~e; foreseeing EM.civ

[bc <human@electronetwork.org>]

  [thanks to * for the forward. sustainable development may not be
  the first thing that comes to mind/thought/imagination when EM is
  the issue. yet without some accurate modeling of the electromagnetic
  -infrastructure, the civilization of electronic skin that it is the skeletal
  framework for, and the culture that is freed, expressed, and suppressed
  therein, all of these take some accurate understanding, guesswork, and
  discussions with others think-tanking in a peaceful yet experimental way.
  endlessly caught in keywords of many a glossolalia, still, the point of
  forecasting and foresight is fair-enough, and opens the door to imagining
  futures and futurepresents and near-nows that are better than what we
  now have before us. one thing about EM recurs quite often, it is a simple
  point but irrelevant to the current, outdated models. and that is that the
  'development' of nations is fundamentally associated with electrification
  and electromagnetic infrastructures of power, media, and technology...
  question is, if not 'Looking Backward' and finding a utopia, then what of
  looking ahead and realistically planning for a better future, and how to
  do this when it is a fundamental change in 'envisioning' itself that needs
  to occur for change to occur. that is, sight becomes secondary to thought.
  and seeing is believing is not necessarily about images but the visual mind.
  caught in aother recursive loop of keywords, language betwixt & between]

>>>>future-pasting>>>>

Subject: [o2mailinglist] A Call for Papers on 'Foresighting and Innovative
Approaches to Sustainable Development Planning'


>  From: publicity <publicity@greenleaf-publishing.com>
>  Subject: A Call for Papers on 'Foresighting and Innovative Approaches to
>  Sustainable Development Planning'
>  Date: woe, 13 maa 2002 11:34
>
>
>  CALL FOR PAPERS:
>  Greener Management International
>
>  SPECIAL ISSUE on "Foresighting and Innovative Approaches to Sustainable
>  Development Planning"
>
>
>  We are moving into an era of particularly rapid change, where corporations
>  and countries alike have to learn to operate in an increasingly fluid,
>  dynamic and borderless world economy, and where new technologies will
>  constantly transform the array of business constraints and opportunities.
>  We are also moving to an era where the triple bottom line matters more and
>  more - for the private and the public sector alike.
>
>  Traditional forecasting and planning methods are no longer adequate tools
>  for mapping business or national development strategies for coping with
>  these transformations, because they have a limited ability to predict or
>  survive discontinuities: major changes in the external and/or internal
>  environment that force a fundamental re-evaluation of strategy and/or
>  goals. Discontinuities typically affect the interdependences between the
>  major economic, social and political factors that determine the dynamics
of
>  development. As the socioeconomic system itself changes, its behaviour in
>  the past no longer forms a reliable guide as its likely behaviour in
>  future. This also means, of course, that conventional forecasting tends to
>  become less useful at times of particularly rapid change, when companies
>  and/or countries must respond quickly and decisively to a rapidly
>  transforming array of problems and opportunities in the external
>  environment, and serious discontinuities are relatively freq!
>  uent.
>
>  We must, therefore, now look for new models of planning - ones that can
>  give us a better sense of the future and a more durable basis for charting
>  a course through the increasingly uncertain years ahead. Foresighting is a
>  technique now being used by many of the world's largest and most
successful
>  corporations, as well as a growing number of governments, to model,
>  understand and shape the future to their advantage. It was developed
partly
>  in reaction to the failure of many conventional approaches to forecasting.
>  Foresighting is a process that involves not the identification of the most
>  likely scenario but the evaluation of many possible, desirable or feasible
>  scenarios. It is particularly relevant in situations where long-term
>  scenarios are being considered, significant discontinuities are likely, or
>  the system or question under consideration is complex, with many
>  interdependent variables. The main applications of foresighting are to:
>
>  * Improve long-term decision-making
>  * Guide technology choices
>  * Generate alternative trajectories for future developments
>  * Improve preparedness for emergencies and contingencies
>  * Motivate change
>
>  Foresighting is a constant, iterative process. The external and internal
>  environment will continue to change, and the foresighting process itself,
>  as well as the strategic plan it generates, must constantly adapt and
>  evolve with it. This requires a broad, flexible and dynamic planning
>  process, with a wider range of inputs from a more diverse set of
consultees
>  and stakeholders than hitherto employed.
>
>  A number of developing countries have now realised that foresighting can
be
>  a powerful tool for national development. For instance, Argentina, Brazil,
>  Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia and Chile have initiated programmes,
>  with assistance from the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation
>  (UNIDO), Italy and Spain. A recent UNIDO Expert Group meeting of the
>  Regional Programme on Technology Foresight for Central and Eastern Europe
>  and the Newly Independent States concluded that:
>
>  "Technology Foresight programmes should be instrumental in providing
>  assistance to economies in transition that would lead to more sustainable
>  and innovative development aimed at fostering economic, environmental and
>  social benefits at national and regional levels ... [we encourage]
>  governments to establish Technology Foresight programmes based on wide
>  participation of stakeholders (government, business, R&D centres and civil
>  society) and identified needs of society; [we ask] international
>  organisations, including UNIDO, to formulate programmes at regional level
>  in cooperation with the countries in the region, so as to support the
>  national initiatives on technology foresight."
>
>  This has obvious implications for environmental management and sustainable
>  development and the way organisations and countries prepare and plan for
>  the changes ahead. We have therefore decided to devote a special theme
>  issue of "Greener Management International" to provide both researchers
and
>  practitioners with state-of-the-art, topical contributions. The issue aims
>  to be a single source of information on some of the latest developments in
>  the field. We are looking for high-quality papers and studies that can be
>  valuable to both the management and research communities. Theoretical or
>  conceptual papers should have a strong practical significance, with clear
>  implications for business practice. Case studies are also welcome.
Examples
>  of topics that could be addressed include, but are not limited to:
>
>  * Current challenges in planning for sustainable development
>  * Scenario planning for environmental management
>  * Case studies on process management and network creation (from the
>  beginning to the end)
>  * Innovative approaches to sustainable development planning
>  * Integrating technology and sustainable development
>  * Case studies of foresighting on productive chains
>  * Methodological aspects of foresighting and backcasting
>  * Stakeholder involvement and participation
>  * New approaches to corporate planning for sustainable development
>  * National technology planning and public participation
>  * Social inclusion and technology foresighting
>  * Planning as a social process
>  * Evaluating foresighting exercises
>  * Experiences with national sustainable development planning
>  * Implementing and disseminating foresighting ideas
>
>  The submissions will be peer-reviewed, based on the standards of the
>  journal, with quick decisions made to meet the deadlines for publication.
>  If there is a good response to this call, some of the submissions may also
>  be considered for inclusion as part or whole chapters in an edited book on
>  the subject.
>
>  Papers will be evaluated on their contribution, suitability to the special
>  issue, and overall quality. Authors should closely follow the submission
>  guidelines which can be found by clicking on "Notes to Contributors" at
the
>  "Greener Management International" website at:
>  http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/gmihome.htm.
>
>
>  Schedule
>
>  The submission deadline for initial expressions of interest in the form of
>  abstracts of approximately 300 words is 10 April 2002. Abstracts should be
>  sent as e-mail attachments to ALL co-editors for the review process (see
>  "Contact Details" at the end of this Call).
>
>  A selection process will then be put into motion. Contributors whose
>  abstracts are felt appropriate for the projects will then be asked to
>  submit full papers by 1 June 2002. Contributors will be informed of the
>  acceptance of their contributions or be invited to submit final revised
>  papers by 30 September 2002. It is intended that the special issue of
>  "Greener Management International" will be published in January 2003.
>  Submissions should, preferably, be emailed, in MS Word for Windows format.
>  Alternatively, four copies of the manuscript can be mailed to each of the
>  Guest Editors at the addresses below. The Guest Editors are also happy to
>  discuss potential contributions.
>
>
>  Contact details
>
>  Professor Anthony Clayton
>  Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies
>  University of the West Indies
>  Mona, Kingston 7
>  West Indies
>  Jamaica
>  Tel: +1 876 / 927 1020
>  Fax: +1 876 / 927 2409
>  E-mail: aclayton@uwimona.edu.jm
>
>  Emilio Vento
>  UNIDO-ICS Liaison Officer
>  UNIDO
>  Vienna International Centre
>  PO Box 300
>  A-1400 Vienna
>  Austria
>  Tel: +43 / 26 026 / 3726
>  Fax: +43 / 26 026 / 6811
>  E-mail: evento@unido.org
>
>  Dr Walter Wehrmeyer
>  Centre for Environmental Strategy
>  University of Surrey
>  Guildford, GU2 7XH
>  UK
>  Tel: +44 / 1483/689 075
>  Fax: +44 / 1483/876 671
>  E-mail: W.Wehrmeyer@surrey.ac.uk
>  http://www.surrey.ac.uk/CES/webpage.htm
>
>
>,...
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