Spain’s new Foresight Office Completes its First Big Assignment: a Strategy for Remaking the Country by 2050

Bart Édes
10 min readMay 31, 2021
Photo by Florian Wehde on Unsplash

In January 2020, the Government of Spain established a strategic foresight office at the center of government. The Oficina Nacional de Prospectiva y Estrategia (National Office of Foresight and Strategy) was set up within the cabinet of the Presidencia del Gobierno (Prime Minister’s Office).

The rationale for creating the office was to counter the short-term thinking prevalent in government, and to ensure the future interests of Spain. The office is charged with analyzing empirical evidence to identify possible demographic, economic, geopolitical, environmental, social, educational and other challenges and opportunities that Spain will confront in the medium and long term, and help the country prepare for them.

Since its creation, the office has been primarily focused on the preparation of long-term national strategy, España 2050, which was publicly announced on 20 May 2021 by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The strategy is presented in a hefty 676 -page report. Its purpose is to improve understanding of major issues issues that Spain will face in the coming decades, and generate a national dialogue on priorities and coordinating efforts needed to ensure future prosperity and well-being.

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Bart Édes

Author of Learning from Tomorrow: Using Strategic Foresight to Prepare for the Next Big Disruption