Strategic Foresight and Futures Thinking at the University of Turku

PROJECT

Analysis of the International Operating Environment of the University of Turku and Global Situational Picture of University Operations project is a practical outcome of UTU´s strategic foresight work.

The purpose of the project is to identify and describe important trends, signals, drivers and developments relevant to the university, which can have global, national and regionally differentiated effects. The aim is to:

identify and analyze currently visible and possible future trends, drivers and developments
analyze how the aforementioned factors affect the discourses about university’s futures, competitiveness and vitality
consider what kind of risks and opportunities these trends and developments create to the university’s operations
create regularly updatable strategic foresight tool for the University of Turku.

The project is a joint effort of the university´s Strategic Planning Unit and Finland Futures Research Center.

This project was started to;

increase and strengthen UTU’s vitality and competitiveness now and in the future
strengthen UTU’s ability to react to changes in the operating environment
help allocate UTU´s resources in a sustainable way
improve the quality and effectiveness of UTU´s operations and
keep UTU as a vibrant and attractive university.

The objective of the project to identify and describe important trends, signals, drivers and developments relevant to the university, which can have global, national and regionally differentiated effects.

In more detail, the project aims to:

identify and analyze currently visible and possible future trends, drivers and developments
analyze how the aforementioned factors affect the discourses about university’s futures, competitiveness and vitality
consider what kind of risks and opportunities these trends and developments create to the university’s operations
create regularly updatable strategic foresight tool for the University of Turku.

Process to analyse the changes in the operational environment of the university

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Literature review on the futures of universities
Delphi study to engage experts within the university community
Interviews of experts to deepen the insights
Results and the analysis of the changing operational environment of the university plus University’s internal analysis
Final report to summarize the results and regularly updated tool for strategic foresight

Project organization

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Streering group

Päivi Mattila-Wiro, (chair)
Toni Ahlqvist (vice-chair)
Teija Kekonen
Leena Erälinna
Juha Kaskinen
Susanna Sutinen (secretary)

Project team (SPU):

Susanna Sutinen, Juha Sainio

Analysis team (FFRC):

Toni Ahlqvist, Veli Virmajoki, Anna Kirveennummi, Kaisa-Maria Suomalainen

Work packages and timeline