From irreversibility to participation: towards a participatory foresight for the governance of collective environmental risks

This paper presents a reflection on the introduction of methods and tools o f "participative foresight" for scientific and technology policy as well as environmental policy fields. Future studies have recently made a comeback under the label of foresight. Future technology studies no longer claim to forecast the future, but are presented as a strategic tool for improving in teraction between key actors and for anticipatory policy making. They can b e defined as a "process by which one comes to a fuller understanding of the forces shaping the long term future which should be taken into account in policy formulation, planning and decision-making" [Foresight in Federal Gov ernment Policymaking, Futures Res. Quart. (1985) 29]. We discuss applicatio ns of this approach for perspectives on environmental policy and sustainabl e development. Foresight opens up the possibility of negotiating a new and more fruitful relationship or 'social contract' between science and technol ogy, on the one hand, and society on the other. The focus has moved from me rely scientific and industrial insights to social demand, thus emphasizing the importance of both the production and "supply" of innovation, and the " demand" as signaled in the views of citizens. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.