The monthly theme for September inspired the bloggers to write about one of the necessities of human existence: water. With its vast water resources, Finland is one the lucky nations regarding the struggle for fresh water in the future. Water plays a central role in several old and new domains; the impact in agriculture is well acknowledged, but in the future, water will play a major role in the production of biomaterial and bio energy, and the continuous urbanisation of the society. The future will see an increasing number of crises around the water issue. In most cases, the ultimate problem is not in the availability of water, but rather in the errors made in governance and policies. Finland has the means to contribute with both resources and knowledge.
Jari Kaivo-oja’s blog entry on creativity and ensuring the quality of innovations raised heated discussion on the subject. The decline of the traditional industries, such as forestry and the metal industry, prompts the society to shift the focus to other domains. In 2006, the Ministry of Education published a list of 11 practical steps toward becoming a more creative and innovative nation. In addition to the creative industries, the creative skills must be applied in all industry domains in order to achieve true innovations.
The next Finnish foresight expert in the continuous series was Leena Ilmola who is working with her doctoral dissertation in the Helsinki University of Technology. She currently works with the Extreme Events in Human Systems project in the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna.
