Navigating the Future: A Glimpse into Our Strategic Foresight Training for Indonesia’s Ministry of Planning
In a world marked by rapid change and uncertainty, governments must adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities. Strategic foresight offers an approach to help them navigate the unknowns of the future. Recently, UN Global Pulse Asia Pacific partnered with the School of International Futures (SOIF) to conduct strategic foresight training for Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas). Building on our previous horizon scanning initiatives that highlighted key drivers of change shaping the futures of MSMEs in Indonesia, the collaboration aimed to further strengthen foresight capability to inspire novel solutions for the future, unfettered by current limitations of the present, thereby fostering innovative policymaking. In this blog, we reflect on the process of delivering the training to the next generation of planners responsible for shaping the nation’s strategic agenda.
Tailoring the Program
Strategic foresight is a structured approach that explores plausible futures, enabling decision-makers to be more anticipatory. It equips organisations with tools to make decisions today while considering long-term consequences. Importantly, strategic foresight is designed not to replace existing planning approaches, but rather to complement them.
The capacity building effort is centred on introducing strategic foresight to Bappenas’ junior and mid-level policy planners and was designed to bridge theoretical foresight with tangible policy-making practices. The program offered practical experience, allowing participants to apply the knowledge to their current projects within the Indonesian policy making framework. Participants were provided with the stepping stone to a path towards becoming commissioners of foresight, acquainting themselves with foresight approaches related to Scoping, Systems Thinking, and Scenario Planning, including the robust Three Horizons methodology.
Before diving into the in-person main workshop, we equipped participants with two preparatory virtual sessions to lay the foundation for futures thinking and setting the stage for later immersive hands-on sessions.
The main workshop, a 3-day session, encouraged participants to experiment with foresight methods, linking their learnings to Bappenas’ overarching goals. It also fostered interaction among peers and defined the value proposition of foresight within their roles in the Ministry of National Development Planning.
Recognising the importance of systematic change, our initiative reached beyond the junior and mid-level planners to the ministry’s executive echelons. Closing the series of training, we delivered an executive session emphasising the role of foresight in the planning process and its seamless integration into the ministry’s ways of working.
A Glance into the Impact
While the long-term impact of our training remains to be seen, initial feedback from participants was full of optimism. Most of them expressed appreciation for being introduced to an innovative planning technique.
Participants acknowledged the benefit of foresight in strengthening long-term planning, especially in light of challenges like climate change and evolving development goals. They recognise the value of becoming more methodological by employing systems thinking and scenarios to better comprehend probable futures. Perhaps most importantly, they showed a keen understanding and singular enthusiasm for learning the content and beginning to apply it to their own work. The training is viewed as the first step towards deeper exposure to foresight.
“Foresight is essential in the policymaking processes. The methodology compliments both the qualitative and quantitative planning instruments to provide a more robust policy strategy. Learning foresight has awakened our awareness of the importance of future thinking and building scenarios as anticipatory measures and to be more adaptive towards future challenges.” — Mariska Yasrie, Bappenas Planner
Among the participants, the training underscored a crucial principle — the importance of collaboration and diversity in foresight. Diverse perspectives enriches the scenario-building process, yielding more robust outcomes.
Charting the Way Forward
Indonesia, a country with diverse cultures and challenges, has increasingly embraced strategic foresight. The Ministry of Planning recognised the need to equip its staff with the skills and mindset required to plan effectively in a dynamic world — the recognition of which led to our partnership.
As we reflect on our experience conducting strategic foresight training, we’re reminded that foresight is not just a tool but a mindset. It’s a way of thinking that fosters a culture of continuous learning and adaptation, essential traits for any organisation in facing future challenges. Looking ahead, we can only hope that more governments and organisations will follow suit, investing in the foresight capabilities needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.
“[Foresight] planning is going to be very useful for us in planning and budgeting and doing our job as a think tank… hopefully these tools can create better policy in the future for the next 20 years.” — Prahesti Pandanwangi, Bappenas Senior Planner
This training marks a chapter in UN Global Pulse Asia Pacific’s evolving narrative. The recent transformation from Pulse Lab Jakarta into a regional hub underscores our commitment to assisting member states, governments and UN entities in addressing distinctive challenges by applying the quintet of change. Strategic foresight, one component of the Quintet of Change, will prove to be increasingly important in shifting the mindsets of decision makers to be more anticipatory towards future challenges.
Let us know about your experience in experimenting with strategic foresight in your organisation!
Authors: Dawson Markle (Project Manager, SOIF), Johann Schutte (Foresight Specialist, SOIF), and Aaron Situmorang (Social Systems Lead, UN Global Pulse Asia Pacific).
UN Global Pulse Asia Pacific is grateful for the generous support from the Government of Indonesia and the Government of Australia.
