Practicing the Future. Part 2: Lessons from the First Experiments with Policy Exercises

Toth, F.L. (1988). Practicing the Future. Part 2: Lessons from the First Experiments with Policy Exercises. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-88-012

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Abstract

Methods to synthesize and assess scientific information for use in policy-making range from large models to expert committees, from scenario-driven free-form gaming sessions to fast and simple model-building workshops. In Part 1 of the "Practicing the Future" series, a new approach called the Policy Exercise was introduced. A Policy Exercise is a flexibly structured workshop environment designed as an interface between scientists and policy-makers. Its function is to synthesize and assess knowledge accumulated in several relevant fields of science for policy purposes in light of a complex practical management problem.

The first experiments to test and refine various structural elements and procedures of the Policy-Exercise approach were conducted in Summer of 1986 involving approximately 15 graduate students from various countries of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and North America. This paper is an overview of the lessons learned from these experiments. Section 1 provides a summary of the experiments including the subject matter, participants, and the various activities. Section 2 contains general lessons on the Policy-Exercise approach. More specific lessons about the preparation and workshop phases of the exercise follow in Sections 3 and 4 respectively.

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