2.9.2026 Tero Villman & Sini Nordberg-Davies
With its long traditions in futures research and B2B marketing, the University of Turku (UTU) contributes to FORECO with a combination of strategic foresight and market-shaping research by the Futures Distillery at Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) and the Centre for Collaborative Research (CCR) from Turku School of Economics. The project allows for continuity in UTU’s multidisciplinary research supporting business renewal in maritime, energy, and manufacturing industries, especially in multi-actor settings.
Connecting strategic foresight with market shaping in ecosystems
FORECO comes at a time when many industries are facing profound uncertainties, disruptions and transformations. The green transition, electrification, digitalisation, geopolitical uncertainty, global supply chain issues and rapid advances in artificial intelligence are all reshaping their operational environments and markets. In the absence of predictability, collaboration in exploring and making sense of alternative futures, strategising and influencing market development becomes essential.
“We focus especially on strategic decision-making and market shaping, investigating how ecosystems can use collaboratively generated futures knowledge to support strategic decisions, envision and proactively steer the direction of future markets” notes Sini Nordberg-Davies (CCR). The aim is to enable transformative innovations and sustainable market development.
From research collaboration to value creation
Since FORECO brings together industrial leaders, ecosystem coordinators, technology providers and research institutions from multiple sectors and disciplines, we expect a continuous exchange between theory and practice. This interaction allows new ideas to be developed, tested and refined in real ecosystem settings, while also contributing to academic research.
The longer-term value of FORECO is in strengthening the renewal capacity of ecosystems. By developing methods, practices and tools for collaborative foresight and strategic decision-making, the project can help ecosystems become more adaptive, resilient, future-oriented and even visionary. For the University of Turku, the most important contribution is advancing understanding of how foresight can become a mechanism for collective intelligence and action in ecosystems. As Tero Villman (FFRC) remarks, “Strategic foresight is not only about exploring possible futures and preparing for potential changes but also about distilling diverse signals, knowledge and perspectives into shared visions and meaningful action, enabling organisations and ecosystems to take an active role in shaping the future.”
Learn more about the Centre for Collaborative Research (CCR) and the Futures Distillery at the University of Turku.