Dealing with Policy

In this book, we distinguish policy-oriented foresight from foresight in business based on our research approach. We studied foresight in action in practices that are policy oriented. We did not want to assume a priori that our findings could be extended to foresight in business, without studying such practices. The question is, however, whether it is, indeed, necessary to distinguish policy-oriented foresight from foresight in business. Through the story which we share in this chapter, we hope to make a case that the distinction makes sense or is even needed. In this chapter, we show that futurists involved in policy-oriented foresight are confronted with typical challenges dealing with policy.