The Generic Foresight Process Framework

An example of how one foresight framework can be applied in practice.

An overview of a popular foresight process

I use the Generic Foresight Process Framework developed by Joseph Voros (A Generic Foresight Process Framework, 2003) in my strategy work. This framework (GFPF) was developed in the planning department at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia and first articulated in the Foresight Primer. I led the department at that time and while I lay absolutely no claim to have participated in the creation of the framework itself, I have used the GFPF in my work since its first iteration in 2001, at Swinburne (2001-2004) and Victoria Universities (2005-2007), and in my work since 2007.

Our work and processes designed at Swinburne aimed to integrate foresight approaches into the existing university planning framework, so the approach had to be practical, derived from published research and practice, and suit the Swinburne context. In this early work, we had first-hand experience of the power of a foresight process and its different think…