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Prime Minister Marin’s Government begins preparation of Government Report on the Future

Government Communications Department
Publication date 1.7.2020 10.08 | Published in English on 1.7.2020 at 12.29
Press release 465/2020

The Government began preparing its next Report on the Future during the exceptional COVID-19 spring. The Government Report on the Future aims to identify issues that will be important for decision-making and require particular attention in the future, and it serves to open discussion for the coming years. A steering group chaired by Mikko Koskinen, State Secretary to Prime Minister Sanna Marin, has been appointed to prepare the report.

The report will be presented in two parts aiming to promote dialogue and engagement. The first part will provide an overall picture of the future operating environment through scenario work exploring Finland in the next generations. The scenario work will identify societal, technological, economic, environmental, legislative and policy changes, explore the uncertainties associated with these changes and consider their possible paths of development in the future, both in Finland and in the international operating environment. In the second part of the report, the Government will focus on one or more of the phenomena that emerged in the scenario work and reflect on possible directions for solutions.

The aim is that the first part of the Report on the Future will provide a basis for future scenario work that will create an overall picture of Finland in the next generations. It will serve as a framework for continuous monitoring and provide situational awareness of the operating environment, giving us a broader understanding of the realisation of the different scenarios.

Preparation supported by ministries’ joint foresight work, Government Foresight Group and extensive collaboration

To ensure its effectiveness, the preparation of this year’s Report on the Future will place more emphasis on the ministries’ joint and continuous foresight work than earlier reports. We will build a common understanding of the future operating environment through the scenario work exploring the Finland of the next generations. Key features of the scenario work are wide-ranging inclusivity, co-creation and collaboration. The work will be carried out in collaboration with different administrative branches, the National Foresight Network, regions and counties, national and international experts and the Government Foresight Group, which has been reinstated for the 2020–23 term.

The key objective of the Government Foresight Group is to develop and strengthen the links between foresight and decision-making processes. The Government Foresight Group serves as an external advisory body for the Report on the Future and supports cooperation on national foresight work and its development. The group is chaired by State Secretary Mikko Koskinen and its work is prepared and supported by a secretariat appointed to the Prime Minister's Office.

50 dialogues on the future of Finland to support the preparation

As part of its work on the Report on the Future, the Prime Minister’s Office will organise 50 dialogues on the future of Finland in cooperation with the Timeout Foundation. The discussions will be carried out using the Timeout method and will be held in different parts of Finland, either via remote connections or, if the situation so permits, as physical gatherings in cooperation with regional and local actors.

Representatives of different generations (especially young people) and genders and people from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life will be invited to participate. The goal is that people who, for one reason or another, do not usually take part in discussions on the future will get involved in reflecting on the future of Finland. By promoting discussion and increasing participation, we will also strengthen Finland’s future. According to feedback, Timeout discussions strengthen people’s trust in one another and in institutions and help to improve the resilience of society.

Inquiries: Seppo Määttä, Director General, Strategy Department, tel. +358 295 160 598 and Jaana Tapanainen-Thiess, Secretary General, Government Report on the Future, tel. +358 50 406 6871, Prime Minister’s Office

Sanna Marin government