Finlande : la prospective au gouvernement

Finland: Governmental Long Term Studies
Although recognized as highly desirable and even vital, the incorporation of long term studies into public policies is not a current practice. The development of a process for doing such within the Finnish executive and parliamentary arms is a premier event which should be welcomed and watched.
In the midst of a particularly unstable international environment, Finland faced an economic and social crisis at the beginning of the nineties. Its Parliament then ordered the government to put together a document on the long term prospects of the country and on the strategy it intended to adopt in light of this prospective.
Paavo Löppönen, who played a main role in this work, and Reijo Vanne describe for us the apparatus which was put together, first in the Prime Minister’s Office and then for the service of a Parliamentary Commission. They give a brief account of what has been done so far and show how, eventually, a framework for thinking and debating on the future of the country has been put in place.