How Foresight Could Strengthen Governance in Latin America

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Growing international uncertainty and complexity are provoking an increasing interest in studies of the future. The aim is to improve decision-making and the quality of governing. It is assumed that the future can be explored, and its course can be changed. These studies use foresight, a discipline that helps to investigate plausible scenarios, recognize global trends and identify drivers that may generate future transformations. Such anticipation could provide new perspectives to decisionmakers and citizens, reduce risks and create opportunities. In a democracy, politics is conditioned by immediate problems and elections. Politicians are usually removed from long-term analysis and strategic thinking. Groups that prepare long-term studies usually complain about the lack of knowledge and vision of those in charge of governing. Connecting these two actors and overcoming this weakness is key. The first step is to strengthen foresight analysis in each country.  The second step is to deliver anticipatory scenarios to decision-makers and social organizations, to enrich their analysis of the impact of different possible futures.