From Territorial Impact Assessment to Territorial Foresight

Policy-making shapes – explicitly or implicitly – future territorial development. Therefore, sound policy making needs strong territorial and future dimensions. While territorial impact assessments focus on the territorial impact of policies, territorial foresight addresses possible long-term developments and their potential future impact on territories in order to support anticipatory or future-wise decision-making. This chapter argues to adopt territorial foresight approaches instead of territorial impact assessments when long-term developments are concerned. Territorial foresight combines elements of territorial impact assessments and foresight approaches. As such the approach supports addressing the territorial impact of future trends, visions and policy objectives when designing forward-looking policies. It offers different steps that support policy makers in thinking territorially, allow them to anticipate on the future and increase ownership on possible actions shaping the future. In short, territorial foresight contributes to making policies future-wise, i.e. fit for the future.