Project goals

Discovering unique innovation enablers for the V4 region’s sustainable social and economic post-COVID-19 recovery

Target groups

Involving wide stakeholder groups from V4 countries

Our undertaking is not purely expert-based but engages actors whose different perspectives will help to shed light on various aspects of V4 futures. We will involve key stakeholders from policy, academia, business, non-profit sector and a wider society as it is indicated below:

Project idea

Identify priorities for post-COVID-19 recovery of the V4 region, build a sense of solidarity in the region and competently contribute to the ongoing debate in the EU on the future of the region

In 2021, the European Commission set an objective to bring together intelligence and foresight expertise from all Member States for cooperation on forward-looking issues relevant to Europe. It has two levels: a high-level network of “Ministers for the Future” and a citizen-based year-long debate on the future of Europe. The project is a response to this call. 

Collective intelligence and work on the futures of the V4 Economy and Society will not only help to map out emerging pathways and identify priorities for post-COVID-19 recovery of the V4 region but it will build a sense of solidarity in the region and provide it with an opportunity to competently contribute to the ongoing debate in the EU on the future of the region.

We will address this challenge on different scales:

The list of recommendations of  V4 region adaptation pathways – opportunities for society, economy and policy –  that will enable sustainable social and economic recovery of the V4 region and will help to neutralize negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, will include the shared aims towards which V4 stakeholders could navigate to when planning their sustainable futures. These findings will be communicated via a policy brief “Lessons from the Pandemic: Potentials for Radical and Sustainable Change in V4 region” and a scientific paper “Identification of innovation opportunities for V4 region until 2030: methodology and results”.

The project requires a pan-regional outlook on enablers and blockers of the V4 region’s adaptation. Discovering “unique” enablers or hidden blockers will be possible by stress-testing regional visions of the V4 against wider development scenarios of Europe and the world. This practice will increase resilience and make V4 visions more “future-proof”.

While it seems quite easy to find negative impacts of the pandemic; noticing emerging opportunities and acting on them requires a different set of Futures Literacy skills. Our project will also enhance Futures Literacy skills among project stakeholders, enhancing their individual future-orientation competences through learning by doing activities during our online Delphi survey and a follow-up discussion panel.

You can follow the development of the project here: https://4cf.pl/visegrad2030/.

Project Team

Professor Éva Hideg is futurist, professor, doctor at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) and president of Scientific Committee of the Statistics and Futures Research of HAS. Her main research fields are paradigms in futures field, application of foresight and integral futures in different issues. Her list of publications and references can be available here. Some details you can see at her homepage that can be available at this address.

Prof. Ing. Peter Markovič, PhD. DBA professor at the Department of Corporate Finance, Faculty of Business Management, University of Economics in Bratislava. As part of her research activities, he deals with the issue of financial management, financial risks and business succession. As part of her pedagogical activities, he conducts lectures and exercises in the subjects corporate finance, financial management, methodology of academic work. His list of publications and references can be available here:

Judit Gáspár, PhD. is associate professor and Head of the Decision Sciences Department at the Corvinus University of Budapest, lecturing Decision-Making Skills, Decision Techniques, Corporate Strategy, with research interest on decision-making, strategy-as-practice, foresight, participatory and reflexive methodologies. Judit was involved in research programmes, e.g., Enhancing Responsible Research and Innovation Through Curricula in Higher Education; Ecological Horizon Scanning: Hungary 2050; Mobilising Corporate Foresight Potential among V4 Countries. Founding member of Corvinus Science Shop to support service learning and community-based research activities.

Assoc. Prof. Ing. Klaudia Gubová, PhD. associate professor at the Department of Production Management and Logistics, Faculty of Business Management, University of Economics in Bratislava. As part of her research activities, she deals with the issue of innovation management and technological systems. As part of her pedagogical activities, she conducts lectures and exercises in the subjects Corporate Innovation Management, Management of Technological Systems and Production Management. Her list of publications and references can be available here.

Lucie Macková, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the Department of Development and Environmental Studies, Palacký University Olomouc. Her main fields of interest are migration and development, sustainability and foresight. She also teaches courses on foresight methods and their application. Her publications can be found in her Researchgate profile.

András Márton is assistant research fellow and doctoral candidate at the Department of Geography, Geoeconomy and Sustainable Development, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. His main fields of research are sustainable development, renewable energies, future orientation of decision makers, strategic planning and management. He has experience in national and international projects (e.g., Ecological Horizon Scanning: Hungary 2050, RE-ACT – Self-reflection tools for smart universities acting regionally).

Anna Sacio-Szymańska represents the emerging school of professional foresight, one focusing on the use of anticipation to reach strategic goals in a fluid and uncertain environment. Over the last years she has worked as a scientific leader, manager or team member of 10+ European and national R&D projects in such areas as: innovation management and policy, futures literacy and foresight capacity building, technology foresight, sustainable development. Her recent institutional collaborations include: Frontex, EIT Climate-KIC, UNESCO, UNFCCC, EC Science with and for Society Team. She has published on implementation of foresight in public planning, in the business sector and on futures literacy enhancement She is the vice President of Foresight Europe Network, a Co-Chair of the Polish Node of The Millennium Project and a Member of the Polish Society for Futures Studies. Ms. Sacio-Szymańska holds an MA in international economics and PhD in management sciences.

Maciej Jagaciak is a board member of the Polish Society for Futures Studies. He also works at 4CF as a Foresight Engineer. His achievements include a number of foresight analyses concerning, among others, the future of payments, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, metal, energy, food, packaging and photonics industries. He has also co-led and conducted workshops and research for the financial sector and military projects. As a designer of analytical systems and a programmer, he forms part of the 4CF team, which supports advanced tools for foresight projects for business customers and public administration. He is a member of the Polish branch of The Millennium Project, an international foresight think tank based in Washington, DC. In the past he worked at Danone as a maintenance engineer, implementing LEAN methodology and pro-efficiency analyses. He earned a master’s degree in automation and robotics engineering from the Warsaw University of Technology.

Joanna Jaworska works at 4CF as a strategic foresight analyst. Her expertise is focused on the future of security, society and governance. She worked on projects for private clients, NGOs and public institutions in Poland, as well as international institutions, including the European Union and United Nations. She works as well for the Economist Intelligence Unit as an external contributor, providing analysis of political and macroeconomic developments within Eastern Europe. Previously, she had completed internships at NATO, at Office of the Political Advisor, and at the Atlantic Council, in the Foresight, Risk and Strategy department. She holds a Master’s degree in International Security from Sciences Po Paris university in France, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris.

Weronika Rafał works at 4CF as a junior analyst. She is responsible for analytical support and participates in the implementation and coordination of foresight research and projects. Previously, she has gained professional experience in consulting. She also led her own project for a municipal institution on the future of the elderly in Warsaw. She studied spatial development at the University of Warsaw, where she was engaged in foresight, from the perspective of city management and local and regional development.