Purpose – This paper aims to present the results of a research project that the Institute for Prospective Technology Studies commissioned to research the possible effects of information and communication technologies (ICT) on a set of environmental indicators in 2020....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the future development of the transport sector in Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on published sources of information and some expert views, the paper considers trends, drivers of change, possible scenarios and policy issues....

Purpose – This paper seeks to summarize humanity's growing appraisal of cumulative transgressions against nature and how these may be proving reversible. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes some of the current literature on environmental failure and the reasons therefor, and...

Purpose – The water sector is set to continue to face severe challenges in meeting the financial requirements for maintaining, extending and upgrading new and ageing water systems in the face of growing water scarcity, stricter regulatory requirements and competition for capital. The gap...

Purpose – When coping with complex, but also possibly disruptive and open‐ended social dynamics, the anticipatory system idea, which was developed by Rosen in the realm of physical and biological system observation, remains a reference framework, but one that may need to be reinforced by...

Purpose – Scenarios have become a vital methodological approach in business as well as in public policy. When scenarios are used to guide analysis and decision-making, the aim is typically robustness and in this context we argue that two main problems at scenario set level is conservatism,...

Purpose – The purpose is to examine how collective intelligence initiatives can help address the challenge of water supply globally. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used was desk research and interview. The paper commences with a review of collective intelligence as a subject...