Prospective

French term for 'the prospective approach'. Draws on organizations such as Futuribles and the work of Michel Godet and others. This tradition is conceptually and methodologically sophisticated; it has many contemporary uses in organizational development, strategic management, and scenario planning. It is used for strategic activities in the public as well as the private sector, and underlines the need to link any future-oriented activity or project to action today in order to make an impact (“shaping the future”). In the last decade, foresight methods are being used more and more in regional planning and decision –making.