BACOLOD CITY – In a move to localize the country’s long-term scientific vision, leaders from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) across Visayas trained on foresight and futures thinking concepts and tools, which will be incorporated in their traditional planning manuals.
The National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL), in partnership with the DOST Negros Oriental Provincial Science & Technology Office, hosted an event facilitated by the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) – Governance Futures Laboratory (GFL), a laboratory under the UP NCPAG Governance Reform, Innovation and Transformation Laboratories on February 4-5, 2026, to design a foresight workshop which will provoke new perspectives on the region’s path towards the year 2050.
Participants moved beyond basic forecasting to utilize advanced strategic foresight tools. The focus shifted from likely outcomes to possible futures, in which they: 1) determined a focal issue, 2) scanned for relevant trends, driving forces, and emerging issues, 3) identified business-as-usual and alternative future scenarios, and 4) developed a preferred future and strategies to achieve that future.
Using specific Science, Technology, and Innovation (ST&I) foresight indicators, participants mapped out milestone periods, tracking the progression of baseline data toward an idealized future by 2050.
As the workshop proper drew to a close, a powerful and thought-provoking question was posed by the UP NCPAG GFL, resonating deeply amidst all the discussions on foresight and futures thinking: “What kind of future are we building and for whom?” The message served as a salient reminder of the critical purpose behind the crucial exercise.
This initiative underscores NAST PHL’s commitment to building a culture of foresight within the DOST system and eventually, to other government agencies and local government units, ensuring that ST&I planning is strategic, responsive, and regionally grounded. — Jose Lorenzo Jimenez/NAST PHL
PAGTANAW 2050 is the first DOST-funded inter-disciplinal and trans-disciplinal project on Philippine-focused ST&I Foresight and Strategic Plan that would impact the aspirations of the Filipino people on or before 2050: A Prosperous, Archipelagic, and Maritime Nation.
For more information about PAGTANAW 2050, you may visit the NAST PHL website at https://nast.dost.gov.ph/index.php/pagtanaw-2050 and social media accounts through Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn: @pagtanaw2050
