The Hellenic General Secretariat for Research and Technology, under the aegis of the Hellenic Presidency of the European Union, has the pleasure to invite you to the International Conference

"Foresight in the Enlarged European Research and Innovation Area"
Ioannina, Greece, 15-16 May 2003

More than 200 high level people from European and national institutions, industry, academia, users, societal actors, as well as the national and regional authorities of the current and future Member States, will join forces in exchanging valuable experiences and expertise to form best practices and propose actions to exploit Foresight in building the future Knowledge Based Societies in the Enlarged European Research and Innovation Area.

Foresight constitutes a systematic attempt to observe the long-term future of science, technology, society, the economy and their mutual interactions in order to generate knowledge and inputs for policy - making. However, the challenge goes beyond the integration of Foresight outcomes into policy debates and decision-making.

The target of the EU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world and the creation of the European Research Area, not only provides a major opportunity for, but also dictates, transnational Foresight collaboration, to exploit synergies between national / regional activities. The Conference will constitute a platform for exchanges of experience and best practices on Foresight exercises on European, national or regional levels, and their impact on enlargement countries. Nevertheless, the challenge is set even higher. It is time that concrete actions are proposed to enhance the integration of Foresight results in policy-making, strengthening democratisation processes in governance, and to coordinate national / regional efforts in building the future Knowledge Based Societies of the Enlarged European Union. The conference's aspiration is to result in the approval of the "Ioannina Manifesto for Cooperation in Foresight".