colourful futures cone

INTPA Strategic Foresight

Resource
public
EU-official
Last Updated: 30 June 2025
In line with the European Commission’s embedding of Strategic Foresight in better policymaking, DG International Partnerships uses Foresight to shift our mind-set from the here-and-now (reactive) to future-in-the-making (anticipatory). In a world facing global challenges such as climate change, digital and green transitions, health emergencies, inflation, wars, power shifts and geopolitical tensions strategic foresight helps organisations like ours to anticipate long-term change to make better decisions in the present day. In this page you can find key resources such as the Youth4Foresight Toolkit.

Table of contents

Youth4Foresight Toolkit

Welcome to the Youth4Foresight Toolkit 

All materials are accessible in English, Spanish, and French (Portuguese coming soon)

Toolkit objective

Through the Youth Action Plan in EU external action (YAP) the EU builds a partnership with young people worldwide by engaging, empowering, and connecting them through various processes and actions. The toolkit supports the implementation of the YAP, in particular the commitments to increase the voice and leadership of young people, promote their involvement in the EU external policies and actions, as well as to enhance institutional capacity and expertise of EU staff on how to engage with young people.

Foresight offers a method for positive engagement beyond the focus on past or current issues, fostering creativity and providing alternatives to current paradigms. Using foresight tools can help to integrate youth perspectives into EU external action, focusing on desired futures, transition pathways and trends. Embedding strategic foresight in EU policy making is in line with the objectives of Better Regulation Agenda and highlighted in the 2024 Communication on the European Year of Youth 2022.

Toolkit target audience

EU colleagues and experts who engage with young people as part of the EU external action (such as Youth Sounding Boards at EU Delegation level, youth organisations, and any other kind of youth advisory structures at local or national level)

We recommend you to start your journey by reading the Introduction to the Toolkit 

Available in English, Spanish, and French (Portuguese coming soon)

Toolkit contents

Have you already used the toolkit? We would love to hear about your experience! INTPA-FORESIGHT@ec.europa.eu 

We acknowledge the significant contribution of Teach the Future in pioneering and leading the awareness and advocacy for futures thinking and foresight for youth over the past 10 years, as well as in developing frameworks and language for adapting foresight to youth.

Nous reconnaissons la contribution de Teach the Future dansl'initiation et la direction de la sensibilisation et de la promotion de la pensée prospective pour lesjeunes au cours des dix dernières années, ainsi que dans le développement de cadres et de langages pour adapter la prospective aux jeunes.

Resaltamos la valiosa contribución de organizaciones como Teach the Future, que han sido clave en promover la concienciación sobre la importancia del la alfabetización de futuros entre losjóvenes durante más de 6 10 años, así como en el desarrollo de marcos y lenguaje para adaptar la prospectiva a sus necesidades.

Destacamos a valiosa contribuição de organizações como a Teach the Future, que têm sido fundamentais na promoção da conscientização sobre a importância do pensamento prospectivo e da antecipação de futuros entre osjovens durante mais de 10 anos, assim como no desenvolvimento de marcos e linguagem para adaptar a prospectiva às suas necessidades.