresight initiative and aims to establish an institutionalized approach to foresight and horizon scanning to develop an anticipatory and future oriented culture. This will strengthen UNEP’s capacity, supported by the active international community mobilized by the ISC, to navigate current and future uncertainty and disruptive change, while effectively delivering on its mandate. Part of the process will require the use of an expert panel to help draw insights from the data and information collated and is being established in the context of UNEP’s Programme of work.

The Expert Panel is expected to aid in processes to identify and evaluate emerging issues and signals of change, including opportunities. The work of the Panel will culminate into a Global Report, co-branded with the ISC, to be published in 2024. It is also expected that the Report together with the insights and recommendations of the Panel will inform the deliberations of the sixth UN Environment Assembly in February 2024 and the Summit of the Future in September 2024.

In addition to the global foresight and horizon scanning exercise that is taking place, a series of regional workshops will be held to review the preliminary outputs of the global horizon scan/ Foresight Expert Panel with the view to providing the necessary contextualization to validate and adjust the initial identification of emerging signals of change and provide information on regionally specific issues, risks, and opportunities.

This workshop will be held for the benefit of the West Asia Region in partnership with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science.