CIMULACT
Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon2020
The goal of this project was to involve Europe's citizens in shaping a sustainable as well as desirable future. Citizens of 30 countries delivered a unique contribution to shaping the European Union’s research and innovation agenda.
CIMULACT stands for 'Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020'. The project engaged more then a thousand citizens in 30 countries in Europe, along with a variety of other actors, in shaping a desirable, sustainable future. In a highly participatory process, the project provided a unique contribution to European research and innovation policies and topics, created dialogue and shared understanding among the actors, and built strong capacities in citizen engagement, thereby enhancing responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the EU.
In short, CIMLUACT has..
- ..involved citizens in the actual formulation of the EU research and innovation agendas.
- ..provided a concrete and unique input to the identification of the future European research agenda by eliciting concerns about, wishes for and visions of desirable sustainable futures from 1000 citizens in 30 countries in Europe.
- ...made the European research and innovation agenda relevant and accountable to society by engaging citizens, stakeholders and experts in co-creating research agendas based on real, validated and shared visions, needs and demands.
- ..contributed to responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the EU by promoting the engagement and inclusion of the public in the identification of desirable sustainable futures.
- ..set a new standard for public participation through the development, testing, training and assessment of methods for citizen and stakeholder engagement.
- ..made building the future more accessible. It is no longer only a question discussed by policy makers and experts; it is a wider public conversation for a greater democracy.
CIMULACT BürgerInnenforum
CIMULACT BürgerInnenforum
Österreichischer BürgerInnen-Visionen Workshop in Wien
Das ITA lud 40 in Österreich wohnhafte Personen zum BürgerInnen-Visionen Workshop ein. Die Teilnehmenden haben gemeinsam Visionen für eine nachhaltige und wünschenswerte Zukunft entwickelt. Dabei wählten sie jene Aspekte aus, die aus ihrer Sicht am wichtigsten sind, wenn es darum geht sich eine gute und lebenswerte Zukunft vorzustellen.
Ziel von CIMULACT war es, gemeinsam konkrete Visionen zu entwickeln. Sie sollten die Basis für europäische Forschungsprogramme sein die so gestaltet sind, dass sie auch den Interessen der Allgemeinheit Rechnung tragen. Der BürgerInnen-Visionen Workshop in Wien fand am Freitag, 27. November 2015 statt. Die nach festgesetzten Kriterien ausgewählten Teilnehmenden stellten einen möglichst diversen Querschnitt der Bevölkerung dar.
Ergebnisse aus 30 Ländern für gesellschaftsrelevante Forschung
Jedes der 30 europäischen Länder, die an CIMULACT teilnahmen, führten einen standardisierten BürgerInnen-Visionen Workshop mit ca. 40 TeilnehmerInnen durch. So haben mehr als tausend Menschen Visionen für eine wünschenswerte Zukunft im Jahr 2050 formuliert. Es war ein kreativer Prozess, der auch dazu diente sich die Frage zu stellen, was die Visionen der BürgerInnen konkret bedeuten könnten: Was würden Menschen der Zukunft essen, welche Technologien gäbe es und wie würden diese den Alltag bestimmen? Wie würde das Verhältnis Mensch-Umwelt aussehen, welche Regulierungen würde es geben?
Die Ergebnisse - also 179 Visionen aus 30 Ländern - wurden in nationalen Berichten zusammengefasst und schließlich zusammengeführt. So konnten Unterschiede in den verschiedenen Ländern ebenso wie Ähnlichkeiten oder widersprüchliche Vorstellungen dargestellt werden. Im nächsten Schritt befassten sich ExpertInnenen, BürgerInnen und VertreterInnenn von verschiedenen Interessensgruppen mit den Ergebnissen. Sie hatten die Aufgabe, Wünsche, Hoffnungen und Befürchtungen der BürgerInnen in konkrete Forschungsthemen und Inputs für Forschungsprogrammen zu transformieren. Diese Vorschläge wurden schließlich der EU-Kommission, den nationalen Parlamenten und EntscheidungsträgerInnen sowie den nationalen Forschungsförderungsagenturen präsentiert.
Publications
Publications
- . (2021). Limits and benefits of participatory agenda setting for research and innovation. European Journal Of Futures Research, Vol. 9, 1-11. doi:10.1186/s40309-021-00177-0
- . (2021). Democratising utopian thought in participatory agenda setting. European Journal Of Futures Research, 9,5. doi:10.1186/s40309-021-00174-3
- . (2021). Sensemaking and Lens-Shaping: Identifying Citizen Contributions to Foresight through Comparative Topic Modelling. Futures 2021, Volume 129, 1-15. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2021.102733
- . (2020). Transformatives Agendasetting als Aufgabe von TA und Foresight — Ein Vergleich von BürgerInnen- und ExpertInnen-basiertem Orientierungswissen. In R. Lindner, Decker, M., Ehrensperger, E., Heyen, N. B., Lingner, S., Scherz, C., & Sotoudeh M., (Eds.), Gesellschaftliche Transformationen: Gegenstand oder Aufgabe der Technikfolgenabschätzung?. Baden-Baden: Nomos. Retrieved from https://www.nomos-shop.de/titel/gesellschaftliche-transformationen-id-86476/
- . (2019). Die Rolle von BürgerInnenbeteiligung in Foresight-Prozessen – ein Beispiel auf europäischer Ebene. (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) & VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH (VDI TZ),, Eds.), Itb Infoservice, 49-52. Retrieved from http://www.kooperation-international.de/fileadmin/public/downloads/itb/info_18_12_20_SAG.pdf
- . (2019). Bridging Epistemologies – Identifying uniqueness of lay and expert knowledge for agenda setting. Futures, 109, 24-38. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.04.003
- . (2018). Collection of CIMULACT Newsletters, CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020 (p. 20). Vienna: Mission Publiques (MP).
- . (2018). Report on comparison of research topics from CIMULACT with those from expert oriented foresight studies, CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020 (p. 1040). Karlsruhe: Mission Publiques (MP).
- . (2018). Inspiration Catalogue, CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020 (p. 202). Paris: Mission Publiques (MP).
- . (2018). Eye of the Storm: Cross examination of R&I-policy oriented foresight methods and results. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA) – Future in the Making. Brussels. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/jrcsh/files/fta2018-paper_c7-fraunhoferisi-rosa_withbib.pdf
- . (2018). But do they deliver? Participatory agenda setting on the test bed. European Journal Of Futures Research, 6. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s40309-018-0143-y
- . (2017). CIVISTI – A forward-looking method based on citizens’ visions. Special Issue 'Participatory Methods for Information Society'. Public Philosophy &Amp; Democratic Education, 5, 73-86. doi:10.14746/fped.2016.5.2.22
- . (2017). Contributing to an European imaginary of democratic education by engaging multiple actors in shaping responsible research agendas. Special Issue 'Participatory Methods for Information Society'. Public Philosophy &Amp; Democratic Education, 5, 29-50. doi:10.14746/fped.2016.5.2.20DOIWebsiteRISENWBIB Abstract
Traditionally, expert-based forward looking has been applied to anticipate future challenges, solutions and strategic decisions, but limitations to this approach have become obvious – especially when considering long term perspectives – e.g. failing to include a comprehensive array of opinions. Aiming at producing sustainable strategies for responsible socio-technical change, research funding can benefit from combining forward looking and public participation to elicit socially robust knowledge from consulting with multi-actors, including citizens. In this paper, we give insights into the EU project CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020. In CIMULACT, more than 4500 citizens, stakeholders and experts from 30 European countries engaged online and offline to co-create research topics. These are supposed to serve as input for the next round of calls in Horizon 2020, national research agendas as well as the ninth framework programme in the making. We investigate key results of this transdisciplinary process focussing on the topic “democratic education” with regard to two levels: What issues concerning the topic were raised? Can we find a common European imaginary for “democratic education”? Our analysis shows that the results contribute to defining and describing challenges for the currently prevailing imaginary of democratic education in Europe.
- . (2017). Gemeinsam besser. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/gemeinsam-besser/
- . (2017). Open Agenda-Setting for Responsible Research. ITA-Dossier no. 27en (August 2017; Authors: Niklas Gudowsky, Walter Peissl). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-027enDOIDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
-> Science, technology and innovation (STI) should increasingly contribute to solving societal problems.
-> Orienting STI towards societal needs is necessary.
-> Research programmes can therefore benefit greatly from open, participatory agenda-setting in which citizens, experts, policy-makers and other stakeholders co-create objectives. - . (2017). Forschung und Innovation gemeinsam gestalten. ITA-Dossier Nr. 27 (August 2017; Autoren: Niklas Gudowsky, Walter Peissl). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-027DOIDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
-> Forschung, Technologie und Innovation (FTI) soll vermehrt einen Beitrag zur Lösung gesamtgesellschaftlicher Probleme leisten.
-> Die Orientierung von FTI an gesellschaftlichen Bedürfnissen ist dabei notwendig.
-> Forschungsprogramme können daher sehr von offenem, partizipativem Agenda-Setting profitieren, in dem BürgerInnen, ExpertInnen, EntscheidungsträgerInnen und andere Interessensgruppen gemeinsam Zielsetzungen erarbeiten. - . (2016). Human centred science and technology – transdisciplinary foresight and co-creation as tools for active needs-based innovation governance. European Journal Of Futures Research, Vol. 4. doi:10.1007/s40309-016-0090-4DOIWebsiteRISENWBIB Abstract
Current governance structures are increasingly showing inability to address complex issues such as the Grand Challenges. Dealing with these highly interrelated, cross cutting, extensive and potentially open ended issues requires research, development and innovation to be oriented towards societal needs and demands. Here, developing and applying sustainable long term strategies for socio-technical change on the basis of socially robust knowledge seems inevitable and using the tools of anticipatory governance—forward looking and participation—is essential in order to govern innovation actively and responsibly. Yet, expert-based forward looking has its limits, especially when considering long term perspectives, and may fail to include all necessary opinions. Thus, stakeholder engagement has become a norm over the last decades, but including laypeople into forward looking science, technology and innovation (STI) governance is underexplored. Here, strategy and policy programme development may be well suited to function as early entry point for public needs and values into the innovation process. This paper will briefly review the theoretical basis for transdisciplinary forward looking and provide first insights into an ongoing highly deliberative and reflexive foresight and co-creation process engaging science, society and policy makers, CIMULACT—Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon2020. We will especially focus on the role of technology within a collective visioning exercise that allowed for shared explorations of desirable futures, thereby collecting tacit knowledge as well as social needs and values. Integrating these with stakeholders’ and experts’ knowledge serves for co-creating socially robust knowledge for orienting policy and strategy programming towards needs based science, technology and innovation.
- . (2016). Große Befragung zur Zukunft Europas. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/grosse-befragung-zur-zukunft-europas/
- . (2016). Report on the research and policy consultation. National Report on Austria – WP3 for the EU-project CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020. Vienna. Retrieved from http://www.cimulact.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/D3.2-Programmes-and-concepts_compressed.pdf
- . (2016). National Citizen Vision Workshop. National Report on Austria – WP1 for the EU-project CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020. Vienna. Retrieved from http://www.cimulact.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Austria.pdf
Conference Papers/Speeches
Conference Papers/Speeches
-
07/11/2018
, Karlsruhe
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Transformatives Agendasetting als Aufgabe von TA und Foresight — Ein Vergleich von BürgerInnen- und ExpertInnen-basiertem Orientierungswissen
NTA8 – Gesellschaftliche Transformationen: Gegenstand oder Aufgabe der Technikfolgenabschätzung? -
12/10/2018
, Wien
Mahshid Sotoudeh:
Wissensproduktion im Rahmen der Beteiligungsverfahren zu Nachhaltigkeit und Konsum
Sparkling Moments -
30/07/2018
, Wien
Walter Peissl, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Ergebnisse und Anwendbarkeit von CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020
Austrian Standards -
07/06/2018
, Wien
Walter Peissl, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Ergebnisse und Anwendbarkeit von CIMULACT – Citizen and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020
FFG – Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft -
05/06/2018
, Brussels
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Eye of the Storm: Cross examination of R&I-policy oriented foresight methods and results
"Future in the Making" – 6th International Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA) -
12/06/2017
, Turku
Walter Peissl, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Transdisciplinary agenda setting for future research and innovation – Comparing results of expert based foresight to large scale citizen centered forward-looking
Futures of a Complex World – 18th International Futures Conference -
17/05/2017
, Cork
Walter Peissl, Mahshid Sotoudeh, Ulrike Bechtold, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
CIMULACT – Lessons learned from a large-scale transdisciplinary visioning exercise
3rd European Technology Assessment Conference -
16/11/2016
, Bonn
Walter Peissl, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Bedürfnisorientierte Forschung, Technologie und Innovation – Erfahrungen mit einer europaweiten Multiakteurskonsultation zu Horizon 2020
NTA7 - Grand Challenges meistern – 7. internationale Tagung des Netzwerks Technikfolgenabschätzung -
30/09/2016
, Starachowice
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Human centred science and technology – transdisciplinary foresight and co-creation as tools for active needs-based innovation governance
3rd International Science and Business Conference Future Engineering 2016 -
06/09/2016
, Lisbon
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Desirable Sustainable Futures – Co-Creating Research Agendas through Multi-Actor Engagement
11th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES2016 -
02/09/2016
, Barcelona
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Engaging citizens, stakeholders and experts in transdisciplinary foresight to identify policy alternatives
4S/EASST Conference – Science and Technology by Other Means -
24/07/2016
, Manchester
Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Shaping responsible research agendas – Transdisciplinary foresight and co-creation as tools for needs-based innovation governance
EuroScience Open Forum – ESOF 2016 -
07/11/2015
, Trento
Mahshid Sotoudeh, Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes:
Into Grey Skies – Citizens‘ Visions as a Leitbild for Governing Science, Technology and Innovation
1st International Conference on Anticipation
Duration
06/2015 - 03/2018
Project team
- Niklas Gudowsky
- Walter Peissl
Funding
