The objectives of the Chair
Become a resource and modeling center to sustainable development
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The functioning of the Chair
A Steering Committee and a Monitoring Committee to ensure good governance of the Chair
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The program of activities of the Chair
Four pillars to reach its central aim of creation of a resource and modeling center
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A DIAGNOSTIC: THE STAKES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR AN EMERGING ISSUE
The challenges of sustainable development require from public actors, as well as from companies, long-term anticipations to build their strategic decisions. But these anticipations can hardly be mastered by a mere juxtaposition of disciplinary knowledge bodies and experts pronouncements, which often neglect the interdependence of sectors of activity and rely on rarely coherent, implicit visions of the state of the future world.
The ambition of prospective modeling is to provide consistent tools for the dialogue between decision makers, experts and scientists. The problem is not to forecast the long-term future, nor to normatively outline it, but to evaluate, according to Pierre Masse, "a desirable situation which seems plausible to the prospective mind and becomes probable to the mind bent on its implementation". We therefore ought to focus on the articulations between short-, medium- and very long-term to understand how future manoeuvring opportunities will open or close for our societies.
Driven by the climate change issue and economic globalization, the energy issues provided the opportunity for a methodological reappraisal which inspired and accelerated a dialogue between engineers and economists. Extending this movement to other sustainable development issues can only make more obvious the current lack, in France, of lasting modeling tools capacity and of training "for and by the prospective approach. Past efforts were led in a real structural instability and, nowadays, human resources appear to be the limiting parameter to renew with a tradition linking numerical prospective, economic calculation, public economy and strategic thinking.
We have identified a window of opportunity to close the gap vis-a-vis the international research, we initiatesd the following actions:
- Invest together in developing a shared platform for modeling;
- Be included in major areas of national and international expertise;
- Be involved alongside of industrial groups to renew the effort in prospective modeling, a time released;
- Be identified as key actors in the rise of sustainability issues within the Grandes Ecoles for engineers gathered as part of ParisTech;
- Be involved in national training, and, national and international scientific networks.
